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Dolcetto And Its Three DOCGs

Dolcetto And Its Three DOCGs

Introduction

Dolcetto is an interesting grape variety widely planted in Piedmont. Being native to the Italian region with the highest number of DOCGs doesn’t make things easy for this variety. On top of it, the two “big” Barolo and Barbaresco are right behind the corner.

As it happens several times when it comes to Italian wines, people like to make comparisons where it’s actually inappropriate to do so. Hence, the majority of us might end up seeing Dolcetto as the “young brother” of Nebbiolo (and Barbera its “young sister”…).

We are here today to make some elucidations regarding Dolcetto so that you will be much more familiar with it. The first thing we want to highlight is that it wouldn’t have 3 DOCGs and several numbers of DOCs if it wasn’t remarkable.

You might be interested in knowing that every single DOCG presents unique characteristics. But, do you know the varietal DOCGs made from Dolcetto?

After reading this article you’ll know everything about Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore, Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba, and Dogliani. But, hold your horses as we will analyze the grape origins and characteristics first!

Figure 1: Dolcetto vineyards in Monferrato (winerylovers.club, 2020)

The Grape

The agricultural census of 2000 recorded 7,450 ha of Dolcetto in Italy. However, it is spread in tiny quantities around the United States, specifically in California, and to a lesser extent in Washington State and Oregon. And, it’s interesting to know that more than 20 producers have planted Dolcetto in Australia. Even more noteworthy in New Zealand, Heron’s Flight in Matakana is one of the few who produce a varietal Dolcetto.

Apparently, Dolcetto seems to be appreciated by many countries in the New World, where there are no restrictions in place for the grape varieties, wine-growing, and wine practices.

The Origins

The earliest mention of Dolcetto appears in 1593 in Dogliani, near Cuneo. The name means “little sweet” and comes from the natural low acidity of the berries. It’s by no means related to the sweetness level of the wines made out of it which are almost always dry.

Some authors consider Dolcetto to be morfological similar to Zinfandel, but reacent DNA studies contradict this hypotesis (Calò, Costacurta et al., 2008).

Even though there is a white-berried version of Dolcetto, it has paradoxically nothing to do with the black-berried Dolcetto (Schneider and Mannini, 2006).

Principal Synonyms

Dolcetto Nero, Nibièu or Nibiò (Oltrepò Pavese and around Tortona), Ormeasco (Liguria).

Wine Grapes (José Vouillamoz, Jancis Robinson, and Julia Harding, 2012)
Figure 2: Poring a glass of lovely Dolcetto (Nickolaus Hines, 2020)

Viticultural Characteristics

  • Early ripening;
  • Natural low acidity levels;
  • Medium tannin;
  • Medium alcohol content;
  • Medium-bodied wine;
  • Prone to fungal diseases;

The fact that Dolcetto is early ripening (it ripens up to 4 weeks before Nebbiolo) allows winegrowers to plant this variety in cooler and higher sites which wouldn’t be suitable to Nebbiolo nor to Barbera.

This is very important for all the winemakers that can rely on this grape variety to cover the expenses of the year while waiting to sell the other wines (such as Barolo) that have to undergo very long aging requirements. At the end of the days, cash-flow is something winemakers love too…

The DOCG, Its Styles, And The Best Producers

As we already mentioned to you in the introduction, three are the DOCGs made from Dolcetto.

It’s important to highlight once again that all these are varietal DOCGs, meaning that they are entirely made from Dolcetto grapes.

DOCGZone of productionAging requirementsStyles
Dogliani (2005)Albamin 12 monthsAlso Superiore
Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore (2008)Monferratomin 24 months for RiservaAlso Riserva
Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba (2010)Albamin 10 monthsAlso Superiore
Table 1: The three DOCGs made from Dolcetto

Differentiating them on a blind tasting can be as hard as finding the differences between Barolo and Barbaresco (yes… they are very similar).

The best hint you might possibly get is the slightly more pronounced complexity of Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore Riserva due to its longer aging requirements. But if you aren’t able to spot any difference between them, don’t feel frustrated as you aren’t alone!

These are the Wine Jokers’ recommendations:

These are just a few products we have tasted along the way, but don’t hesitate to try out anything you find (and please feel free to leave a comment with your recommendations if you have them…).

Figure 3: Two glasses of bright Dolcetto, ready to be enjoyed (masterclass.com, 2020)

Conclusions

The main goal of this article was to bring to your attention some very-often underrated DOCGs from Piedmont.

The fact that the three DOCGs mentioned above are all varietal reflects two things: the local winemakers’ philosophy not to blend and the fact that Dolcetto doesn’t even need to be blended.

Don’t forget that winemakers might choose to blend for several reasons. In a nutshell, we believe that blending isn’t required when all the structural components of a grape variety are already well-integrated. But of course, this is a topic that would require further explanations that you can read in the article “The Art Of Blending: All You Need To Know“.

Well, guys, it’s time to wrap it up. We hope you found the article insightful and, if you think so, why don’t you leave a “little sweet” (hope you liked the joke…) comment?


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