Dolcetto d'Alba, Oddero

DOLCETTO D'ALBA

Variety

100% Dolcetto 

Vineyards

Location

Castiglione Falletto Brunella, Plot 7, Sub-plots 57, 58

Characteristics

300 meters above sea level, southern exposure, 2.7 x 0.8 meters spacing, 4,700 vines/hectare density, Guyot upward-trained vertical-trellised training system

Age

30 years

Size

0.6 hectares

Yield

80 quintals/hectare

Location

La Morra Roggeri (Le Rù), Plot 21, Sub-plot 499

Characteristics

280 meters above sea level, southwestern exposure, 2.7 x 0.8 meters spacing, 4,700 vines/hectare density, Guyot upward-trained vertical-trellised training system

Age

40-50 years

Size

0.6 hectares

Yield

80 quintals/hectare

Harvesting period

Mid-September

Production

10,000 bottles

Vinification

Selection of grapes in the vineyard, fermentation and maceration for about 12 days in stainless-steel containers, followed by malolactic fermentation in November

Maturing

Ageing in stainless steel followed by bottling the next spring. On the market from early summer

Sensory characteristics

Attractive appearance with an intense ruby-red color with purple hints, a vinous aroma, sometimes fruity, and a dry taste with a full body and a pleasant touch of bitterness

Notes

If you are not familiar with this wine, it can be a real surprise. The name is deceptive: As dolce means sweet in Italian, many might think that Dolcetto is a dessert wine. In reality the name comes from the Langhe, deriving more about the grape than the wine. It’s always been the table grape of our hills, eaten in the autumn together with seasonal pears and boiled chestnuts from the nearby Alpine valleys. Gianni Brera, the noted journalist of the Guerin Sportivo weekly and La Repubblica daily, wrote to us in a letter dated August 1979: “I’ve uncorked a few of your bottles. The Dolcetto enchanted me. It is very solid, serious but not stern. An act of barbarity justifies the otherwise-suspect name: Our ancestors, ready in front of a full-bodied Barbera, must have been touched and used a term of endearment to name it, just like ercolino [“little  Hercules”, a term for a strong child] for the Romans”