Dolcetto, in its finest interpretations, is an excellent grape variety. While it is in decline in many places, it is experiencing a well-deserved appreciation in a few select locations, which is also leading to increased new plantings there.
The grape variety is particularly on the decline in most of the Piedmontese Langhe. There, Nebbiolo simply brings in more money, which is why it is planted even in areas where other grape varieties—especially Dolcetto—would be much better suited.
Dolcetto receives increased attention in Ovada, a kind of Gallic village in the southwestern part of the Langhe, which has enjoyed DOCG status with its Dolcetto di Ovada since 2008.
Beyond the DOCG appellation, the grape variety is widespread throughout southern Piedmont. The variety is also found as Ormeasco in the vineyards around Savona in northern Liguria.
Dolcetto owes its name to the fact that the grapes of the variety are quite sweet—however, the wines made from them are invariably dry. In the vineyard, it is anything but an easy grape variety to cultivate. It is prone to shattering, requires good sites to be qualitatively and, above all, quantitatively interesting, and is susceptible to all kinds of fungal diseases. Its great advantage is that it ripens much earlier than Barbera and Nebbiolo and can be harvested before the often quite damp autumn in Piedmont.
Sensorially, Dolcetto offers all the options for truly good wines. Although the acidity is rarely high, the right soil (especially limestone) gives the wines the necessary tautness and freshness (Dolcetto is also quite often blended with Barbera, whose acidity is never in short supply). In addition, sufficient tannins ensure a compact and bundling structure.
Dolcetto is mostly (too often) vinified in stainless steel tanks to produce fresh, fruity wines. This is—at least in my opinion—only occasionally interesting. It becomes much more exciting when selected and correspondingly rich grape material ends up in cement vats or used wooden barrels, where the generally quite reductive variety is subjected to subtle oxidation. In such an environment, wines are created that impress with their multi-layered and profound range of textures and aromas and can also age very well.
