Dolcetto – Piemonte’s next star?

Dolcetto, Piemonte's workhorse grape, has until now provided the region with early-ripening, easy-drinking reds. These characteristics have kept it firmly in the shadow of Nebbiolo, the grape of Barolo and Barbaresco.

Dolcetto is universally known as producing deep violet-coloured wines, with abundant aromas of red crushed fruit, violets and with a distinct drying spur of tannin, and it is, most importantly, very modestly priced. The variety is considered much less demanding than Nebbiolo, which needs, and gets, the very best exposure in the vineyard, while Dolcetto happily retreats to the sites where Nebbiolo's famous tannins would never fully ripen. As...