Background and tasting notes:
DOLCETTO D’ALBA:
Cavallotto – Vigna Scot $17
This was a staple in my house for years, but then it became harder to find. Sour cherries are what I think of with this wine. I had both the ’15 and ’16 recently, before the tasting, and liked them.
Grown at the crest of the hill in Castiglione, between Cavallotto’s Bricco Boschi Barolo vineyard and the famous Monprivato. Short 3-4-day maceration; aged in large oak tanks and cement.
Tasting notes: Slightly lighter in hue than most, with red cherry scents. In the mouth, lighter, redder fruit profile (sweet red cherries. Day 2: Tarter than the others, with more red fruit, but very nice in that style. The short maceration may explain the redder, lighter profile.
Group 6th/my 6th @ 87 points
Vajra $16
Relatively high vineyards, at 350-400 meters. 6-10 day maceration; aged in stainless steel.
Tasting notes: Love most of their wines. Not this one, at least not on day 1. Not much on the nose, and quite tough tannins – so tannic that I guessed it was the freisa, which can strip you gums away with its tannin. Less fruity than others.
Day 2: Fleshed out some. Lots of acid and tannin, but more balanced with nice but indistinct fruit.
Group 7th/my 8th @ 84 points on day 1; 86+ on day 2.
Burlotto $18
Fabio Alessandria, the winemaker, told me in 2016 that he hadn’t been a fan of dolcetto, but thought it had potential and worked to make one that he liked. Over time he has increased the percentage of whole clusters/stems to 60%, unusual for dolcetto.
Tasting notes: Slightly lighter in color, this was an outlier in fruit profile. It had an earthiness not found in the others, which I liked. Somewhat less concentrated (some found it “watery”), but thought it was simply a lighter style. When it was unveiled, I realized that the stems really show here.
Group 8th/my 5th @ 87 points
DOLCETTO DI DOGLIANI:
Anna-Maria Abbona – Sorí dij But $19
Abbona’s wines were a revelation for me when Oliver McCrum, who imports them on the West Coast, served a bunch at a dinner at his home a dozen years ago. Her vineyards are some of the highest in the appellation, at 600 meters, and some date back to the 1930s. This is one of two single-vineyard bottlings. Fermented and aged in stainless steel.
Tasting notes: Fairly tannic, and a bit less fruit at first, but still really good. By the end of the tasting, this had fleshed out and scored it higher. My original score put it too low in my rankings. I guessed Dogliani before this was unveiled.
Group 2nd/my 7th on first pass @ 86- points; 88 points later
Pecchenino – San Luigi $17
Vineyards at 450 meters elevation, on calcarous soils. This is the basic bottling. 8 days of maceration; aged in stainless steel.
Tasting notes: Ripe black cherry on the nose. More black cherry on the palate, with a bit of heat showing. (I refrigerated the serving bottles, and put the wines in the fridge for 30 minutes before the tasting, but it was a warm night.) Ripe, satisfying, grapy in a good way. I guessed Alba, though. Not sure why!
Group 1st /my 4th @ 87+ points
San Fereolo – Vigne Dolci Discovery Wines $26
The owner and winemaker, Nicoletta Bocca, is the daughter of a famous leftist political writer. She grows some nebbiolo, but “the anti-elitist political undercurrents of her winemaking philosophy are undeniable,” says her importer Neal Rosenthal. “Whereas she could easily triple her production of Nebbiolo …, she is steadfastly committed to the underdog Dolcetto, and even speaks dismissively and regretfully about Nebbiolo’s aristocratic perfection.”
This is the first vintage from this old-vine site near the village of Ciglie, at the south end of the Dogliani appellation, at 600 meters elevation, where the soils are more sandy and less chalky than in the center of the zone. Biodynamic, aged in stainless steel without temperature control unless the must goes over 33C.
Tasting notes: Nice, bright, more reddish than most. Lots of cherries. Quite deep/concentrated, and fairly tannic. Tannic finish with pleasing sweet dark cherry notes. Day 2: Luscious, grapy, black cherry. I guessed Dogliani before this was unveiled.
Group 5th/my 3rd @ 88+ points
THE RINGERS
Burlotto – Langhe Freisa $22
Freisa is genetically close to nebbiolo, and they share the same hard tannins, but freisa typically has a less of a bouquet than nebbiolo. Burlotto succeeds in making one that’s usually fairly approachable young – grapy and with softer tannins. Fabio Alessandria told me in 2011 that the trick is to pick fairly late. 10-year-old vines; fermented in wood casks with 7-day maceration (versus 21-30 typical for traditional Barolo). Aged 10 months in large Allier French oak casks.
Tasting notes: “Good grip!” I wrote. Dark, desne, darker fruits. Some heat. Great dark cherry and a hint of celery. Grapy in a good way. The biggest. Someone said “muddy” – a little less precise, which I could understand but I loved this. I guessed the Abbona, based on my memory of the concentration and dark fruit in her wines. Didn’t have the rough edges of so many freisas. Very good on day 2, as well.
Group 4th/my 1st @ 89 points
Burlotto – Barbera d’Alba $23
From vines in Verduno ranging from 5 to 45 years old, grown at a fairly high 350-420 meters. 10-day maceration followed by 8-9 months in large oak casks.
Tasting notes: Very faint candy fruit on the nose, though not enough to put me off (and I hate cough drop candy in wines). Chewy. I guessed barbera because it reminded me of Giacoma Conterno’s barbera, though somewhat less rich. A mélange of red and black cherries, with good acid at the back. The label said 15%, but that didn’t show. A lovely wine, and I’m very pickly about my barberas.
Group 3rd/my 2nd @ 88 points