Tasting Notes: The Dolcetto d’Alba Dei Grassi comes from a southeast facing, 1.5-hectare parcel of loosely packed calcareous soil, surrounded by the Nebbiolo that goes into the Gavarini Barolo. ... The grapes are hand-harvested, fermented in stainless steel, and the wine is bottled directly from the tank in April after the harvest. In the glass, the wine has an inky, royal purple color, with flashes of crimson just at the edge. Aromas of sun-warmed wild blueberries, black raspberries, Damson plums, and black Mission figs move in and out of the foreground, then add an amalgam of black peppercorns, freshly grated nutmeg, and wild oyster mushrooms, as the nose evolves in the glass. On the palate, the wine is juicy, bright, and bursting with luscious black fruit flavors that echo the nose, including ripe amarena cherries, black mission figs, and pomegranate, all seasoned with a hint of sea salt minerality, and beautifully balanced with a thread of black raspberry acidity. Read More
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If there is any Barolo producer who perfectly embodies the idea of stewardship of his heritage, it is Elio Grasso. He was working in a bank in Torino in 1978 when his grandfather died, leaving him a small cascina and a few giornate of vines on the Gavarini and Ginestra hills of Monforte d’Alba. Elio promptly quit the bank to become a wine grower. Today he still works every day in the vineyard, preferring to leave the cellar and business to his son Gianluca, who produces the wines. The estate is now always counted among the top producers in Italy.
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The wines of Piemonte are noted as far back as Pliny's Natural History. Due to geographic and political isolation, Piemonte was without a natural port for most of its history, which made exportation treacherous and expensive. This left the Piemontese with little incentive to expand production. Sixteenth-century records show a mere 14% of the Bassa Langa under vine - most of that low-lying and farmed polyculturally. In the nineteenth century the Marchesa Falletti, a French woman by birth, brought eonologist Louis Oudart from Champagne to create the first dry wines in Piemonte. Along with work in experimental vineyards at Castello Grinzane conducted by Camilo Cavour - later Conte di Cavour, leader of the Risorgimento and first Prime Minister of Italy - this was the birth of modern wine in the Piedmont. At the heart of the region and her reputation are Alba and the Langhe Hills. This series of weathered outcroppings south of the Tanaro River is of maritime origin and composed mainly of limestone, sand and clay, known as terra bianca. In these soils - located mainly around the towns of Barolo and Barbaresco - the ancient grape Dolcetto, or "little sweet one", has served impeccably as the versatile, everyday wine here since the middle ages.
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The wines produced from this grape are almost without exception, dry. The history of Dolcetto in Piemonte is thought to go back over eight-hundred years. Wines produced from this grape were the "everyday" wines of the hills near Alba and Cuneo. Considered noble in the Dogliani zone, where the work of committed producers has resulted in the awarding of DOCG status.
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Grilled or roasted pork and beef dishes, work very well with this wine. The wine is also delicious with wild mushroom-based sauces, and grilled Portabellos.
