| Dogliani and Dolcetto Wines of Piedmont | | | | By: Subhash Arora |  Page 1 of 5 next >> |
One thing that strikes you as you reach the Langhe hills, driving from Torino in the month of October is the beautiful patchwork of green, orange, yellow and red all around you. How come, the painters, writers and poets love Veneto, Tuscan hills of Chianti Classico and Lake Como etc. but do not rave this region, you wonder?
Perhaps, they did not visit the region in Fall, when the Dolcetto vines turn a combo of red, orange and yellow spreading a multi-colour sheet. The slightly- yellow turning patches of Nebbiolo vines lend a beautiful contrast. Occasional glimpse of snow capped Alps add as a magnificent backdrop that would be any nature lover’s delight- the pleasure would be amplified with a glass of Dolcetto di Dogliani in hand!
‘Drink Well- Drink Dolcetto di Dogliani’ is what the brochure at Bottega del vino Dolcetto di Dogliani distributed to us from the Municipality of Dogliani in the presence of the Mayor suggests. You may drink the great wines of Barolo, Barbaresco (Nebbiolo grapes them all), Barbera (most areas including Dogliani grow this grape-recently making strides with tremendous quality improvement through longer maturity) or the dry quaffable wines made from Dolcetto grapes.
Who, what or where is Dogliani
If you have not heard the name Dogliani- not a problem; many Italians haven’t either. But it helps understanding wines from this DOC and DOCG appellation that makes some delicious and uncomplicated but affordable food wines.
Dogliani is a small old city of 5000 inhabitants, about 70 minute drive South of Torino and is at the heart of the appellation which produces about 5 million bottles.
Lying as a natural bowl, surrounded by beautiful green hills, at an altitude of 300 mtrs, it is considered the capital of the South- West Langa, the hilly region of Piemonte.
There are seven Appellations for Dolcetto in Piemonte (not including the two more generic ones and for lower classification in the hierarchy- namely DOC Dolcetto Piemonte and DOC Dolcetto Langhe). Besides DOC Dolcetto di Dogliani there are 6 others that include the better know Dolcetto di Alba, Asti and the lesser known Diano and Acqui
Dolcetto- the sweet little grape making dry wine
If the appellation is confusing, the Dolcetto grape is no less of a misnomer. Translated as the ‘sweet little one’, it is not really a sweet grape but being less acidic than the acidic Barbera grape, it feels sweeter on the Piemontese palate and hence the name. Wines made from this easier growing and earlier harvesting grapes are quite dry, with the residual sugar being 2-5 gm/ liter ( 5gm/l denotes a dry wine and it is not possible to make a wine with less than 1 gm/l of sugar.)
What confuses even more is that the regions growing this grape are situated very close to each other and naturally all the regions claim their superiority in terms of soil. This part of Piedmont is practically the only region in the world where Dolcetto is green.
Dogliani- Producer of Darling Dolcetto wines
Dogliani has its own rightful reasons to claim superiority of its Dolcetto wines.
Dolcetto grapes were already on the Dogliani hills since 1000 AD. Historical documents also witness that wine trade in these areas started from the XI century. The city takes on its actual shape dividing into Borgo (village) and Castello (castle) since those days.
In restaurants it is used in combination with rather simple dishes, where an easy-drinking, low-alcohol and immediately understandable wine is required. However, it remains a truly Piemontese wine even in its true classic version. Its gentle, slightly bitter final taste makes it a meal wine par excellence, as also because of its clear matching quality.
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