Dolcetto

Dolcetto is the everyday red of Piedmont and the third of the region's trio behind nebbiolo and barbera. The name means little sweet one, which refers to the taste of the ripe berry rather than the wine. The wine is dry. It ripens early, several weeks before nebbiolo, which lets growers plant it on the cooler sites that nebbiolo cannot use.

That division of the hillside is the reason it survives. Land in Barolo and Barbaresco is too valuable to give to anything but nebbiolo, so dolcetto takes the north-facing and higher ground and is picked in September, clearing the cellar before the important harvest arrives. It is difficult in the vineyard despite this, prone to poor fruit set and to dropping its leaves early.

The wine is deep purple, low in acid, moderately tannic, and full of black cherry, plum and liquorice with a faintly bitter almond finish. It is meant for the first two or three years. Dogliani makes the most structured versions and has its own DOCG, and Dolcetto d'Alba and Dolcetto d'Asti supply most of the rest.