Italian TNs: Due' Dolcetti

WINE TALK
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Rainy saturday afternoon here in the Philly Burbs, so I thought I would open up a couple bottles to have with some fresh & aged Pecorino Toscana before the first pitch. First up, the:

2006 Claudio Alario Dolcetto Di Diano D’Alba Montagrillo
Super-ripe black & red fruits on the nose, with nice legs. Not a hard edge to be found on the palate, with sweet primarily black fruits (blackberry with a hint of raspberry) and nice bracing acidity - the acidity worked very well cutting through the creaminess of the fresh pecorino. Not unduly complex, and the finish is somewhat clipped, but a pretty good saturday afternoon, sitting-around-the-house drink. I bought a case of this atypically big Dolcetto on release (13% alcohol according to the label), and it has been consistently enjoyable as long as you are not looking for a traditional Dolcetto.

2

Next up, the 2007 Sottimano Dolcetto D’Alba Bric Del Salto
This comes across as a more traditional Dolcetto than the previous wine. Translucent red/purple in the glass, with acidity you can smell on the nose, and a much sleeker, more elegant impact on the palate. The fruit is not as upfront as the first wine, and you do have that hint of Dolcetto bitterness on the finish. I think the first wine still grabs my attention more, but I can see people preferring this wine (I’ll have to ask my wife later to see what she thinks about the two).