Get your thoughts out of the gutter! This is a very clean wine, the Lupi, Ormeasco di Pornassio Superiore, ‘Le Braje’, 2005. My first time having this wine that is a Ligurian wine but one grown inland, not on the coast, and also a type of dolcetto. Who would have thought? This is so different from any dolcetto I’ve had before, very clear and bright with a muted nose suggesting something saline or oceanic. Redcurrants and gooseberries (the thick kind with skin on them, not the ones found in sauvignon blanc), slightly tart and very smooth presently. Probably a good match with salami. Enjoyable and uncomplicated, hints strongly toward the Loire and Beaujolais, but with a more saline element. B+ Definately a buyer again, if I can find it. Mid-upper $20’s pricing. Info below from wine-searcher.com about the appelation.
From winesearcher.com: “Ormeasco di Pornassio’s most celebrated grape is the ancient red Dolcetto (known here as Ormeasco, hence the DOC’s name), which has existed since the Middle Ages. It is a local clone of the Dolcetto grape best known for its use in Piedmont, but tends to make brighter-colored wines with a more intense, perfumed bouquet and sweeter tannins, while still maintaining a distinct bitter characteristic.
Ormeasco is considered a ‘mountain wine’ in Pornassio, as this area is not the most hospitable growing environment: its steep slopes reach up to 2625ft (800m) above sea level. Most red varieties struggle to grow in this kind of terrain, as they must contend with premature autumnal frosts. However the native Ormeasco is this DOC’s saving grace, since it is an early ripener.
Regulations require that the wine comprise at least 95% of this variety with 5% of other red grapes permitted in Liguria.”