The place for all things wine, focused on serious wine discussions.

WTN: Three Dolcettos...(short/boring)

Moderators: Jenise, Robin Garr, David M. Bueker

no avatar
User

TomHill

Rank

Here From the Very Start

Posts

7853

Joined

Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:01 pm

WTN: Three Dolcettos...(short/boring)

by TomHill » Wed Nov 15, 2017 12:05 pm

Tasted over the last few days:
1. Idlewild Dolcetto FoxHillVnyd/MendoCnty (12.4%) 2015: Very dark color; beautiful grapey/Dolcetto/licorice/blaclberry/black cherry some earthy/graphite/pungent/bit smokey complex nose; fairly tart/tangy/hard/angular strong Dolcetto/black cherry/licorice/blackberry light smokey/oak rather tannic classic Piemonte Dolcetto flavor w/ ample hard/angular tannins; very long/lingering rather hard/tannic/tart classic Dolcetto grapey/black cherry/black cherry cola quite tart/hard finish w/ ample hard/crunchy tannins; a pretty good take on classic young Piemonte Dolcetto; tannins are pretty fierce and needs age. $28.00
___________________
2. Falletto di Bruno Giacosa DOC: Dolcetto d'Alba Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba (12.5%; #4812 of 7300 btls) 2008: Med.color w/ slight bricking; rather earthy/mushroomy strong Dolcetto/licorice/grapey/mulberry bit smokey/smoked meats slightly tired/aged some complex nose; soft bit tired/oldRed/aged light grapey/Dolcetto/licorice slight pencilly/smokey light earthy/dusty/mushroomy flavor w/ light gritty tannins; med.long some tired/dried out light Dolcetto/grapey/licorice bit soft slight smokey finish w/ light tired/astringent tannins; moderately interesting but rather on the tired/dried-out side and not a lot of fruit. $20.00 (WoodHills)
___________________
3. Bartolo Mascarello DOC: Dolcetto d'Alba Vigne Monrobiolo-Rue (14%) Barolo 2007: Very dark color w/ some bricking; very strong licorice/Dolcetto/grapey/plummy some smokey/pungent/toasty bit earthy/dusty/root cellar bit dried out fairly complex nose; some tart/tangy bit tannic/rough strong Dolcetto/licorice/pungent/grapey bit dried out/tannic bit complex flavor w/ modest rough/drying tannins; long very strong pungent/Dolcetto/grapey/licorice some earthy/mushroomy/truffle/pungent bit drying/tired bit complex finish w/ light drying/astringent tannins; rather more interesting & alive but starting to dry out a bit. $25.00
__________________________________
A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. A like Dolcetto quite a bit. It is often termed the Beaujolais of the Piemonte, but that's a comparison I never get, other than Piemonte Dolcettos are usually drunk young.
I often find that can be on the tannic side, which would suggest they might age well. But I find they seldom pay any rewards for aging them, as these two examples show.
I generally prefer the Dolcettos that come from the Dogliani region. OliverMcCrum's Abbona is one of my faves.
Calif Dolcettos can be a rather mixed bag. The Ildewild is probably my favorite of them all. This '15 had beautiful aromatics, but I found the tannins a bit on the fierce side. After it was opened a few days, the tannins abated a bit...the opposite of what I usually find from leaving a wine open. Given how Dolcetto has a reputation for not aging, it will be interesting to see how Sam's Dolcetto will evolve. I have a few older ones waiting in the wings.
Tom
no avatar
User

David M. Bueker

Rank

Riesling Guru

Posts

34251

Joined

Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:52 am

Location

Connecticut

Re: WTN: Three Dolcettos...(short/boring)

by David M. Bueker » Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:06 pm

There are several bottles of Sam's Dolcetto in my cellar as well. I am thinking 3-4 years of age rather than 7-10.
Decisions are made by those who show up
no avatar
User

Bill Spohn

Rank

He put the 'bar' in 'barrister'

Posts

9457

Joined

Tue Mar 21, 2006 7:31 pm

Location

Vancouver BC

Re: WTN: Three Dolcettos...(short/boring)

by Bill Spohn » Thu Nov 16, 2017 3:15 pm

A like Dolcetto quite a bit. It is often termed the Beaujolais of the Piemonte, but that's a comparison I never get, other than Piemonte Dolcettos are usually drunk young.
I often find that can be on the tannic side, which would suggest they might age well. But I find they seldom pay any rewards for aging them, as these two examples show.
I generally prefer the Dolcettos that come from the Dogliani region.


Agree on Dogliani.

Not sure how long you've been drinking Dolcettos (they haven't had really wide distribution until the last 15 - 20 years). The traditional wines ARE similar to Bojo, but somewhere back a bit, some bright light obviously a follower of The Bob, had a Eureka moment when they decided that by pumping up the sweet fruit aspect, they could get better reviews and sell more.

Sadly, that was apparently true and many 'new style' Dolcetti began to appear, to the point where I no longer bought them as, for me anyway, they had lost their charm. That was back in the 1990s and I never bothered much with them until recently (bought some 2016 Massolini which is quite decent).

Thanks for the interesting California notes. In my experience, California versions of Italian varietals rarely have a lot of resemblance to those from the home country, although they may be worthy wines in their own right. I haven't tasted any CA Dolcetti, though, so might look up some recent vintages if I get down that way.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: AhrefsBot, Bruce K, ClaudeBot, Patchen Markell and 1 guest

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign