How to describe Dolcetto without sounding too banal? Let’s try. First of all, one notes the colour, a full and deep ruby red that tends to be more intense than that of Barbera, and also has some light purple tinges. On the nose it reminds one of black cherries, plums and frequently of something more crisp and savoury, such as preserved sour morello cherries, or the leaves of cherry laurel. Sometimes one finds notes of freshly cur wood and also of Indian ink. When it is at its best, it will be full-bodied on the palate and rounded with some bitter almonds on the finish.

As is the case with many other grape varieties, there is not just one possible interpretation of Dolcetto. Schematically we would like to present two extremes, and in practical terms all the gradations between these two can also be found. The first type is the basic or simple Dolcetto, a popular wine for everyday drinking, not particularly complex, with freshness and fruit dominating. The other extreme is the tremendously concentrated and rich type of wine, well structured and with a maturation potential that in parts has yet to be fully explored. According to Rocco Di Stefano, one of the greatest experts in the field of oenological chemistry, not only in Italy, Dolcetto is, at least in as far as the chemical structure of its polyphenols is concerned, the Piemontese variety with the greatest potential for maturation, and at least is certainly the one with the most stable colour compounds. This rather surprising analysis is based on analyses of the quantity and structure of the anthocyanins, among which the stable and less oxidative malvidine-3-glucoside dominates, and on the fact that the tannins can so easily be extracted from the berry skins and seeds. They form mainly stable polymers, provided you are working with fully ripe grapes. Seen from this angle, Dolcetto even approaches the profiles of such international grape varieties as Cabernet and Merlot.

The slightly more compact version in Ovada (Photo: Maurizio Gily)

There is no doubt that excellent examples of both the first and second type of Dolcetto exist, if we are to remain, for the moment, within the framework of this simplified scheme. In the region around Ovada, producers have decided to follow in the footsteps, as it were, of Dolcetto di Dogliani, in as far as they differentiate between the two types. The Dolcetto di Ovada DOC, practically referring to the current DOC, and Ovada as a DOCG (controlled and guaranteed designation of origin), a wine of the Superiore category, with more restrictive regulations regarding production and maturation (applied for).

The individual DOCs:


DOLCETTO D’ACQUI

In the Alto Monferrato Acquese region, the borders of which coincide with those for Moscato, the production region stretches from the left bank of the Bormida river, extending towards the north up to the gushing Belbo brook. Here, the Dolcetto occupies an important position, producing fresh, fruity, easily approachable wines that, with a few exceptions, doe not have a particularly deep colour. However, there is also another side to Acqui, stretching up from the right bank of the Bormida in the direction of the Apennines. Here, only tiny plantings of the variety remain. The forests and woods are rapidly gaining back the territory taken from them by man in the past few centuries. However, these small vineyard areas include a lot of Dolcetto, and what there is, is of remarkable quality: in Ponti, Spigno, Melazzo, Cartosio. The communes with the largest proportion of Dolcetto in the Acqui region are Acqui itself, Cassine, Rivalta Bormida and Orsara Bormida, all of which have between 50 and 100 hectares planted.

Production area Dolcetto d’Acqui (map: Piemonte region)

DOLCETTO D’ASTI

In Asti province, the borders of the Dolcetto areas coincide with those for Moscato. In no community of the Asti region do the plantings of Dolcetto exceed 50 hectares. Nevertheless it is quite widespread in the area, with plantings stretching to the southern banks of the Tanaro river, whereas on the left bank of the river Dolcetto has become a real rarity.

Production area Dolcetto d’Asti (map: Piemonte region)

DOLCETTO D‘OVADA

The production area is located further south, centred on the town of Ovada, from which the area takes its name. It is bisected by the gushing Orba brook, and is a geologically very difficult terrain, with soils of different origins. The two communes with the largest vineyard areas of Dolcetto vines are Rocca Grimalda and Carpeneto, each of which has more than a hundred hectares. Unfortunately the communes which actually would have the greatest potential for the variety, such as Cremolino, Trisobbio, Morsasco, Prasco and Ovada have only very small plantings of Dolcetto remaining, though to compensate for this, that which remains is of exceptional quality. In the east of the Orba region, Dolcetto retains a certain importance in Tagliolo, Castelletto d’Orba, Silvano d’Orba and Lerma, whereas further east from here, heading towards Gavi, the role of leading grape variety is taken over by Cortese.

Dolcetto from Ovada is a robust, full-bodied wine with an intense colour, slightly brittle and untamed in its youth, particularly if the wine is sourced from the „red soils“. It is generally at its best after a year or two. The connection between variety and terroir is particularly strong here, as it is in Dogliani.

There are no major producers in the Ovada region; viticulture here is totally artisanal, and this also helps to explain why the wine is so little known on the international market. However, Dolcetto from Ovada has been highly regarded for centuries by consumers in the nearby city of Genoa, as well as by the „merchants“ from the region of Alba, the producers of Dolcetto d’Alba, who always did a lot of good business in this area, before the restrictions imposed by the strict DOC regulations made it increasingly difficult to engineer blends and “re-bottlings” of wine.

Production area Dolcetto d’Ovada (map: Piemonte region)

Die Ricaduta

The parish church of Ovadan ist he symbol of the town (Photo: Alexala, Massimiliano Navarria)

All three production areas mentioned above share a common factor, the option of using the “Ricaduta” Monferrato DOC Dolcetto. What is a Ricaduta? If a wine does not obtain the approval of the tasting commission in terms of the quality guidelines, or if the producer decides for one reason or another not to produce a wine according to the rules of the „higher“ classification DOC or DOCG, then the wine is „declassified“ into the next lower category. In the case of a DOCG wine this may be a DOC, in the case of DOC wines it may be another DOC covering a larger area, or an IGT, or even straight to a table wine. That depends on the production regulations of each individual area. Among the reasons for a “Ricaduta” could be, for example, overproduction relative to the maximum yields defined in the regulations fort he specific classification, failure to achieve the required quality, or simply a decision by the producer to opt for a lower classification, either in order to be able to offer the wine at a lower price, or because he wishes to take account of variations in market demand.

The Monferrato DOC is a general DOC for a large number of varietal and blended wines. Any Dolcetto produced under this designation need consist only of 85% of must of Dolcetto grapes, in contrast to the more specific DOCs mentioned above, which require that the wine consists of 100% Dolcetto must. The region overlaps all the abovementioned production areas. The northern section of Monferrato however does not have any choice, there only the production of Monferrato DOC Dolcetto is permitted.

Translated by Katrin Walter and Peter Gebler.