Last Monday was the monthly edition of Winephabet Street and Lori and I strolled down D street and explored Dolcetto. Honestly, I haven't had many Dolchettos so this was a great learning experience for me as well.
Dolchetto hails from the Piedmont region of Italy. There are seven DOC's and one DOCG. It's one of the first grapes to be harvested in the region and with that, it has nice tannins and low acidity. Dolcetto is a wine that is meant to drink young, within 5 years of harvest.
For Winephabet Street, Lori and I each talk about two topics and we rotate each month. This month I had Five Fun Facts, and the Characteristics of Dolcetto. Lori took on the History and Food Pairings. I didn't even look at Lori's information and made myself Jalapeno Popper Mac N Cheese for dinner and had it with my Dolcetto. I wasn't expecting it to go well with the wine but it did. I attributed it to the bacon, but actually one of the best food pairings for Dolcetto is Mac n Cheese. Who knew.
Lori and I don't live in the same area, she picked a Dolcetto di Dogliani and Paige from Boutique Wines & Spirits picked me out one from Dolcetto d'Alba. Both wines were under $20 from different areas of the region. As you will see in the video, one wine had more purple hues and one was more garnet in color.
I hope you enjoy the video. If you want the audio on the go, the podcast is below. Don't forget to sign up for next month's Winephabet Street October 16. Sign up here http://snip.ly/jtqtk
Cheers! Thanks for watching!
“This wine is made for food”, the first words out of Paul’s mouth with a piece of prosciutto and a sip of the 2013 Chionetti San Luigi Dogliani DOCG. The proscuitto ended up on our pizza with other Italian meats. The wine, well it was a perfect pairing.
The 2013 Chionetti is 100% Dolcetto from the Dogliani a territory of Langhe, Piedmont, Italy. The aromas escaping from the glass were that of maraschino cherries, blackberry and spice. The palate was layered with bing cherry, raspberry, black cherry, plum, blackberry pie and baking spices.
The reason why I say this wine goes so well with the pizza because the acidity of the wine really cuts into the saltiness of the Italian meats thus rounding out all the flavors in your mouth. The next time you are looking for a good red wine to have with your pizza, I suggest picking up a bottle of the 2013 Chionetti. SRP $23
What do you pair with two Italian wines, one a young Barbera and one a Dolcetto both from the Piedmont region of Italy? Leftover Filet Mignon and Pasta.
Neither of these wines saw any oak. All aged in stainless steel. They both reacted differently to the dinner at hand.
Brangero 2012 Dolcetto di Diano D'Alba is made by third generation winemaker Marco. It had a hint of smokiness on the nose. Also flavors of black cherry, blueberry and anise. The palate was fruity and balanced with some tannins. Flavors of red fruit and slight acidity. Goes very well with the pasta and tomato sauce
The wine tasted great with the cold Filet Mignon. Also tried it with provolone and Locatelli cheese. It mellowed out the sharpness on the provolone.
Roagna Barbera D'Alba 2014 is also produced by a Marco. This wine has the potential to age for 5 years.Aromas coming from the bottle were full of cherry and blackberries. The palate was soft and silky full fo sour cherry,, strawberry and plum.
The wine paired very well with the Filet Mignon. The wine rolls over the flavor of the sharp provolone but not the sharpness of the cheese.
