It is not as noble as Barolo, perhaps it is not as well known as Nebbiolo or "la" Barbera, but Dolcetto is certainly a beautiful heart wine, in Piedmont and in the world.
The Abrigo family has been making wine for three generations in Diano D'Alba, in the Langhe, a Unesco World Heritage site. The young brothers Giulio and Sergio, with their parents follow the rhythm of nature and "put their face" in every single step of the production. "Sentinels of the territory" for the protection of the wine-growing landscape, as a unique asset in the world for its rural and cultural exceptionality, the Abrigos make Barolo, Nebbiolo, Barbera, Arneis, Favorita.
But their heart beats for Dolcetto, a ready-to-drink red wine, tannic at the right point, balanced, with hints of red fruits, the "vin bun", the good wine that the old customers of the house - says Giulio - still ask for sometimes to buy in bulk and arrives in the cellar with a demijohn to fill. A wine to be tasted with traditional Piedmontese dishes but which can be experimented well, for example with Roman cuisine, one of all the stewed lamb with chicory served with the glorious and ancient Trimani di Roma in combination with the DOCG.
On Dolcetto the Abrigos worked with passion and constancy, starting in 1968 from an old vineyard in Diano d'Alba, which is a place – and the name of a denomination – where there are 75 “sorì”, the sunny hills where Dolcetto grows and ripens its small bunches. Thus in the cellar – a sustainable structure immersed in a hill, currently under construction next to the older one – we find the Dolcetto docg Sorì Garabei (10 euros a bottle), the Dolcetto docg Sorì dei Crava (8 euros), two top expressions of The Abrigo family company which produces a total of 70 thousand bottles a year of which about 12 thousand of Dolcetto and the same number of Barolo (40 euros per bottle in the cellar).
The latter comes from a vineyard that the Abrigos rent in Novello, where they started producing it in 2013. Americans appreciate the iconic Dolcetto abroad. In fact, 30% of Abrigo's exports go to the USA, which then sells the rest in Italy, above all in Piedmont and Lombardy. Alongside the work in the vineyard and in the cellar there is also work involving hazelnuts. The Giovanni Abrigo company (named after Giulio and Sergio's grandfather) has in fact been producing the famous Tonda for over thirty years, on the ten hectares of land planted with hazelnut groves.
