Elio Grasso Dolcetto d'Alba Dei Grassi 2011
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Robert
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A wine of remarkable elegance and polish, the 2011 Dolcetto d’Alba Dei Grassi caresses the palate with layers of soft fruit, floral aromas and phenomenal length. This isn’t a huge wine, but rather is endowed with superb elegance. Hints of tar, smoke and game wrap around the brilliant finish. I don’t think I have ever tasted a more refined and Burgundian Dolcetto than this.
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Robert
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Currently, the Elio Grasso estate has a productive vineyard holding of 14 hectares. The cellar uses only estate-grown grapes from varieties traditionally grown, with excellent results, in the Langhe hill country near Alba.
Reflecting the imprint of the vineyard where the fruit was grown in order to give our wines their unique personality is the goal that we - myself, my wife Marina and our son, Gianluca - strive to achieve, with the invaluable assistance of our consultant wine technician, Piero Ballario.
We believe that to be acknowledged first as grape farmers, and then as wine producers, is the best way to honour, and continue the labours of, those who have faced before us the challenges that working with nature and her products, like wine, entails. This, and a desire to be true to ourselves, prompts us propose, without presumption, the convictions and conduct shared by all Langhe farming families, characteristics worth preserving and which we believe make the difference.
An easy drinking red with soft fruity flavors—but catchy tannins, Dolcetto is often enjoyed in its native Piedmont on a casual weekday night, or for apertivo (the canonical Piedmontese pre-dinner appetizer hour). Somm Secret—In most of Piedmont, easy-ripening Dolcetto is relegated to the secondary sites—the best of which are reserved for the king variety: Nebbiolo. However, in the Dogliani zone it is the star of the show, and makes a more serious style of Dolcetto, many of which can improve with cellar time.
An historic village situated right in between the famous regions of Barolo and Barbaresco, Alba is also the name for the larger wine region surrounding the village.
In a sense, “Alba” is a catch-all phrase, and includes the declassified Nebbiolo wines made in Barolo and Barbaresco, as well as the Nebbiolo grown just outside of these regions’ borders. In fact, Nebbiolo d’Alba is a softer, less tannic and more fruit-forward wine ready to drink within just a couple years of bottling. It is a great place to start if you want to begin to understand the grape. Likewise, the even broader category of Langhe Nebbiolo offers approachable and value-driven options as well.
Barbera, planted alongside Nebbiolo in the surrounding hills, and referred to as Barbera d’Alba, takes on a more powerful and concentrated personality compared to its counterparts in Asti.
Dolcetto is ubiquitous here and, known as Dolcetto d'Alba, can be found casually served alongside antipasti on the tables of Alba’s cafes and wine bars.
Not surprisingly, given its location, Alba is recognized as one of Italy’s premiere culinary destinations and is the home of the fall truffle fair, which attracts visitors from worldwide every year.