The tale of this brilliant wine begins with its equally brilliant creator, Nicoletta Bocca. In 1992 – at a time when female winemakers were extremely rare in Piedmont – Nicoletta assembled the San Fereolo property from a collection of ancient vineyards whose owners were too old to farm any longer. Keep in mind that the parcels that produce this wine were most recently replanted in 1936 and even the estate’s “young vines” are four decades old! In the 24 years following the property’s inception, Nicoletta has honed her skills and earned a reputation as a winemaking icon and one of the most brilliant and consistent organic and biodynamic producers in the world. Through Nicoletta’s skill, wisdom, and a dogged insistence on cellar aging her wines for many years prior to release (she is still releasing 2001 Barbera this year!), San Fereolo has become synonymous with a dumfounding depth and variety of world class wines. 

Of course, it’s impossible to discuss a great wine without also diving into its place of origin. Nicoletta organically and biodynamically farms a small collection of ancient 1400 ft+ limestone vineyards that cling to the hillside above the Piedmontese village of Dogliani. If you have traveled the great wine regions of northern Italy, you may already be familiar with Dogliani as the final village one drives through before entering Barolo from the south. In addition to its close proximity to Barolo, Dogliani is arguably the most famous location for growing Dolcetto on the planet, and one of only a small handful of appellations wherein this varietal earns the coveted DOCG status. This is because the finest examples of Dolcetto from Dogliani are unlike any other Dolcettos in Italy. In the rare instances when you encounter a mature bottle of Dogliani from a top estate and great vintage, it is clear that this appellation transcends mere varietal typicity. Top quality, cellar aged Dogliani possesses shocking power, length and texture— it clearly deserves its elevated standing alongside Barolo, Barbaresco and the other elite village appellations of Piedmont. 

Because of the stellar, time tested location and the chemical-free nature of her farming, Nicoletta’s fruit possesses exceptional personality and energy. The eight decade-old Dolcetto vines that produce this wine (the property’s top label) somehow pack more density of fruit, tannic grip and length of finish that I’ve ever experienced in a Dolcetto. In the cellar, Nicoletta takes pains to preserve and never mask this unique character. Fruit is destemmed, crushed, and then fermented in large neutral Slavonian oak vats. There is no temperature control, the old wood imparts very little in the way of oaky aroma or flavor, and no additives or commercial yeasts are added—the wine is largely left untouched. The final, and perhaps most important step in Nicoletta’s process is time. She has a cavernous aging cellar in which this wine spent many years before it was shipped to California. One cannot overstate the cost and deferred income of this extended aging, and it’s equally impossible to deny the integral impact it has on producing the stellar finished product. It’s simply not possible to produce a wine of this astounding depth and complexity without numerous years of cellar aging before release.

In the glass, the 2008 San Fereolo Dogliani DOCG shows what we already know: This wine has been perfectly aged in Nicoletta’s stone cellar and is just beginning to hit peak maturity. It’s on fire, with a deep and opaque purple core that reaches outward with slight crimson and orange hues beginning to show on the rim. In the glass, it could easily be mistaken for top tier Barolo – I understand that may sound like an exaggeration, but this wine has so much raw power and such vivid floral with crushed stone aromatics that it’s challenging and perhaps pointless to compare it to other Dolcetto-based wines. As always, San Fereolo is something altogether more brilliant and impressive. Please decant this wine 30 minutes before serving in large Burgundy stems. A wine this impressive and powerful will reward hearty and robust cuisine. I strongly encourage you to enjoy this superlative wine as I did: alongside this delicious veal chop and mushroom preparation. Finally, I wish to pass along a suggestion that applies to almost every wine Nicoletta releases: This bottle easily has 3-5 years of peak drinking left, followed by a long and graceful decline that will surely last another decade. Its dark fruit and ample tannins will continue to soften and evolve into dried flowers, black truffle and mushroom notes, and I expect it will only become more interesting as the years pass. I am adding a half case of this to the Piedmont corner of my cellar and I’m sure you won’t regret doing the same.