There’s a common misconception that Dolcetto isn’t capable of aging well, but I disagree. Granted, many producers maximize harvests from young vines and vinify Dolcetto into a young-drinking (and often quickly expiring) style. Still, there is a small cadre of elite estates in and around Barolo and Barbaresco who create exceptional old-vine Dolcetto for the ages.
If you’ve ever tasted this variety in the hands of a dedicated Dolcetto specialist—like the high priestess behind today’s brilliant wine, Nicoletta Bocca—then you already know what I’m talking about. Based in the Dolcetto focused growing zone of Dogliani, which is known for its powerful and concentrated takes on the variety, Nicoletta insists on barrel- and bottle-maturing her Dolcettos for many years after vintage. I’ve tasted today’s cuvée (the property’s top wine from its oldest vines) going back to the early 2000s and every one was full of life and consistently outstanding. Today’s well-aged beauty, from the great 2010 vintage no less, has only just been released—and for a mere $38, it offers all the aromatic grandeur, Piedmont terroir character and intensity one expects from this region’s far-higher-priced Nebbiolo bottlings. It’s a ruthlessly limited release and thus, there isn’t much inventory to offer today. But I strongly urge you to challenge your preconceptions about Dolcetto and experience this exceptional red; it is really a game-changer!
In 1992—at a time when female winemakers were extremely rare in Piedmont—Nicoletta Bocca 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 today’s wine were most recently re-planted in 1936 and even the estate’s “young vines” are four decades old! This is particularly crucial to the character and quality of today’s wine: most experienced producers will tell you that vine age is strongly correlated to minerality and aging potential, and this is one of the reasons Nicoletta is able to produce such impressively cellar-worthy Dolcetto.
In the years since the property’s inception, Nicoletta has honed her skills and earned a reputation as a winemaking icon and one of the most consistent organic/biodynamic producers in the world. Through her skill, wisdom, and insistence on long cellar aging (she is still releasing 2001 Barbera this year!), San Fereolo has become synonymous with a variety of world-class wines. Of course, it’s impossible to discuss a great wine without also diving into its place of origin. Nicoletta farms a small collection of ancient vineyards, rooted in limestone soils, that reach to elevations exceeding 1,400 feet 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 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 appellations of Piedmont.
The eight-decade-old Dolcetto vines that produce today’s wine pack more density of fruit, tannic grip, and length of finish than 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 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 impact it has on producing the stellar finished product. It’s simply not possible to produce a wine of this depth and complexity without numerous years of aging before release.
In the universally acclaimed 2010 vintage, it should come as no surprise that Nicoletta’s Dogliani DOCG “San Fereolo” is absolutely gorgeous. Black cherry and dark mulberry fruit overlap with seductive licorice, leather and more savory/meaty notes. Still, the “take home message” is one of terroir. There is an obvious throughline that can be drawn from Nicoletta’s estate, to just a few miles north in Barolo. Limestone, dried roses and violet blossoms, white and black truffles—Piedmontese soil is clearly the star of this show. What is surprisingly absent is any sense of fatigue or frailty. Despite seven-plus years of age, this is a youthful and impressively rambunctious red. It drank just as deliciously when I pulled the cork as it did many hours later when I finished the final drop. That’s great news today, and it’s a convincing indicator of this bottle’s ongoing cellar potential. 2010 remains a benchmark vintage so I’m looking forward to cellaring 6 bottles. For those who wish to enjoy one now, decant the wine 30 minutes before serving in Burgundy stems. This is a powerful, chewy wine that sings with rich proteins and will be flattered by some big, brawny veal chops. Next, whip up some buttery mashed potatoes and sauté two heads of large leaf spinach in the pan drippings—get ready for an memorable meal and one heck of a wine!
