The respect of Dolcetto d' Alba and Bruno Giacosa

I hope you joined us for our 1st Italian Wine, Food & Travel (#ItalianFWT) event last week featuring the Veneto.  Some great stories were shared including my "sensational soave" blog.  This week I'm going to share with you some wine from the Piedmont region as this will be our next feature next month on December 6th.  If you are interested in joining us please reach out to me.  As I study my way through Italy I'm also focusing on this region myself right now and boy is this a huge region to learn when it comes to wine, but SO many great ones to share.  This week I'm sharing with you a Dolcetto d'Alba from the well known Bruno Giacosa. 

Vineyards of Piedmont

Who is Bruno Giacosa?
Bruno Giacosa is a very well-respected name when it comes to wines from Piedmont.  With 3 generations of winemaking and a long history of passion for the land in which he was born from and the fruits of the land all have earned him his status in the wine world when it comes to Piedmont, Piemontese, wines.  Growing up in the wine world and throughout his life he has built strong relationships with many folks of the region.  This combined with his knowledge of the terroirs has allowed him to purchase grapes from some of the best parcels of lands.  Later, once those folks began producing their own wine, Bruno Giacosa began to purchase his own vineyards in Rabaja and Asili within Barbaresco and Falletto within Barolo.  These specific areas within Barolo and Barbaresco are some of the most highly regarded areas for wine production.  

The wines of Bruno Giacosa
Today, Bruno Giacosa's wines are vinified and cellared in the town of Nieve.  There are a couple labelings to look for when reviewing wines from Bruno Giacosa.  There are those bottles labeled "Casa Vinicola Bruno Giacosa", which are actually the wines that Giacosa produces after buying grapes that he selects from vineyards he respects for producing great grapes.  Then there is the "Azienda Agricola Falletto" wines of Bruno Giacosa and these are estate grown grapes. The wine I'm sharing with you today is a 2012 Bruno Giacosa Casa Vinicola Dolcetto d'Alba DOC.  

This Casa Vinicola Dolcetto D'Alba is from the town and area of Alba, which I stayed in back in 2009.  Great town and if you go in autumn and catch the truffle festival as we did you are in for a treat!  

White Truffle Market in Alba

The Dolcetto from Alba (hence dolcetto d'alba) is a DOC designation (Denominazione di origina controllata), which was granted to this area in 1974.  Dolcetto is a grape that is meant to be enjoyed young and is one of the more quaffable and easy drinking wines of the region, but there are some producers out there making great dolcetto as this one was so being able to never generalize is important in the wine world or you can really miss out.  

The 2012 Bruno Giacosa Casa Vinicola Dolcetto d'Alba
This wine was ruby in color with some hues of purple on the rim showing some of its youth.  It was one of the nicer dolcettos I have had and it's no surprise because of it's producer.  It showed fruits of red cassis, cherry, cranberries, violets along with some warm baking spices like allspice and some slight nuances of vanilla bean.  This wine is ready to drink now and could even be slightly held on to, but dolcetto is typically meant to be drunk young.

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