Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba DOCG

The production area for this Dolcetto is the hilly area at 500 m a.s.l. in the small municipality of Diano d’Alba.

The concentrical Diano d’Alba district is located on a hilltop which is among the highest in the Langhe zone, where the dolcetto grape variety has been able to carve out an important space for itself, dominating the best exposed slopes.

The preference of Diano’s producers for this grape variety and the experience passed down through generations has, over time, identified the best positions for the vineyards so well that it has been possible to delimit them with precision since 1986, through the publication by the municipal administration of the map of areas for the attribution of the vineyard name mention.

These areas, the most suitable for viticulture, are called sörì, which in Piedmontese dialect stands for “a sunny, well-exposed place”.

Features

Diano d’Alba wine has an intense ruby red colour with youthful violet reflections, a fragrant and fruity bouquet, marked by morello cherry and sometimes blackberry or jam, a dry, nervous, lean flavour, pleasantly influenced by a varietal aftertaste of bitter almond that stimulates the palate.

It possesses some aromatic traits, including geranium, which make it pleasant when young, and it has the strength for medium ageing. With ageing of at least 18 months, it can be presented in the “Superiore” category.

Gino Veronelli included it among the wines he loved most.

Wine regulations

Wine regulations regarding the production of Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba or Diano d’Alba establish that, when released for marketing from January 1st of the year following the harvest, the wine must offer the following characteristics:

Colour

Ruby red.

Bouquet

Winey and pleasantly characteristic.

Flavour

Dry, pleasantly almond-tasting, with moderate acidity, good body, and harmonious.

Minimum total alcoholic strength by volume: 11.5%;

Minimum total acidity: 4.5‰;

Minimum non-reducing extract: 21 g/litre.

Texts taken from the “2009 Vineyard Register” of the Cuneo Chamber of Commerce