2008 Abbona Dogliani Dolchetto

Hello!! I've just tried my first Dolcetto and I have to say, it was very nice! Dolcetto is from the Langhe zone in Italy. It is an everyday wine of that region and is commonly enjoyed with the lighter appetizer course, but also with everyday meat or vegetable dishes. It is very food friendly and pairs with foods much as a pinot noir or Cotes du Rhone would. It's a light to medium bodied Italian red with light acid and fairly firm tannins. This wine had a very nice nose of cherry with a little vanilla. The flavor profile was similar to the nose with lots of cherry and a nice bit of toasty vanilla oak. It was a very smooth, somewhat silky wine which hit the entire palate, although it was lighter on the back of the palate. Still, it had a nice finish. Overall, very pleasant, but not very complex. I could see this as a very nice everyday wine which would pair well with a variety of foods. Here's the downside. This varietal is very popular in Italy, especially in the Langhe region, but not a lot is exported. Consequently, it's a little pricey. I paid $27 at Ashes for this wine. This particular wine is supposed to be a very good example of the varietal. Would I buy it again? Yes, I will pick up another bottle soon (while they still have it). It is just so food friendly and so yummy, to us. It you do a lot of casual Italian cooking a couple of times a week, like I do, you may want to keep one or two in your wine rack.