Pecchenino, Dogliani (Piedmont, Italy) 2015

Dogliani is an appellation located just south of Barolo and devoted to the Dolcetto grape.  I travel to this area every year, and if there’s a better producer in the region than Pecchenino, that would come as news to me.  Drawn from the extremely promising 2015 vintage, this is among the handful of best young Dolcettos I’ve ever tasted.  It shows the bright acidity and grippy tannins that the grape variety is known for, but with an unusually rounded mouthfeel and much better depth of flavor than is the norm.  This is really a medium-bodied wine, so don’t pour it with something very light on account of your prior experience with Dolcetto.  It can handle almost anything appropriate for red wine, and is consequently a wine to buy in quantity.