2013 Dolcetto Alegría Vineyards

Best of California, Double Gold Medal & 98 points - 2016 California State Fair Wine Competition
Gold Medal - 2016 San Francisco International Wine Competition

Tasting Notes

The palate offers a delicious blend of mixed dark berries, pomegranate and creamy mocha laced with hints of cranberry and juicy blueberry. The slightly chewy tannin and oak structure will further integrate and soften with additional bottle aging.

Winemaker's Notes

In 1991 we planted Dolcetto together with Freisa and Barbera, in three different areas of our vineyards, on three distinct soils types. These varieties, native to the Piedmont region of Italy, thrive in our cool Russian River Valley climate, creating a lush, vibrant, ageable wine, evoking the best of Italian Dogliani.

Freisa adds strawberry notes while Barbera adds some acid structure to Dolcetto’s earthy black cherry flavor. Differences in clones, soils, and sun exposure among the different sites in the vineyard add to the wine’s texture and complexity. Moderate temperatures through the growing season produced an evenly ripe crop with mature tannins and flavors. Harvest was relatively early. We picked in two separate lots, based on ripeness. The crop was lighter in the fence row, and it was harvested two weeks ahead of the rest.

After a three-day cold soak to let natural enzymes extract color and flavor, we co-fermented the varieties with native yeast and a French yeast that enhances mouthfeel. Following fermentation, we combined the two lots and aged the wine for 17 months.

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