Forgive me for allowing my socks to make it into the photo.
I’ve been having wonderful luck with Piedmont the past couple of weeks. I picked up a recent (can’t remember which) vintage of Ceretto Barolo for a BYO dinner a few weeks ago which was gorgeous right out of the bottle.
Anyway, I work as the NJ sales rep for an importer/distributor of high quality Italian wine. I stopped by a prospective account on Friday anfternoon and ended up browsing a bit. As a side note, as a wine and spirits lover, this job would bankrupt me if I had even half an ounce less of self control.
Since I work with Italian wines all the time, sometimes I’m not as inclined as I used to be to purchase them frequently for personal enjoyment. However, this wine caught my eye. I’m familiar with the name but don’t know the producer well and I’m not sure I’ve ever had their wines before.
I’ve traditionally not gotten on all that well with Dolcetto. Many of them strike me as fairly unremarkable but I guess I’ve been drinking the wrong ones because I now have a budding love affair with the grape.
I suspect that many producers might not give the same care to their Dolcettos/Barberas as their Barolos/Barbarescos, instead using them for some extra high volume cash flow. It is clear that this is not the case with Pira.
Right out of the bottle, the pristine clarity and focus of fruit was stunning with bright, high definition, tart red and black berries alongside purple flowers.
I’d put it solidly at medium body with fairly elevated acid. The tannin level is medium and tannin texture is soft yet squeaky (I’ve never seen tannin described as squeaky, but I’m calling them squeaky).
ABV is listed on the bottle as 13.5%. Per the website, both fermentation and aging take place in stainless steel.
Purity is there there with a medium finish. The wine isn’t wildly complex but what it does offer is well defined and expressive.
In summary, this wine has substance while still being eminently drinkable with or without food.
I paid $18.99 USD.
Pardon the long-winded post.
Cheers!
Immediate_Toe2909
The quality and consistency of Piedmonte has improved maybe more than any part of the world in the last 10 years. Thanks for the write up!
Svyable
Thanks for the sub $20 bottle, nice to see.
yangstyle
Nice description and story. Would you say a couple of more years in the bottle would mellow those tannins?
This is a question in general for me. I opened a 2016 Rioja over the weekend and I thought the tannins were “squeaky” as you describe here (I called the Rioja puckery). I have three more bottles and I’m wondering if cellaring them from another couple of years will mellow this out.
fatrat-z
classic table wine of the fontana bianca family. i remember them telling me “yes we drink at lunch because it’s only 12%” this , langhe nebbiolo. tough to beat.
5 Comments
Forgive me for allowing my socks to make it into the photo.
I’ve been having wonderful luck with Piedmont the past couple of weeks. I picked up a recent (can’t remember which) vintage of Ceretto Barolo for a BYO dinner a few weeks ago which was gorgeous right out of the bottle.
Anyway, I work as the NJ sales rep for an importer/distributor of high quality Italian wine. I stopped by a prospective account on Friday anfternoon and ended up browsing a bit. As a side note, as a wine and spirits lover, this job would bankrupt me if I had even half an ounce less of self control.
Since I work with Italian wines all the time, sometimes I’m not as inclined as I used to be to purchase them frequently for personal enjoyment. However, this wine caught my eye. I’m familiar with the name but don’t know the producer well and I’m not sure I’ve ever had their wines before.
I’ve traditionally not gotten on all that well with Dolcetto. Many of them strike me as fairly unremarkable but I guess I’ve been drinking the wrong ones because I now have a budding love affair with the grape.
I suspect that many producers might not give the same care to their Dolcettos/Barberas as their Barolos/Barbarescos, instead using them for some extra high volume cash flow. It is clear that this is not the case with Pira.
Right out of the bottle, the pristine clarity and focus of fruit was stunning with bright, high definition, tart red and black berries alongside purple flowers.
I’d put it solidly at medium body with fairly elevated acid. The tannin level is medium and tannin texture is soft yet squeaky (I’ve never seen tannin described as squeaky, but I’m calling them squeaky).
ABV is listed on the bottle as 13.5%. Per the website, both fermentation and aging take place in stainless steel.
Purity is there there with a medium finish. The wine isn’t wildly complex but what it does offer is well defined and expressive.
In summary, this wine has substance while still being eminently drinkable with or without food.
I paid $18.99 USD.
Pardon the long-winded post.
Cheers!
The quality and consistency of Piedmonte has improved maybe more than any part of the world in the last 10 years. Thanks for the write up!
Thanks for the sub $20 bottle, nice to see.
Nice description and story. Would you say a couple of more years in the bottle would mellow those tannins?
This is a question in general for me. I opened a 2016 Rioja over the weekend and I thought the tannins were “squeaky” as you describe here (I called the Rioja puckery). I have three more bottles and I’m wondering if cellaring them from another couple of years will mellow this out.
classic table wine of the fontana bianca family. i remember them telling me “yes we drink at lunch because it’s only 12%” this , langhe nebbiolo. tough to beat.