2016 Cascina Lo Zoccolaio Dolcetto d'Alba Vigna dij Sagrin

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 89 points

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  10/22/2022 - forceberry wrote: 91 Points

  Made with fruit sourced from parcels in Monforte d'Alba. Macerated for 8 days with the skins. Fermented and aged in stainless steel. 14% alcohol, 2 g/l residual sugar, 5,5 g/l acidity.
  
  Dark, slightly translucent and somewhat evolved black cherry color. The nose feels quite ripe and somewhat restrained with a rather pronounced streak of licorice followed by notes of evolved dark berries, some sappy red berry tones, a little bit of dried bilberries, light evolved dusty tones and a ferrous hint of blood. The wine is juicy, airy and harmonious on the palate with a medium body and quite intense flavors of licorice and ripe dark forest fruits, some crunchy notes of sour red plums, a little bit of sappy red berry, light bilberry tones and a hint of earth. The overall feel is pretty structure-driven, thanks to the high acidity and still relatively assertive and moderately grippy tannins. The finish is long, rather grippy and slightly warm with a dry aftertaste of forest fruits and crunchy cranberries, some fresh red plums, a little bit of licorice, light bilberry tones, a hint of earth and a touch of sour cherry bitterness.
  
  A ripe yet enjoyably serious, dry and structure-driven Dolcetto that has started to develop some evolved characteristics, yet is still full of life, power and energy. It is starting to drink really well right now, but will continue to improve and resolve for at least a handful of years more. Great stuff, solid value at 14,98€.

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  9/20/2017 - forceberry wrote: 90 Points

  Macerated for 8 days with the skins. Fermented and aged in stainless steel. 14% alcohol, 2 g/l residual sugar, 5,5 g/l acidity.
  
  Translucent, luminous black cherry color. Rich, ripe and super-juicy nose with aromas of sweet blueberries, boysenberries, some dark plums and a hint of sappy greenness. The wine is ripe, intense and crunchy on the palate with flavors of sour cherries, tart lingonberries and cranberries, some stony minerality, a little bit of chokeberry and a hint of dusty, sun-baked earth. It comes across as surprisingly tightly-knit and taut due to the racy acidity and quite firm tannins. The finish is lively, taut and tannic with mouthwatering acidity and long and vibrant flavors of sour cherries, crushed lingonberries, some fresh blueberries and a hint of dusty earth.
  
  A very primary and surprisingly serious Dolcetto with very stern and taut structure and enough body and fruit ripeness to balance it out. Although Dolcetto normally is best served as a simple everyday red, this seems to be a notch above that level, and I'd wager this wine will only benefit from 4-6 years in a cellar. Normally the Dolcettos that try to be "more than what they really are" rely just on excessive use of new oak and too long hang time. This wine, on the other hand, sees no oak at all and feels at times sappy and barely ripe than sweet and very ripe, yet its high quality is pretty obvious. A very positive surprise and great value at only 13,10€.

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