Bob

Vajra 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba “coste & fossati” (Piedmont) – This is the one wine in the Vajra portfolio that I just can’t quite figure out, and yet I keep buying bottles expecting some sort of revelation that never quite arrives. Dark fruit, chewy and structured, with a brace of acids and a long tail of razored feathers. A little lacking in the midpalate. Good, but not (at least for me) one of Vajra’s more joyful efforts. (9/10)

Roagna, Roagna, Roagna your boat

Roagna 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba (Piedmont) – Starts off difficult and overstructured, though of course this is a very early moment to be drinking such a wine. A lot of air and…well, the tannin doesn’t subside, but the acidity shows a little brighter, and the dark, chewy fruit lumbers into the background. This is by any measure a heavy, muscular wine, and it will require a fair number of years to peel away the layers of difficulty. (6/10)

Gabutti-frutti

Cappellano 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba Gabutti (Piedmont) – Where do I start with the flaws? I’ll need extra ink. I don’t know if the problem is with the wine, the shipment, or just this bottle. But pretty much everything except refermentation and TCA that could go wrong with this wine, has gone wrong. Yuck. (6/10)

Bicycle nose

Velenosi “Querci Antica” 2008 Lacrima di Morro d’Alba (Piedmont) – Lacrima di morro is so lurid that it can be a problematic food match. However, the exotic spice of a (non-traditional) veal tagine provided an opportunity, and thus it was time. Lurid it is, showing neon fruit in the blue-purple range, a bite of scraping tannin, and very fresh acidity, but there’s some peppery complexity as well, and the overall impression is one of striving rather than laurel-resting. Even if those laurels taste more like Chihuly glass. (2/10)

Jessica

Roagna 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba (Piedmont) – Corked. (8/09)

Foggy hat

Cappellano 2005 Nebbiolo d’Alba (Piedmont) – Dusty red fruit, soft yet strong, with a nearly flawless texture. Absolutely classic nebbiolo, masterfully presented. (7/09)

Jellivangiv doughnut

Brovia 2006 Dolcetto d’Abla “Vignavillej” (Piedmont) – Muted, musty, and very cranky at uncorking. It takes a long while to unfold, and even an hour doesn’t quite achieve full openness, but the wine isn’t corked…just surly. There are coffee elements amongst the wild-vine helixes of barky fruit, but mostly this is showing structure (both tannin and acidity) and rough, wild-eyed gestures of warning: stay away. I know these wines age, but I’ve rarely tasted one so in need of a good rest. (7/09)

Shake your Gabutti

Cappellano 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba Gabutti (Piedmont) – Corked. (4/09)

Sheik Gabutti

Cappellano 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba Gabutti (Piedmont) – Something here just reaches down into the soul. Analytically, there’s a rough start to deal with – some chunky tannin, powerful (but not imbalanced) acidity, a textural chew to the fruit – and while the wine never coheres in the way modern oenologists would wish, it’s all the better for it. Red tones abound. This cries out for food, and some of that missing cohesion appears when the marriage is finalized, but there’s a style here that will carry great appeal for certain drinkers (and much less for others; one dining companion absolutely hates the wine until there’s food on the table). Me, I think it’s gorgeous. (2/09)

Billy coste

Vajra 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba “coste & fossati” (Piedmont) – Tastes natural, and you may interpret that however you’d like; I’m not interested in defending the concept. But there’s freshly-harvested red fruit, acidity, a light but insistent buzz of sandpapery tannin, and some friendly, well-trodden earth, all wrapped up – neatly but not too prettily – in an old wooden crate aged by many decades in the sun. Nice wine. (12/08)

Cascina your chips

Giacomo Conterno 1998 Barbera d’Alba Cascina Francia (Piedmont) – Barbed-wire acidity with its points through a forest of wild lingonberries and a sea of cranberries. This is barbera. (9/08)

Vajra infection

Vajra 2004 Barbera d’Alba (Piedmont) – Gorgeous, with far more mature aromatics of autumn leaves and freshly-baked fruit pies than the age of the wine would indicate. Structurally, it’s quite youthful, perfectly melding precise acidity and impeccably placed fruit and tannin, and based on the palate it should go a number of years. The question, however, becomes: is the wait worth it when it tastes this good now? (5/08)

Pira Nerys

Pira 2006 Dolcetto d’Alba (Piedmont) – Striking in its intensity, with a blend of darker-hued berries and Cajun earthiness brought forward by the persistent press of a wall of structure. It’s not overwhelming by any means, and despite the size there’s a fine sense of balance, but it’s really just very, very big. I like it a great deal, but it won’t necessarily appeal to every purist. Oh…and isn’t it time to put the “little sweet one” story of this grape to rest once and for all? (3/08)

DiSpirito

Fratelli Giacosa 2006 Dolcetto d’Alba San Rocco (Piedmont) – Dirty and difficult. Very acidic. (2/08)

Bocchino ball

Eugenio Bocchino 2004 Nebbiolo d’Alba (Piedmont) – Soft roses, rough finish, plus vanilla. Eh. (2/07)

Alba mater

Roagna 2006 Dolcetto d’Alba (Piedmont) – Acidic, lightly-fruited, and lightly tannic. I must note for the record that almost everyone around me loves this. I think there’s something off about it, but it’s not (obvious) TCA, so I keep fairly quiet. Based on other vintages, certainly, this is not what the wine’s supposed to taste like, so I’d suggest dismissing this note for now. (1/08)

Little sweet Jessica

Cappellano 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba (Piedmont) – Big, rose-dominated flowers in the blackest soil, with a satiny texture. Long and structured, with a slight preference towards acidity. Dolcetto for the long haul, certainly, and quite accomplished without tasting like there’s “accomplishing” going on, if that makes any sense. (1/08)

A foggy day in Vietnam

Cappellano 2003 Nebbiolo d’Alba (Piedmont) – A touch of brett and a moderate amount of hard tannin eventually give way to fruity, seedy blackberry and a crisp finish of surprising lightness. Now that’s an outcome I didn’t expect from the initial impression. I think it’s good, but honestly I have no idea where it’s headed. (1/08)

Sweet little thing

Roagna 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba (Piedmont) – Very tight at first. With plenty of air, it gradually emerges from its shell, showing strong, graphite-textured tannin, dark berries, and a firm, studious blotch of acidity. Everything here is in beautiful balance, but while the wine can be forced (though aeration) to have appeal now, it’s really going to be much better in the future. (1/08)

Ba, ba, ba...ba, barbera

Bruno Giacosa 2005 Barbera d’Alba (Piedmont) – Even though the grapes don’t have that much in common, aspirational barbera reminds me of zinfandel in that it pairs delicious, friendly fruit with good acidity. Of course, barbera has, in its non-spoofulated state, more acid than zinfandel. OK, so maybe it’s not the best comparison. Anyway, this is polished without being overworked, showing vivid red fruit with fine acidity enveloped by a supple, rounded structure. And yet, through it all cuts that beautiful core of acidity. Very, very good. (10/07)