Poderi Colla - 'Pian Balbo', Dolcetto d'Alba, Piedmont, Italy (2023)

TASTING NOTES

Pure, juicy and vibrant. Fresh plum, cherry, violet, sweet spice and dried herbs. Refreshing acidity and a firm, dry, savoury finish - serve lightly chilled.

The Dolcetto grapes are sourced from Colla's Cascine Drago estate - where the average age of vines is 20 years, planted at around 350m altitude. The grapes are immediately destalked and crushed, and then macerated on the skins for 5-7 days. Malolactic fermentation is completed before winter sets in. The wine stabilises in stainless steel, and then rests for a few months in bottle.

Established in 1993 by Tino Colla (brother of the legendry Beppe Colla) and his niece Federica, Poderi Colla is very much a family affair and continues the Colla family's three centuries of winemaking heritage in northern Italy.

Tino and Federica believe in a non-interventionist approach to winemaking, to give each wine a unique expression of site and vintage, and they take sustainability and the environment as seriously as their wines.

They produce wines from three outstanding sites in Alba and cover nearly the entire spectrum of Alba styles - using their own grapes from vineyards in Bricco del Drago, Tenuta Roncaglie (Barbaresco) and Tenuta Dardi le Rose (Barolo). The wines are balanced, rich and complex.