Dolcetto

Dolcetto is a black Piedmontese wine grape that yields soft, deeply coloured, early-drinking dry reds — the everyday red of north-west Italy and the wine locals pour while the slower Nebbiolo of Barolo and Barbaresco matures. Despite a name that translates as "little sweet one", the wine is almost always dry, low in acidity, full of dark cherry, plum and liquorice, and closed by a signature bitter-almond twist on the finish. Grown above all around Dogliani, Diano d'Alba, Alba and Ovada in the province of Cuneo, it ripens earlier than its noble neighbours and so is planted on cooler, less favoured sites. The result is an approachable, fruit-forward, gently tannic red built for the table rather than the cellar.