In the Piedmontese order of things, Dolcetto is the everyday wine — the one the grower drinks while waiting years for the Barolo. It ripens early on the sites too cool or shaded for Nebbiolo, giving a deeply coloured, low-acid, soft red full of blackberry and black cherry, finished with the grape's signature note of bitter almond.
"Little sweet one" names the fruit, not the wine, which is dry and best drunk young and fresh for its exuberant, purple-fruited charm. Around Alba and Dogliani it is taken more seriously — old vines and low yields give Dolcetto real depth — but its everyday role is the point: it is the friendly face of a famously austere region.