Marziano Abbona Dolcetto di Dogliani San Luigi 2004

Notes of black raspberry, black cherry and blueberry, smoke, mushrooms and toast. The flavors and body are quite likeable, but there is so much oak it ventures into the realm of just being "wood". It's kind of like a popsicle, where you keep sucking on the stick after the frozen yumminess is all gone.

This dolcetto from Abbona is unoaked so first off it should be said that the main review is incorrect. I don't disagree that this wine has some rough tannins still attributing grippiness to its mouthfeel. This, I believe, is notable for being a dolcetto since the traditional dolcetto is rather light and more soft fruit than tannic structure. It comes from Dogliani, which is where the dolcetto grape varietal first got its name for being a grape worthy of making fine wines. In general, Marziano Abbona's wines - mainly his Barberas and Dolcettos - are surprisingly large, dark, and have a great depth of flavor to them contributed by their almost untraditional intensity. His flagship Dolcetto "Papa Celso" is an amazing wine to experience.