THE WINES

There is more to wine than the ancient process of growing, harvesting grapes and then assisting in the mystery of fermentation;a process that Dogliani producers manage with ever increasing competence and confidence. Wine is also a combination of codified rules and regulations, and vineyards enrolled in official registers. Commercial choices, together with typologies, assure consumers that the grapes used in production come from a circumscribed area and in specified quantities. And vinification, beginning with the fruit itself, follows specified parameters of gradation, extract, acidity and ageing, using techniques that bring out those qualities deemed most typical.
In the Dogliani zone, Dolcetto is made into two types of wine, governed by two distinct sets of regulations which occupy precise positions in Piedmont's Wine Quality Pyramid.
Dolcetto di Dogliani DOC, or "denominazione di origine controllato" (controlled place of origin), awarded in 1974, represents the most widely recognized expression of Dolcetto in Italy; Dogliani DOCG, granted in 2005, represents the desire to exalt the less well-known characteristics of the grape by increasing concentration through reduced yields, and applying different ageing methods.
Both of these labels assure that these fundamental standards are applied.
All of the grapes used must come from vineyards situated in an area defined by law, and registered in the rolls of the Cuneo Chamber of Commerce, where all identifying cadastral data are reported. The vineyards must be located in the hills, and the grapes may be produced only in the quantities specified. Non-compliance results in de-classification of the harvest. The only grape variety allowed is 100% Dolcetto.
Vinification must be carried out according to the norms set out in the regulations and may only take place within the province of Cuneo.
Specific organolectic characteristics regarding the typicity of the wine must also be checked. Before being released on the market, the winemaker requests the DOC status and every single lot produced must pass stringent examination by the Chamber of Commerce's commission of oenologists.