Price $22.99, Case Price $240/$20

This wine, over the years, has made a ton of friends here for the Dolcetto grape, and proved that this iconic winemaking family takes everything they do very seriously. Already known for producing some of the most distinctive Barolos in the appellation, Elio and, now daughter Silvia, have long applied the same passion and eye for detail to their minuscule production of even Dolcetto. The 2023 is now Silvia’s eighth vintage start to finish, of making the wines at Altare, but with Elio still hovering around in the background and her 35+ years’ or so watching her dad working with the family’s small Dolcetto parcel near the family cellar in Arborina, the odds for success were always high. While climate change is the cause of a wide variety of maladies in the region, what it’s done for grapes like Dolcetto is something to behold. As time goes on, each vintage seems to be better than the last, and while the quartet of 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020 were indeed as good as advertised in the region, 2023 is near perfect for the variety! And, for those who love the instant-gratification aspect of Dolcetto, perhaps even better than any of those earlier vintages! Here is a wine that drinks head and shoulders above the norm with great emphasis on the waves of dark, ripe blackberry fruit for which the grape variety is known along with a lovely, creamy texture and the rich, spiky acidity that elevates Dolcetto to the stature equal to its more-appreciated stablemates at this famous address. Grilled chicken tonight? Or a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs? A platter of salumi and cheese? Let this be your wine!