2018 Bruno Rocca Trifole Dolcetto D'Alba 750 ml

Bruno Rocca is all but synonymous with Barbaresco’s Rabajà vineyard, which Italian-wine expert and Vinous founder called “easily one of Italy's greatest grand cru vineyards.” Most of their wines come from this legendary site—and command $100+ price tags to match.

There’s a cheat code to Rocca greatness, though: their Trifolè Dolcetto, which comes from the vineyard immediately adjoining Rabajà and represents a stunning value. Galloni said the 2018 “is what Dolcetto is all about,” a testament to the skill and prime vineyards of this legendary Piedmont estate.

While the region’s Nebbiolo-based wines, Barolo and Barbaresco, get most of the international attention, the daily-driver for most of the Piedmont’s winemakers and oenophiles is Dolcetto, and Rocca’s is “super-varietal and polished,” “like a wine from another era, with mid-weight structure, floral lift and modest alcohol,” according to Galloni. In other words, a perfect pairing with nearly anything that comes across your table.

Medium- to light-weight in body, with beautiful black-cherry aromas that dance around the glass and mingle with scents of violets, lilacs, and thyme, the palate is electric and vibrant. Packed with flavors of bright cherries, hibiscus, baked raspberries, and just enough tannin to cleanse the palate perfectly, this wine has something for everyone.

We first tried this wine on a perfect evening in Neive, at La Torre del Monastero, and it paired perfectly with their golden, house-made tagliatelle in sugo di noci and lingua di vitello. We fully intended to move on to a fancier bottle of Barbaresco with our main course of Piedmontese  steaks when we first sat down, but the Dolcetto was so compulsively delicious that we decided a second bottle was in order.

It’s a reflection of the skill of the winery, which Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate called “one of the most forward-thinking growers in Barbaresco,” and the prime vineyard location.  Their vines average 40- to 50-years-old, with all the character that comes with age, and are planted in an uncommonly excellent site for the grape. It would certainly be more profitable for Bruno Rocca to replant and produce a Barbaresco from the land, but they remain committed to the tradition of devoting their uncommon skill to more humbly-priced bottles.

We’re happy to take advantage of that attitude and offer Rocca’s Dolcetto while we can. While it’s everyday-priced, it shows every bit of its breed and class in the glass. Put it on your table and drink with anything, and everything.