2019 Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto Vigna Tecc Dogliani Superiore Piedmont 750 ml

Sauvignon Blanc has Sancerre. Sangiovese has Tuscany. Every grape has its home, and for Dolcetto, that place is Dogliani. The village, located a few miles south of Barolo, produces Dolcetto with the kind of suave complexity and dark-fruited depth that belie its reputation as the local table wine.

Einaudi is the marquee producer of the village—the Biondi-Santi of Dogliani. The estate was founded in 1897 by Luigi Einaudi, a true pioneer who became one of the first in the region to estate-bottle, in 1915. Eventually he pieced together one of the most formidable estates in the area, with the legendary Madonna delle Grazie vineyard as the oldest and most treasured of the estate. And over the years, even as Einaudi eventually served as the president of the Banca d’Italia—and as the first President of Italy itself—he is reputed never to have missed a harvest in Dogliani.

But although the Einaudi estate was founded over 125 years ago, they’re making the best wines in their history right now. “[Owner] Matteo Sardagna has completely revolutionized Einaudi over the last few years,” Antonio Galloni recently wrote.

That corresponds nicely with the recent recognition for the Dogliani Superiore DOCG—which was elevated into the rare air of “place name only” DOCGs in 2011, bringing it alongside its neighbors Barolo and Barbaresco in terms of official prestige. Unlike those appellations, though, the peak wines from Dogliani remain affordable…for now. 

This bottle will be delicious for at least the next decade, gaining complexity and nuance along the way. Be glad you’ve got it before the price gets significantly more expensive. There’s no way a wine like this can remain an insider-secret for much longer.