Dolcetto from Italy’s Piedmont region is an easy drinking low acid wine well suited to every night fare which sure as heck beats our Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s description of certain wines as a “Friday night wine” which is code for a stinker! What has Stag’s Hollow done in the Okanagan to this sweet one? Dolce in Italian means sweet. One must remark that Stag’s Hollow is brave enough to grow Teroldego so why not Dolcetto?
Aged in both concrete and older French oak.
Aroma: Black cherry, gooseberry, red currant with a twist of dark chocolate. I am not picking up hints of sweetness.
Palate: Bluntly put lip smacking delicious. A beefy experience for the palate indeed signifying there is nothing “little” on the palate. There is some initial tartness but at the core of this wine there dwells chocolate covered cherry intermingled with sour cherry and a suitable titch of bitterness. The acidity is fine and perhaps for a finely trained palate a need to consume the wine with food. Isn’t that true for almost all Italian wine?
Personality: I am non-pretentious and humble and I am glad I have been transplanted to the Okanagan by a Braveheart winery willing to risk producing a wine with a grape not known far and wide.
Food Match: The wine is extremely versatile and popular with an antipasto misto. Given its fine acidity and the onslaught of fresh field tomatoes in many parts of Canada now I would go with a tomato salad or a Greek potato and tomato salad with anchovies and fresh basil. The potatoes must be served warm and with EVO oil. Of course, for your Thanksgiving turkey this wine and Stag’s Hollow 2020 Teroldego would be boffo. By the way the winery is hosting its annual Harvest Dinner on September 13th in partnership with Chef Ben Godin the whiz kid chef at the nearby Wild Goose Bistro. As luck would have it my corporate jet is undergoing its overhaul at that time and I will have to miss this event and a valiant attempt on my part to put my wine tourism writing skills to work will not occur. Geez I have always wanted to skinny dip at midnight under the Okanagan Falls!
Cellarbility: Drink by the end of 2024.
Price: As the wine is not yet released I have no confirmed price but the 2020 was $26 (CDN). You will most likely have to contact the winery about availability but due to limited case production if you are outside of British Columbia best order through their website.
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 91/100.
(Stag’s Hollow 2021 Dolcetto Shuttleworth Creek Vineyard, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia VQA, Stag’s Hollow Winery, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 12.5 %).
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