# Giacomo Grimaldi Dolcetto d'Alba D.O.C. (2024)

- **Producer:** Azienda Agricola Giacomo Grimaldi
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Dolcetto
- **Region:** Piemonte, Italy
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 13.5%
- **Average price:** €13
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 16–18 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** cherry, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, white pepper, liquorice

## About this wine

The Grimaldi family has been farming the hills of Barolo since 1930, historically selling their high-quality grapes to neighboring producers. The estate's modern era began in 1996 when Ferruccio Grimaldi decided to bottle under his father's name, Giacomo Grimaldi. Joined in 2020 by his son Alberto, the family manages 18 hectares across Piedmont's prestigious communes. While renowned for powerful, oak-aged Barolo Crus, this Dolcetto is crafted as their vibrant, immediate table wine, sourced from a single 1-hectare plot in Novello.

## Interesting facts

- Founder Ferruccio Grimaldi worked as a police officer for 18 years before returning to his ancestral roots to bottle wine in 1996.
- This wine is sourced from a single, tiny 1-hectare plot in Novello, yielding only 13,000 bottles annually.
- Aged entirely in stainless steel for nine months to preserve the pure, vibrant primary fruit of the Dolcetto grape.

## Food pairing

Dolcetto's high natural acidity cuts through rich fats and starches, while its soft, integrated tannins pair effortlessly with lighter meats and savory, earthy dishes without overwhelming them.

## Wine making process

The grapes are 100% hand-harvested from a west-facing, high-altitude vineyard in Novello with clay-sand soils. Vinification involves a brief 3-day maceration on the skins in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats to extract bright pigments and soft, supple tannins while avoiding harsh seed extraction. Following a complete malolactic fermentation, the wine is aged for 9 months entirely in stainless steel tanks before bottling, with zero oak influence to preserve the pure primary fruit character.