Cascina Delle Rose A ELIZABETH Dolcetto d’Alba DOC (2024) - Piemonte

The Langhe's everyday red, made by people who don't do "everyday" by halves.

THE GRAPE
Dolcetto: "the little sweet one", which describes the grape and not the wine. Early ripening, low acid, soft tannin and a lot of dark fruit — the red the Piemontesi drink on Tuesday while the Nebbiolo sleeps in the cellar.

THE WINE
Named after a family friend, farmed organically, fermented with native yeasts and kept in steel to protect the fruit. 2024 is bright and juicy: blackberry, violet, a touch of bitter almond, and just enough grip to make you want food. Drink young, slightly cool, without ceremony.

FOOD PAIRING
Tajarin with ragù, salami and a loaf of bread, pizza, a plate of agnolotti del plin. This is a lunch wine, and an excellent one.

THE WINEMAKER 
Cascina delle Rose is a small farmhouse sitting between two of Barbaresco's best crus, Tre Stelle and Rio Sordo. Giovanna Rizzolio started bottling her own wine here in 1992, at a time when women in the Langhe did not run wineries and almost nobody farmed organically. She did both. Today her sons Riccardo and Davide run it the same way: five and a half hectares, organic, native yeasts, big old casks and nothing clever. The wines are light on their feet and slow to reveal themselves.