Fabio Gea Pinotto Dolcetto d'Alba 2020

Country: Italy

Region: Piedmonte

Type: Red Wine

Grape: Dolcetto

Fabio is a young winemaker and former geologist whose grandfather bequeathed him a few tiny plots around the Bricco in Barbaresco. His few rows of Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Barbera, and Grignolino amount to less than one hectare. The vines are co-planted with fruit trees and Fabio treats the vines with only small amounts of copper and sulfur, along with plant based remedies.

Everything about Fabio's wines is unique. His Barbaresco bottlings are labeled with hand-pressed pulp paper. He makes such little wine he is able to hand number each bottle with a pen. Fabio's wines are pure, charged and intense, with plenty of muscle and finesse. All of the farming is done by hand. In the cellar, Fabio uses a mix of older large barrels (500L), glass, and steel, and he has been experimenting more and more with porcelain amphorae that he has designed and created himself. His Barbaresco barrels are not toasted. Instead, Fabio "vaporizes" the wood oils and sugars by applying dangerously hot volcanic stones to the interior. 

A Pino is a pine tree. This Pinotto bottling is the little version of Fabio's Dolcetto d'Alba Superiore bottling called Pino. The grapes are de-stemmed and macerated for two weeks. Fermentation is in stainless steel and aging is in homemade stoneware and/or fiberglass for six months. 10-25 mg per liter of sulfur added at bottling​​​​​​​. Aromas of violets, blackberry and blueberry. On the palate, wild fruits, with notes of fresh earth and minerals. This wine is softly textured, with lower acidity.