A big wine for a big platter of pulled-pork sandwiches, the Parusso 2019 Dolcetto d'Alba Piani Noce is thickly layered and richly concentrated. It offers hearty fruit aromas of blackberry and dark cherry confit. Like the other wines in this portfolio, you should brace yourself for the extra power, structure and overall density presented by these offerings from Parusso. This applies to the relatively soft and easy Dolcetto grape as well. About 7,000 bottles were made.

Here's a different way to look at the Dolcetto grape that often offers a big bang of primary aromas but doesn't go much beyond. The Parusso 2018 Dolcetto d'Alba Piani Noce walks you backward with a lot of back-end energy, richness and depth to match all that black fruit intensity that you get on the front. The wine offers a more complete and exhaustive journey into this important Piemonte grape. It's offbeat for sure, with unexpected curves and twists, but it's a fun ride.

The 2016 vintage is an ideal one according to Marco Parusso. The 2016 Dolcetto d'Alba Pian Noce is a beautiful, if unusual expression of this unique and difficult grape variety. The winemaking philosophy attempts to stir the wine away from the carbonic or raw fruit aromas that are normally part of the Dolcetto taste profile. The grapes are cold soaked before fermentation and later the wine ages on the lees with frequent stirring. Micro-oxygenation techniques are generously applied to give the wine more stability. In fact, this wine presents a solid wall of dark fruit intensity followed by rich textural appeal. I've opened the drinking window by a few years as a result.

Marco Parusso’s 2011 Dolcetto d’Alba Piani Noce flows across the palate with layers of silky, expressive varietal fruit. Blackberries, blueberries, tar and licorice linger on the finish. This is a decidedly elegant, refined Dolcetto for the vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2016. Importer: Montecastelli Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 414-4898

Marco Parusso’s 2010 Dolcetto d’Alba Piani Noce is a big wine bursting with dark fruit, smoke, tar, incense and licorice. It is a fairly exotic yet medium-bodied wine with hints of the late harvest that come through in the richness of the fruit. This is a bit unusual in style, but it works. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2015. Importer: Montecastelli Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 414-4898