Bold primary tones of plump cherry and blackberry are delivered to the bouquet of the 2021 Dolcetto d'Alba Vigna Santo Stefano di Perno. This wine is all about freshness, fruitiness and richness. Mauro Mascarello says the 2022 vintage had less volume overall. Production is always lowered in the hottest drought years because the grapes tend to slow down. But 2021 was a quality year for Dolcetto, he says, both in terms of quality and quantity.

The lovely Giuseppe Mascarello 2019 Dolcetto d'Alba Vigna Santo Stefano di Perno is an elegant interpretation that recalls some of the classic lines found in a wine of yesteryear. In terms of fruit weight and concentration, this vintage is contained and precise without the overplayed exuberance you sometimes see in contemporary Dolcetto. This carefully downplayed version shows bright blueberry, cassis and sweet rose.

The Giuseppe Mascarello 2018 Dolcetto d'Alba Santo Stefano di Perno is bright, sweet and vivid. This wine is packed with pure cherry essence with plum and black currant adding weight and darker shadings at the back. However, there are some fermentation aromas (almost carbonic in character) that come out of left field compared to past vintages. The overall effect is a bit raw and tangy, and very primary. The wine finishes with more sweet cherry coming your way.

The Mascarello family makes two expressions of Dolcetto. This wine sees greater distribution in overseas markets (especially the USA), while the Dolcetto d'Alba Bricco Mirasole (which I did not taste to review during this estate visit) has a bigger presence in European markets. The 2017 Dolcetto d'Alba Santo Stefano di Perno opens to large-scale fruit with dark and luscious concentration and a lovely flavor profile with dried blackberry, dried cherry and plum at the front. This was a great vintage for growing Dolcetto, and this wine shows good cheer and inner happiness in return.

The 2016 Dolcetto d'Alba Santo Stefano di Perno wasn't fully expressing itself when I tasted my sample in April. The wine had been bottled in December and is already on the market now. The 2017 vintage will be released this upcoming September. That more closed and austere nature of the fruit in 2016 appears to be a part of the wine's character. There is plenty of acidity and a subtle tannic backbone that keeps the wine firm in the palate, and it almost feels crunchy in texture. A few more months of bottle aging might soften that tight texture.