Podere Rocche dei Manzoni Dolcetto d'Alba La Serra

I agree with Futronic.

A light, but rich wine that was titled more toward its dark fruit than its earth tones. Polished mouthfeel and good acid cut. It turned out to be a great pick for my pasta dish. I'd be interested to see how much more intense the tannins on a newer vintage are - but I seem to have caught it in a good place.

Finished a bit hot.

Delicious wine, soft and elegant enough to drink on its own without food. I don't want to rate the wine, because we did not decant before drinking it, as we just brought it to our local Italian BYOB. Fruit forward, soft on the tannins, with a nice mouthfeel. Because of the low level of tannins, I would hesitate to cellar for a lengthy period of time. Drink now - 2010.

Dinner w/ Longboarder, basecadet, DoktaP, Asterixis (Home, Toronto, Canada) : Opaque ruby/purple colour. Aromas of vanilla, berry fruit, plums, and a bit of stemminess that blows off with air. Full-bodied, unctuous, with replays from nose. Even though there is plenty of fruit in this wine, it's kept in check with great acidity. Long finish, ~40s. Consistently great stuff. I'd like to see where this goes with cellaring, but it's tough to keep the mitts off!

Dinner at L'Unita (L'Unita, Toronto, Canada) : Medium-dark ruby colour. Lush nose of crushed blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, cream, peach, mineral, and mint. Medium-full bodied, lush texture, a little restrained initially, but opens to show the crushed berry fruit and minerals present on the nose. Moderate finish, ~30-35s, with red fruit and black pepper nose. Fantastic Barbera! Drink now-2012.

Dark ruby colour with violet/burgundy flecks. Huge aromas of peach, vanilla, crushed currant, strawberry, blackberry, plums, and spice. Full-bodied, lush, but still has good grip and acidity. Replays from nose with touches of raspberry and violets through to the 30-35s finish. Really nice. Drink now-2010.

Jammy fruit, sweet spices, kirsch and some liquorice on the expressive nose. On the palate lots of fruit, glycerine and spices with a nice acidity and dollops of kirsch, sweets and liquorice. A pleasure to drink, but this needs to be decanted at this stage. In a rather international style, but with enough character to keep it interesting. Might merit a slightly higher score with some bottle ageing.