Writing about the wines of Piemonte, Italy and France. We visited Alessio and Cristina Dorigo one week after they had moved operations to a new base near Povoletto, his father having retired and sold the old winery at Buttrio.
It is only 15 minutes away but it felt like a very new start. As there were as yet no chairs in the new tasting room the only two spare office chairs were pressed into service so that we could sit down β but the welcome could not have been warmer.
But I particularly wanted to come here as they have a reputation for red wines as well as whites, including those from local varieties. In fact, they have a comprehensive selection of wines, many of which we tasted in a very generous tasting.
So it was a bonus to find that Dorigo is a committed spumantista in the bottle-fermented camp. Two wines are made. The Brut is fermented in old barriques and given 24 months in its bottles: it is rounded and inviting, fragrant with fresh fruit, a classical aperitif or wine for a range of lighter dishes. The latter gets a full 60 months in its bottles and opened with fine nutty notes, blossom and fruit.
On the palate it is seriously structured, fruit and chestnut notes, a good core of fruit but complex and demanding. We then proceeded to a series of whites, Ribolla Gialla, Traminer and three examples of Sauvignon.
