2021 Dulcet Tones Dolcetto

For several years I had been following a vineyard and producer located just outside Daylesford, intrigued by its small size and the fact that it was planted to Italian varieties, an anomaly for the Macedon region. In addition to the elevated cool-climate location, I was excited about the fact that Mount Franklin Estate was planted on 500,000-year-old volcanic soils. After several years of asking, the owners Julie & Peter relented in 2021 in selling me some fruit, and I was beyond thrilled with the result. Very early one cold April morning the fruit was hand-picked and entirely de-stemmed back at the winery. After five days soaking it still hadn’t started fermenting due to the very low temperature, so a neutral yeast was added to start fermentation. Pressing was performed once fermentation was complete, then the wine went into two brand-new 750L Slavonian casks that were coopered by famed Italian company Garbelotto. After malolactic fermentation was completed, the wine was racked and returned to three mature French oak casks until blending and bottling in November of 2021. Dolcetto is a variety found almost exclusively in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy and is commonly the first red variety to be harvested each year. Perhaps a bit unfairly, the wine it produces is often consumed while waiting for your Nebbiolo to be ready, thanks to its lightness and freshness in youth. There is some conjecture about the origin of the name dolcetto, that though commonly assumed to mean '“little sweet” (which many people incorrectly think means the wine will be sweet), it actually refers to the hills where it is grown.