Prima Materia Dolcetto 2019 061126OFFER Alejandro Fernandez — the man

Alejandro Fernandez — the man widely credited with dragging Ribera del Duero into the modern era — bought this estate near Roa in 1987 as the family's dedicated second home for Tempranillo

yet the complexity is there underneat the forward fruit

in a small tulip glass or copita

42-hectare parcel shines through in wines aged at 40% new oak that capture refined red fruit

balanced acid

Prima Materia Dolcetto 2019 061126OFFER Alejandro Fernandez — the manDolcetto's name means little sweet one, which is a lie about the wine and a truth about the grape, which tastes sweet in the vineyard while making a red that is dry, dark and briskly tannic. In Piedmont it is the wine growers drink while waiting for their Barolo. Prima Materia grows it in Lake County, part of a ten acre estate planted mostly to Italian varieties that most California producers wouldn't touch. This is the serious version: picked late