Not many winemakers or proprietors go into politics, but Luigi Einaudi (1874-1961), who founded the Einaudi wine estate in Piedmont in the 1890s at the age of 23, became Italy’s first president in 1948. One assumes he invested the office with more dignity than some of his successors, but never mind that. Certainly his descendents have thrived; the well-respected estate now consists of 12 properties or farmsteads (poderi) totaling 321 acres, of which 124 are under vines. The company, best-known for its single-vineyard Barolos, is operated by Luigi Einaudi’s granddaughter Paola Einaudi and her son Matteo Sardagna; winemaker is Beppe Caviola.

The dolcetto grape is little grown outside Piedmont; there used to be some in California (still?) and paradoxically the oldest dolcetto vines in the world, according to Oz Clarke, are probably in Australia. Dolcetto does not take well to oak aging or to attempts to pump it up into a bigger, more significant wine than it ought to be. Fittingly, then, the Poderi Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto di Dogliani 2010 was given no oak but aged eight to 10 months in stainless steel tanks. Aromas of black and red currants are permeated by hints of dried cherries and dried orange zest, smoke and tobacco, rose petals and a touch of oolong tea. The wine is quite dry — I always wonder how the grape got its name, “little sweet one” — and packed with dried black and red fruit, dried spices and dried flowers; it’s a trove of potpourri and spice box effects enlivened by keen acidity and a pass at earthy minerality. I drank a few glasses one night with lamb chops in an anchovy-caper sauce, and the match was terrific. 13 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2012 or ’13. Very Good+. Prices around the country average about $17, though I paid $21 in Memphis.

Imported by Empson USA, Alexandria, Va.