Good Pair Days - Heartland Dolcetto 2020

The Heartland story began in the late 1990’s when winemaker Ben Glaetzer became excited about the outstanding quality of fruit being grown in some of South Australia’s lesser-known regions, and in particular Langhorne Creek, a cool-climate region with old vines that have been an almost secret source for many of Australia’s most iconic red wines. With a few industry veterans, Ben grew Heartland into an award-winning winery, and today they source all grapes exclusively from Langhorne Creek, and make only red wines.

Ben is from the well-known Glaetzer family in the Barossa Valley, and grew up within the wine industry with his father and his uncle both winemakers, as are his two brothers! Ben graduated in winemaking from the renowned Roseworthy campus at Adelaide Uni, and then spent time working in the Hunter Valley before returning to the Barossa to join the family company. Ben won the Qantas Winemaker of the Year award in 2004, amongst other accolades, and a few years later he founded Heartland. Busy guy!

Dolcetto - famously originating from Piedmont in Italy’s north-west - is a funny one. Meaning ‘little sweet one’, the wine is never sweet at all! The Heartland Dolcetto is proof of that: brimming with ripe blue fruits, plums and spice cupboard aromas, it’s soft, supple and sexy, and sees no oak but has gentle grape tannins. Fabulously food-friendly and most definitely dry!