Hello all. My wife and I attended a gourmet dinner at a local well-respected restaurant a few nights ago. The restaurant hosts two (spring and fall) dinners every year. It is prix-fixe with six courses. One gets a choice of entree (1 out of 3) but the remaining courses are set. There are always 4 wine pairings with the dinner.
My wine question is about is about the wine paired with dessert. It was a 2012 Marenco Brachetto d'Acqui. One, we've never heard of this varietal before. Two, over the years we've never had a red wine pairing with dessert that we've ever liked. That changed with this dinner. The Branchetto was ever so slightly fizzy and ever so slightly sweet. We found it to be delightful on its own and were even more pleasantly surprised by how well it paired with the dessert (a framboise, lemon mascarpone and yuzu cream filled white chocolate sphere surrounded by fresh raspberries, white chocolate sauce and a warm raspberry coulis).
Have any readers here had any experience with Brachetto d'Acqui? Is it considered well-respected or "common" (yes, I realize how subjective that question is)? Is it easily found in wine stores or relatively scarce (a question made all the more difficult because I have to deal with the PA state store system)? Have I betrayed an appalling lack of knowledge about wine by asking about and liking the Branchetto (just being facetious!)?
TIA, Jack