Barbera, pronounced bar-BER-uh, was one of the great wine travesties of our time.
The increasing popularity and price of Nebbiolo wines, particularly Barolo and Barbaresco, saw old plantings of Barbera d’Alba in the great sites ripped out and replanted to Nebbiolo.
There have been notable exceptions, Voerzio & Vietti, being two. When charged with ordering vine material to re-plant parts of the Scarrone vineyard by his father, Luca, being a little mischievous or perhaps simply strong in his convictions, instructed the nursery to send Barbera instead of Nebbiolo. He knew the vines would look similar in their youth! As they established his father identified them as Barbera, in a rage, he contacted the nursery – “Why had they sent Barbera vines not Nebbiolo?” The nursery presented him with an order for Barbera signed by Luca!
Where is it grown?
60% of Barbera, Italy’s 3rd most planted variety resides in Piedmont. Plantings exist in Lombady and Emilia-Romagna and some southern Italian sites. While there are many great Barbera from Alba, Barbera from Asti (Barbera d’Asti) is exceptional. Cheaper land, often with sites better suited to Barbera has allowed growers to focus on the variety. The results are both different and delicious.
🔥 Hot Tip: Barbera d’Asti is often both better value and quality than Barbera d’Alba. As always it’s all about what’s in the glaass!
What does it taste like?
Barbera has a vibrant red colour, fresh red berry aromas and flavours, is luscious, with fresh acidity and supple tannins. As it matures it develops earth and often truffled secondary characters. It is truly a thing of beauty when left to rest in a good cellar until maturity.
There are several producers that make Barbera d’Alba and Barbera d’Asti. It’s well worth drinking the 2 side by side. Where Barbera d’Alba tends to appear more fruit rich, Barbera d’Asti tends to have an overlay of slatey, earthy characters wrapping the fruit.
Check out all the articles in the Wine Bites Mag exploring Barbera.
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Check out all the Barbera Here!
Vietti's Barbera d'Asti has an excellent
élévage. I first had this wine back in 1994 while studying winemaking in Adelaide. Over the decades it has become more refined. A great expression of Barbera. Those in the know will tell you that good vineyards planted to Barbera in Asti will beat the bounty of average sites that have been planted to the variety in Alba.Vietti's Barbera d'Asti has an excellent élévage. The plush, generous fruit of Barbera is matched with juicy acid that sits in a
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Barbera | Piedmont, Barbaresco
This is how you do Barbera! My note is a replica of the last: Dark, brooding. Lovely élévage, well-developed pre-bottling. Yes, it’s still young, of course. Where so many Barbara’s are raw at this point there is a sense of togetherness. It’s a pure expression of the grape without interference from oak.
It looks to have spent reasonable time on skins, the extraction and flavour development adding the earthy, skin contact/maceration character, and quality tannin wrapping quality frui
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Benchmark Barbera!
Barbera | Piedmont, Italy
Roberto loves Barbera so much that he only bottles his top wine in Magnums! Respect! This is a great intro to what he is capable of! On three separate occasions, devouring verticals of the Barolo from: Giacomo Conterno, Roberto Voerzio, and, Vietti, their Barberas have shone through as some of the best wines of the night! 'Il Cerreto' is a stunning example of just how good the variety can be. Roberto has planted great sites to Barbera and the results shine through. Vibrant and fresh, with plush
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Barbera | Piedmont, Barolo
The love of Barbera shines through in the glass. If you’re looking for an example of just what Barbera is capable, Elena & Luca's 1st release shows just that. The wisdom of decades of experience at the helm of Vietti shines. Just as with Vietti’s Dolcettos and Barberas, the élévage is clever. Luca and Elena’s experience making whole bunch wines with the support of Jeremy Seyess is clear in the glass. A complex perfume of floral elements dancing over quality fruit complexed with earth
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Barbera | Piedmont, Barolo
Our Barbera d'Alba Superiore is made from Barbera grapes grown on our own vineyards. These vineyards are planted on Helvetian soil, which lends structure and elegance, enhanced by approximately one year of aging in wood. The color is an intense ruby red, tending towards violet and purple. On the nose, it offers vinous aromas of red and black fruits such as cherry, plum, and blackberry. The palate is full and robust, with a pleasant flavor of typical red and black fruits and a pleasant sensation
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One of Italy’s great value red wines, the Barbera d’Alba ‘Casa Vinicola’ is an expression of Barbera fruit sourced from around the Barolo and Barbaresco sub-regions. This is one of the longest standing labels in Giacosa’s stable having first been produced in 1969, just after the first Barolos and Barbarescos of the mid-60’s. These days it is a refreshing red that shows the ripe red berries of great Barberas from Alba, alongside notably sinewy tannins and a good mineral core.
$101
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Barbera | Serralunga d'Alba, Barolo
The 2021 Barbera d'Alba is a new wine from Cappellano. Sourced from a close friends vineyard in the Roero it has a very different flavour and tannin profile to the Barbera Gabutti which needed replanting after years of decline.
Like all good Barbera and Cappellano wines, the 2021 Barbera shows excellent development and refinement. Given this is the first release it'll be fascinating to see how Augusto evolves this wine in future vintages. I suspect the soils here will be sandier as is more ty
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I first had the junior wine of this back in 1994 while studying winemaking in Adelaide. Over the decades it has become more refined. A great expression of Barbera. Those in the know will tell you that good vineyards planted to Barbera in Asti will beat the bounty of average sites that have been planted to the variety in Alba."The 2021 Barbera d'Asti La Crena is exceptional. Bright, red-toned fruit, chalk, mint, white pepper and rose petal are all beautifully delineated. In recent times V
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Barbera | Serralunga d'Alba, Barolo
The 2017 Barbera d'Alba Gabutti captures all of the natural richness of the vintage in spades. Super-ripe red cherry, kirsch, mint, rose petal, star anise and blood orange are some of the many sensations that develop with some air. Though classically built in terms of structure, the 2017 is decidedly ripe in its expression of fruit. This is a very serious wine. Time in the glass really helps bring things together and tone down some of the most exotic ripeness that is present at the outset.
An
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Barbera | Serralunga d'Alba, Barolo
The 2018 Barbera d'Alba Gabutti is fabulous. In some recent vintages, the Cappellano Barbera has been a pretty big wine, but in 2018 it is all finesse. The purity of the fruit is striking, but the aromatics and mid-weight structure - both of which lean towards Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo - are just captivating. Kirsch, sweet spice, mint, ripe raspberry and a burst of bright acids linger. I would be thrilled to own this. Harvest was on October 3, very late for Barbera. Drink 2022-2032
Antonio Gall
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Barbera | Serralunga d'Alba, Barolo
The 2019 Barbera d'Alba Gabutti is a delicate, perfumed Barbera with a Nebbiolo-like feeling of mid-weight structure. Succulent dark cherry fruit, tobacco, spice, leather, menthol and blood orange are pushed forward. A kick of bright acids on the finish keeps things vibrant. This unique, idiosyncratic Barbera is compelling. I have no doubt Cappellano fans with love it. Drink 2024-2034
Antonio Galloni - NR as per request from Cappellano
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Barbera | Piedmont, Castiglione Falletto
The last bottle of this I had was a 2013 to start a Vietti Barolo session including Riservas from 1997 and 1982. It was one of the wines of the night. Incredibly intensity. The mid palate weight and layering of both flavours and tannins is ridiculously impressive. So fine and long. Deceptively complex with wonderful earthiness, so pretty, flowers. Excellent acid tannin complex. A generosity that has been tamed. Impeccable fruit. Definitely pulled back oak use massively to the point that it is an
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Barbera | Serralunga d'Alba, Barolo
Another great Piemonte vine, another great aspect of the Gabutti vineyards. A classic Barbera, feminine in its generosity and masculine in its posture. It is characterised by a distinctive acidity which sustains softness and fruit, and delivers a vibrating tasting experience until the long finale. The wine gives the impression of partial incompleteness, of continuous change; like all the red wines with strong character it takes its time to unveil its potentiality, character, and pleasures. We ha
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Barbera | Serralunga d'Alba, Barolo
The 2019 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Francia marries elegance, power and energy. Inky blue/purplish fruit, menthol, licorice and sage are some of the nuances that build as this creamy, textured Barbera slowly opens in the glass. The Francia is wonderfully somber and mysterious, with striking shades of dimension that reveal themselves over time. The 2019 was just bottled, but its pedigree is evident.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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Barbera | Serralunga d'Alba, Barolo
The 2020 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Francia is fabulous. Rich and expansive, with tremendous presence, the 2020 is positively stellar. Super-ripe dark cherry, lavender, spice and pomegranate all gain volume and intensity with time in the glass. The 2020 is one of the finest recent editions of the Francia Barbera I can remember tasting. Today, it's explosive, heady personality is impossible to resist.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous 95 Points
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Barbera | Serralunga d'Alba, Barolo
The 2018 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Francia is an explosion of floral, savory and mineral notes. Like the Cerretta, the Francia Barbera is quite delicate in this vintage. It has a bit darker fruit, stronger savory undertones and a touch more depth. It is a beguiling, beautifully layered wine that unfolds graciously over time.
Antonio Galloni, Vinous 94 Points
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Barbera | Serralunga d'Alba, Barolo
The 2018 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Cerretta is so elegant and refined in this vintage. The 2018 is
lithe and precise, with lovely red berry, floral and blood orange flavors that are woven together into a fabric of total class. The long, silky finish is a thing of beauty. With a bit of time, the Cerretta starts to show its trademark pliancy. I would give it a few years in bottle.Antonio Galloni, Vinous 94 Points
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Barbera | Serralunga d'Alba, Barolo
Brooding dark fruits, mineral wet rock and graphite notes underpinned by sapid salinity that complements and creates interest. The palate is lush and powerful. A lot going on.
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Check out all the Barbera Here!
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