A Wine Lover's Look At Red Barbera Grapes
Barbera is Italy's third most widely grown red wine grape, coming in after Sangiovese and Montepulciano. It once held second place in the Italian grape hit parade but a mid-1980s scandal that involved some producers adding methanol to their Barbera wines killing over 30 people and blinding others not surprisingly lowered this grape's popularity. Plantings declined by about 40 %.
Documents in the Casale Monferrato Cathedral located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy that date back to the mid-Thirteenth Century describe leasing for Barbera vineyards in the neighborhood area. Other Italian regions growing Barbera grapes include Piedmont's eastern neighbors Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, and the southern islands of Sardinia and Sicily. Interestingly enough, in The Piedmont Barbera makes a varietal wine, actually several, while elsewhere in Italy it is usually blended. The Barbera grape is also grown in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Israel, South Africa, and Uruguay. It is quite popular in California's Central and Napa Valleys. Can you guess in which of these two locations it is more likely to produce a high-quality wine? Other Barbera states include Oregon, Washington, and Arizona.
The juice of the Barbera grape has a dark ruby color, with high levels of acid but moderate to low tannins. It has a fruity, floral nose and a distinctive taste of red fruits and black cherries. Barbera-based wine is generally consumed within a few years of bottling, but it does age well. Italian Barbera is quite versatile, making dry, sweet, and sparkling red wines.
The best-known appellation is the Barbera d'Asti, which was awarded the sometimes prestigious DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) designation in 2008. Pay a little more, if you can find it, for the Superiore version of this fine wine and you are looking at a storage potential of a decade or more. The neighboring Barbera d'Alba carries the less prestigious DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) designation. You may have to travel to Italy to find the often fizzy Barbera del Monferrato (DOC) or its Superiore (DOCG) version.
As you might guess, Barbera-based wines tend to go with Italian food such as Antipasto, Pasta with Tomato or Vegetable Sauce, and Pizza. Those who want a non-Italian treat can try a Barbera wine with Greek Moussaka.
Over the years I have reviewed all three of the above mentioned Italian Barbera wines, including at least one organic bottle but never a Superiore. Yet. I tasted these wines with a wide variety of foods and sometimes cheeses.
About the Author
Levi Reiss is the author or co-author of ten computer and Internet books, but really would rather just drink fine German or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. Check out his global wine website is http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly column reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about (theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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