Barbera
Pronunciation: Bahr-BAYR-ahWhere it's Grown: Barbera is one of the principal grapes of Northwest Italy - Piemonte, specifically. It has been taken to other places, but none of the new regions have adopted the grape as a principal part of the wine making regime. That being said, you can find it planted in several places around California and Argentina, where in the right hands it makes really nice wines. For our purposes, we will just discuss the truly Italian nature of the grape.
Barbera is most commonly attributed to the town of Monferrato in Central Piemonte. The records of the cathedral, Casal Monferrato, list it as part of the vineyard plantings in the mid-thirteenth century! Wow, 700 years of working with one varietal in one place! There is also the thought that it may have originated in nearby Lombardy, but most have settled on Monferrato. Interestingly, there is some DNA and ampelographal information that suggests it is related to the French/Spanish varietal Mourvedre/Monastrell.
The beauty of Barbera for the Piedmontese wine maker is that it ripens an average of 2 weeks earlier than Nebbiolo. Nebbiolo is famous for the long lived wines of Barolo and Barbaresco. As in any region, the winemakers and the wine drinkers need wines that can be drunk before their wine requiring cellar aging, and Barbera fills that bill.
Barbera has a fairly wide range of weight and intensity based on the goal of the winemaking, but it is certainly not a high tannin grape. The charm of the grape is it’s deep berry fruits and the supple texture.
What to expect: Barbera is a black forest berry-dominated grape. In the lighter wines that were aged without oak, you will find raspberry, cherry, and blackberries fresh off the bush. There is commonly a zesty or spritzy feel to the finished wine, which feels like bubbles on the tongue. This spritzy feel is an effect of the high acidity of the grape and is great with many different foods. Barbera is wonderfully floral and will smell of roses or lavender.
The weightier wines will usually have the influence of new oak barrel aging. Oak aging brings additional flavors of baking spices and vanilla or caramel, which will darken the overall flavor of the fruit. Wines made from later harvests are reminiscent of blackberry and dried black cherry, with an undertone of very ripe blueberry. “Serious” Barbera is very ageworthy due to the later harvest of the grapes, oak aging and a generally higher levels extract.
