A Barbera not just for wine geeks

Over the last decade or so, Northern Italy’s wondrous Barbera grape has become a new favorite here in the U.S. Americans are learning what the Italians have known for a very, very long time: that this versatile late-ripening red grape makes for an excellent food wine, with barely any tannin and loads of bright acidity and red berry and red pitted fruit. Until the present, Barbera from the township of Alba has enjoyed the greatest success here in the U.S. In Alba, Barolo and Barbaresco producers plant Barbera in growing sites where they’ve chosen not to plant Nebbiolo. That’s not to say that they don’t produce great wines. But for the producers of Alba, Nebbiolo remains their top priority and passion.

What Americans are about to find out is that the top growing zone in Piedmont for Barbera is Monferrato, about an hour northeast of Alba by car. Here, fine wines have been produced since the Middle Ages (in the Decameron, for example, Boccaccio writes of the “excellent and rare wines” of Monferrato, day 1, novella 5).

In Monferrato, the subsoil is composed of the famous pietra da cantoni, literally corner stone, so-called because in Italy it has been widely used in construction: an ancient marl formed 20-13 million years B.C.E., made of prehistoric ridged sea shells. You can still find the shell in the marl, with alternates with sandy subsoil (that’s a prehistoric shark’s tooth, above). There’s even a museum devoted exclusively to the history of pietra da cantoni and its uses. (One of the great things about pietra da cantoni is its porous nature, thus keeping it cool even in Italy’s hot summer months.)

This nutrient poor subsoil is ideal for the production of fine wine. Not much vegetation grows in this part of the Alpine foot hills but with its southern exposure and its well-drained marl and sandy soils, it is ideal for the cultivation of Barbera.

This is just one of the reasons we’re so excited about the Cantine Valpane Barbera del Monferrato, imported by Kermit Lynch and distributed by D’Amore Wine Selections here in Texas.

The other reason is that IT IS UNBELIEVABLY DELICIOUS, chewy and rich, bursting with food-friendly acidity, red fruit flavors, and awesome minerality.

Cantina Valpane makes this wine in an entirely traditional style and employs roughly 25% whole-cluster carbonic maceration, thus culling even more natural fruit flavor from the Barbera grape.

This is not just a great wine for wine geeks, IT IS SIMPLY A GREAT WINE. If you like the Barbera from Alba and Asti, YOU WILL LOVE THIS WINE.

It is named Rosso Pietro after Pietro Arditi the patriarch of the Arditi family who has owned and made wine at the estate for more than 100 years — long before Barolo and Barbaresco enjoyed their current fame.

You can find this wine at Catalan (Houston), Vino Vino (Austin, both retail and by the bottle), by the glass at Trattoria Lisina (Driftwood, Texas Hill Country) and also the glass at  The Galleria Tennis & Atheltic Club ‘s Verve Restaurant ( Houston).