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Wherefore Art Thou, Barbera d’Asti? (#ItalianFWT)

 

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Of all the random things for a Turkish company to produce, we have some pretty decent buffalo burrata here. The company recently released a truffle burrata and of course I had to buy it! Then this Barbera tasting came up and I thought: Barbera, Piemonte, truffles…perfect! Spoiler alert. It wasn’t. But I’ll get to that.

For this month’s #ItalianFWT, Gwendolyn from the Wine Predator has invited us all to explore the various personalities of Barbera. You can read her invitation post here. While I generally glory in the perfection that are Piemontese wines, Barbera and I don’t get on. And despite being elbow-deep in my Italian Wine Scholar studies, I don’t really know much about it. Partially because the Piemonte chapter scares the bejeezus out of me. I looked at this as a good kick in the pants to take a deep breath and dive back in.

Wherefore art thou, Barbera d’Asti DOCG?

While Nebbiolo rules as King in Piemonte, it’s actually Barbera that gets planted the most. It is the most widely-planted grape in the region. No wonder so many denominations get dedicated to it. Among them:

• Barbera d’Asti DOCG
• Nizza DOCG
• Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG
• Barbera d’Alba DOC
• Barbera del Monferrato DOC
• Gabiano DOC
• Rubino di Cantavenna DOC
• Colli Tortonesi Barbera DOC
• Piemonte Barbera DOC

For this month’s #ItalianFWT event I’m talking about Barbera d’Asti DOCG. So what makes Barbera d’Asti different from all those other Barberas?

Here in the Monferrato Astigiano area of Piemonte, Barbera vineyards surround the town of Asti. Well, “d’Asti” does mean “from Asti!” Each of the denominations have specific requirements for how the grapes get planted, and how the wine is made. For Asti, grapes grow at about 150-400 meters. Soils are a mix of calcareous marls, sabbie asitane (sand), and terre bianche. Wine must contain a minimum of 90% Barbera and age at least four months. A superiore version exists with stricter production regulations and longer ageing requirements. Often we think about ageing it’s how it correlates to oak. In Piemonte, small, new oak is not the norm. Large Slavonian botti are more common here. These allow wine to breathe and soften a bit but don’t take in all the heavy vanilla/spice flavors from the wood. For Barbera d’Asti, those four months of ageing don’t even have to be in wood at all. For the superiore version, the wine must age for 14 months with at least six of those months spent in a barrel.

Marchesi di Barolo Medaina Barbera d’Asti DOCG, 2014

Marchesi di Barolo is one of the most widely known names in the Piemonte wine world. And little wonder as it is with the Falletti family that wines from the region first gained prominence. As the story goes, in 1807  he Marquis of Barolo Carlo Tancredi Falletti married Juliette Colbert de Maulévrier. It was she who realized the potential of the wines made from the Nebbiolo grape in the town of Barolo for which the DOCG is named. But it’s not just Barolo where they’ve made their name. Marchesi di Barolo produces wines from a number of Piemontese grapes and denominations, including Barbera.

It always concerns me when I have a wine that doesn’t appear on the maker’s website. Has it been discontinued? Do they want to disassociate themselves from the wine for some reason? For whatever reason, I could not find hide nor hair of this wine on the Marchesi di Barolo website. Assuming this wine follows the winery’s general practices, it likely contains 100% Barbera and aged in old, large, Slavonian casks. No new oak or small barrels here!

Medium garnet in the glass with a pretty wide brickish rim. Black cherry aromas on the top followed by a whiff of dried strawberry, dried lavender, rosemary, and nutmeg. Smooth but low tannins with medium plus acidity and moderate alcohol (13% abv). Flavors presented very tart fruits with sour cherry and red currants with a sprinkle of dried herbs and flowers.

My pairing was an up and down rollercoaster! As I mentioned, my mind went Piemonte wine + truffles = good! Reality was a different thing. I served a truffled burrata over pasta with fried zucchini and slow roasted tomatoes. The wine did not like that at all. It did pretty well with some of the cheese board though including a lavender Gouda, Old Dutch Master, dates, roasted salted almonds, and sesame grissini.

Despite my attempt to make it so, not everything pairs well with truffles!

 We’re not done with Barbera just yet!

Don’t forget to read up on what the other #ItalianFWT members poured this month!

• Linda Whipple is Getting Reacquainted with My Old Friend Barbera on My Full Wine Glass.
• Nicole Ruiz Hudson has 5 Nights of Barbera on Somm’s Table.
• Terri Oliver Steffes shares Abbona Barbera del Monferrato, Warm and Elegant on Our Good Life.
• Cindy Rynning writes It’s Time to Drink More Barbera! on Grape Experiences.
• Andrea Lemieux asks Wherefore art thou, Barbera d’Asti? on The Quirky Cork.
• Wendy Klik pours Vietti Barbera d’Alba Tre Vinge 2018; Organic, Sustainable, Bio-dynamic on A Day in the Life on the Farm.
• Camilla Mann is Exploring a Few Bottles of Barbera Plus Wild Boar Tamales + 2018 Cascina San Lorenzo Barbera on Culinary Adventures with Camilla.
• Susannah Gold shares Barbera – A Look at Asti, Alba and Nizza on Avvinare.
• Jennifer Gentile Martin offers up The Abundance of Barbera in Piedmont with Fontanafredda on Vino Travels.
• Our host, Gwendolyn at Wine Predator, is featuring 2017 Aldo Clerico Barbera D’ Alba with Anchovies, Pizza, Sausage Orecchiette.