CARPE TRAVEL WINE 101:
GET TO KNOW THE GRAPES
GETTING TO KNOW
BARBERA WINE
Barbera (bar-Bear-uh) is a dark-skinned, red wine grape that is considered to be Nebbiolo’s baby brother. Its wines are juicy and relatively light-bodied despite its bold, deep purple color. Barbera grapes are used both in blended wines and single varietals. It’s low tannins, moderate alcohol and high acidity produce extremely drinkable wines.
If unoaked and aged in stainless steel, Barbera wine has a sour cherry, anise and herbal notes. The acid complements the natural cherry flavor and maintains the tangy and bright flavors. As the wine ages from oak interaction, the flavors can become richer.
Fun Fact
Barbera is Italy’s third most-commonly planted red wine grape, after Sangiovese and Montepulciano.
Look for flavors like mocha, chocolate or raisins. Other dominant flavors include sour cherries, dried strawberry, licorice, black pepper, lavender, blackberry, mulberry, plum, mocha, tobacco, smoke and tar.
WHERE TO FIND THE BARBERA GRAPE
The Barbera grape is naturally high in acid and can be produced in warmer climates like California or Argentina, albeit Italy is where it has earned its reputation for producing outstanding wines. Well-known Italian regions for producing Barbera wine include Piedmont, North Coast and Mendoza Valley.
OLD WORLD BARBERA WINE
Italian Barbera wines are lighter in style and have a tart herbal flavor. Northern Italy has several producing regions Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Puglia, Campania and even the island regions, Sicily and Sardinia. Though Barbera is planted throughout Italy, the best examples hail from Piedmont’s Barbera d’Asti and Barbera d’Alba.
NEW WORLD BARBERA WINE
California has several amazing vineyards of Barbera. New world Barbera wines are more full-bodied and fruit-forward.
The wine in this region is higher in alcohol with more fruit flavors. Central Valley and Sierra Foothills are making some great juice.
When is the Right Mood for Barbera Wine?
If you have a bottle of Barbera wine and want some wine pairing ideas, you have tons of options. With its high acidity, it’s super food-friendly, from meats to fish to charcuterie, veg, pasta, and more.
Some considerations on Barbera wine pairing: fatty foods also more tannic foods make magic with acidity, like red meats and salmon. For more tannic foods, try root vegetables. The zesty, tantalizing acidity is great with red sauce, so simple pasta, bolognese, and pizza are also beautiful. And, bbq lovers, rejoice – Barbera is all you need. Click over for some specific recipe recommendations.
BARBERA WINE RECOMMENDATIONS
Looking for recommendations on Barbera wines? Here are a few we suggest.
Massolino Barbera d’Alba
Pio Cesare Fides Barbera d’Alba
Terra d’Oro Barbera
Maia Parish is the owner of The Wine Suite and creator of The Tales of a Wine Mistress blog. Her events and tastings are featured at national festivals and tradeshows. She has her own broadcast called Tales of a Wine Mistress, on iGTV, Facebook Watch, and Twitter Live. Maia is a Wine Judge for the Denver International Wine Competition, Drink Pink Vino International Festival, Port and Fortified, and the Pairsine Food and Wine Competitions. She was a guest panelist for the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference and was featured in the Women in Wine Issue for R.H. Drexel’s Loam Baby Volume 6, and was voted as the under over 40 Top African Americans in Wine. She was also published in SommJourmal with Karen McNeil’s the Status of Women in the Wine Industry. Swirl Suite and is working on two upcoming podcasts. She is a former private caterer and events producer.
Maia is a mom of one, sister to many, friend to food, a semi-tech nerd, TV fanatic, big hair and don’t care fashionista, and entrepreneur. She lives in Denver. She lives to learn and educate people about the wine lifestyle, why because pouring make her happy.