Lovely old world wine with earth, leather, tar and some cherry on palate. Not much of a nose, and fairly short finish with some acid following the finish. Seems to be on the downslope of its life but still pleasant. Well liked by all.
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Got our hands on a couple more bottles of '07, not wanting to tap into the 08's which may be just a tad less robust. Just love this wine, great for the price. Color is inky (almost like an Aussie Shiraz), nose and taste are the stongest bowl of berries you have ever stuck your nose in, and lots of bramble/wood with a hint of earthiness. Definitely a touch of wood, that finishes it off nicely. Speaking of finish, it had a better than medium finish and it threw off a good amount of sediment (we find that pretty cool). QPR to the max. If you don't like robust Italian reds, this one is not for you; if you do, give this a try.
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Truly a tremendous bottle of wine, sorry to see the last of our 2007 bite the dust. A great Italian Barbera on the hefty side (14.5% alc). Dark red, but not quite inky appearance. Nose is strong plum and oak; taste is likewise strong plum fruit, with a definite oak and somewhat smoky tatte. Long finish, especially as the wine opens up - suggest decanting after a good 30 minute breathe. Perfect to pair with any Italian or other tomato-based dish. Definitely not a shy Barbera. At $ 20, outstanding Quality to Price ratio.
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This is everything one would want a robust Italian red to be: pepper, wood, oak, earth (did I mention robust?). Paid $13.99 for it, drinks easily like a $20 bottle. While we had this with home made spaghetti, this is not your normal spaghetti red. 14.5% alc for instance. My only regret is that I only bought three bottles, instead of a case. We had one bottle some time back, and I have to say it was not ready to drink back then, it is ideal now. We did let it breathe for 45 minutes and it smoothed out to its potential only because of that. Tannins were softened out to nearly non-existence. Looks like it had lots of oak aging. What a deal this wine! Have to think some of the lower ratings drank it young.. remember that Old World Wines are not necessarily pop and pour. Aging or decanting/aerating will help. We did not decant or aerate after a quick early taste and were rewarded.
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Nice flavor on this one. Nose doesn't provide anything too distinct for me, maybe a little berry and some spice. Can really taste the berry in the palate in this medium bodied wine. Finish shows some acidity but the tanin wins out. Good flavor and some surprises in this bottle.
2nd Night: Wine help up fine, but I did get a not so nice mouth full of sediment at the end. Would recommend running the last glass through a filter if this sort of thing bothers you.
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clear, murky purple, think wwm nose: tannins, a purple aroma dry, acid is med+ tannin is med body is med alc is est 13.5 finish is purple tight berries, med+ acidity, spice from oak aging, tannic red fruit with some acidity
Tannic young wine with rough purple/red fruit tamed by oak aging. A good match for pasta with red sauce
Vinification Selection of grapes in the vineyard, fermentation and maceration for about 15 days in stainless-steel containers, followed by malolactic fermentation in November.
Maturing 40% aged in 50-hectoliter French oak barrels, 60% in small 225-liter barrels, for 18 months. Blended in the spring, bottled in the summer.
Sensory characteristics Intense ruby-red color with purple tinges, a bouquet of fully ripe fruit, with an excellent dash of freshness. Tannins are prominent in the mouth, maintaining the classic Barbera backbone.
Notes Barbera in literature: In Piedmont both the grape and the wine usually take on the feminine grammatical gender. In fact it’s the only wine which takes the feminine, as elsewhere the grape is feminine and the wine is masculine. However it appears in both genders in the writings of some authors from Piedmont and beyond. The Tuscan Giosuè Carducci, after stays in Piedmont, began to appreciate it, dreaming of “Generous Barbera. Drinking her seems to us – to be alone at sea – challenging a storm.” For Paolo Monelli, a member of the Alpine troops and writer, author of Toes up: A chronicle of gay and doleful adventures of Alpini and mules and wine, Barbera is “the foot soldier of Piedmontese wines, mud-trampler and fog-banisher” with its dry and honest taste, the wine of the social history of 20th-century Piedmont. One of the most enthusiastic literary praisings of Barbera comes from Cesare Pavese, in a letter to a friend: “We ate so well that don’t know how I can tell my Turinese friends about it; the salad of mushrooms such as you can only fine in our parts and a legendary Barbera were an indescribable pleasur
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6/30/2016 - sma Likes this wine: 88 Points
Lovely old world wine with earth, leather, tar and some cherry on palate. Not much of a nose, and fairly short finish with some acid following the finish. Seems to be on the downslope of its life but still pleasant. Well liked by all.
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6/16/2013 - Wineio Likes this wine: 90 Points
Black cherry and blackberry fruit flavors plus spicy. Medium tannin. Great with meat. At peak
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6/8/2012 - Z1nnfull wrote: 90 Points
Got our hands on a couple more bottles of '07, not wanting to tap into the 08's which may be just a tad less robust. Just love this wine, great for the price. Color is inky (almost like an Aussie Shiraz), nose and taste are the stongest bowl of berries you have ever stuck your nose in, and lots of bramble/wood with a hint of earthiness. Definitely a touch of wood, that finishes it off nicely. Speaking of finish, it had a better than medium finish and it threw off a good amount of sediment (we find that pretty cool). QPR to the max. If you don't like robust Italian reds, this one is not for you; if you do, give this a try.
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3/28/2012 - Z1nnfull wrote: 90 Points
Truly a tremendous bottle of wine, sorry to see the last of our 2007 bite the dust. A great Italian Barbera on the hefty side (14.5% alc). Dark red, but not quite inky appearance. Nose is strong plum and oak; taste is likewise strong plum fruit, with a definite oak and somewhat smoky tatte.
Long finish, especially as the wine opens up - suggest decanting after a good 30 minute breathe. Perfect to pair with any Italian or other tomato-based dish. Definitely not a shy Barbera. At $ 20, outstanding Quality to Price ratio.
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12/12/2011 - Z1nnfull wrote: 90 Points
This is everything one would want a robust Italian red to be: pepper, wood, oak, earth (did I mention robust?). Paid $13.99 for it, drinks easily like a $20 bottle. While we had this with home made spaghetti, this is not your normal spaghetti red. 14.5% alc for instance. My only regret is that I only bought three bottles, instead of a case. We had one bottle some time back, and I have to say it was not ready to drink back then, it is ideal now. We did let it breathe for 45 minutes and it smoothed out to its potential only because of that. Tannins were softened out to nearly non-existence. Looks like it had lots of oak aging. What a deal this wine! Have to think some of the lower ratings drank it young.. remember that Old World Wines are not necessarily pop and pour. Aging or decanting/aerating will help. We did not decant or aerate after a quick early taste and were rewarded.
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5/12/2011 - DanSm wrote: 85 Points
Nice balance of fruit and acid.
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4/11/2011 - DanSm wrote: 85 Points
Nice. Great with roasted meat. Good fruit.
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2/11/2011 - boyajian Likes this wine: 86 Points
Nice flavor on this one. Nose doesn't provide anything too distinct for me, maybe a little berry and some spice. Can really taste the berry in the palate in this medium bodied wine. Finish shows some acidity but the tanin wins out. Good flavor and some surprises in this bottle.
2nd Night:
Wine help up fine, but I did get a not so nice mouth full of sediment at the end. Would recommend running the last glass through a filter if this sort of thing bothers you.
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7/23/2010 - awinestory wrote: 80 Points
clear, murky purple, think wwm
nose: tannins, a purple aroma
dry, acid is med+ tannin is med body is med alc is est 13.5 finish is purple tight berries, med+ acidity, spice from oak aging, tannic red fruit with some acidity
Tannic young wine with rough purple/red fruit tamed by oak aging. A good match for pasta with red sauce
Barbera d'Alba D.O.C.
Variety
100% Barbera
Vineyards:
Location: Castiglione Falletto Villero,
Plot 7, Sub-plots 285, 286, 132
Characteristics: 250 meters above sea level, southern exposure, 2.7 x 0.8 meters spacing, 4,700 vines/hectare density, Guyot upward-trained vertical-trellised training system.
Age: 50 years
Size: 1 hectare
Yield: 80 quintals/hectare
Location: La Morra Roggeri, Plot 21, Sub-plot 498
Characteristics: 280 meters above sea level, southwestern exposure, 2.7 x 0.8 meters spacing, 4,700 vines/hectare, Guyot upward-trained vertical-trellised training system.
Age: 40 years
Size: 0.6 hectares
Yield: 90 quintals/hectare
Harvesting period
Last 10 days of September
Production
10,000 bottles
Vinification
Selection of grapes in the vineyard, fermentation and maceration for about 15 days in stainless-steel containers, followed by malolactic fermentation in November.
Maturing
40% aged in 50-hectoliter French oak barrels, 60% in small 225-liter barrels, for 18 months. Blended in the spring, bottled in the summer.
Sensory characteristics
Intense ruby-red color with purple tinges, a bouquet of fully ripe fruit, with an excellent dash of freshness. Tannins are prominent in the mouth, maintaining the classic Barbera backbone.
Notes
Barbera in literature: In Piedmont both the grape and the wine usually take on the feminine grammatical gender. In fact it’s the only wine which takes the feminine, as elsewhere the grape is feminine and the wine is masculine. However it appears in both genders in the writings of some authors from Piedmont and beyond. The Tuscan Giosuè Carducci, after stays in Piedmont, began to appreciate it, dreaming of “Generous Barbera. Drinking her seems to us – to be alone at sea – challenging a storm.” For Paolo Monelli, a member of the Alpine troops and writer, author of Toes up: A chronicle of gay and doleful adventures of Alpini and mules and wine, Barbera is “the foot soldier of Piedmontese wines, mud-trampler and fog-banisher” with its dry and honest taste, the wine of the social history of 20th-century Piedmont. One of the most enthusiastic literary praisings of Barbera comes from Cesare Pavese, in a letter to a friend: “We ate so well that don’t know how I can tell my Turinese friends about it; the salad of mushrooms such as you can only fine in our parts and a legendary Barbera were an indescribable pleasur
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