Learn about Barbera – The Italian grape
The Barbera grape is best known as the Italian wine grape found in the Piedmont region of Italy. Two villages close to one another, Asti and Alba, produce the finest Barbera wines of Italy. In California, Barbera vines are found in many places. Amador County is providing the best of California Barbera. The terroir in the Amador region has many similarities to those of Asti and Alba.
The Character of Barbera
Barbera is a fun wine. It is generally light-to-medium with red fruit flavors. The balanced acidity and low tannins in Barbera wines make it ideal for foods, especially tomato-based dishes. The California version of Barbera tends to be more medium bodied to light heavy. There is also less acidity than the Italian versions of Barbera. A good strategy to learn about Barbera is to do a side-by-side comparison between Barbera d’ Asti or Barbera d’ Alba and a Barbera from the Sierra Foothills.
Under $20 Barbera wines we like
- Sobon Barbera – Nob Hill Stores
- Renato Ratti Barbera D’Alba – Weimax Wines
- Barreri & Rovati D’Asti – Trader Joe’s
- Valmorena Barbera D’Asti – now at Costco $13
Do you know the way to Barbera wine?