Barbera

Barbera

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. A few weeks ago I did a program about Soave and it has brought about questions regarding other Italian wines, Today we begin a week long series about other Italian wines suited well to the summer.

Barbera is an Italian wine which is known for being food friendly. It is one of the many Italian red wines I believe is well suited to drinking in the summer.  They are light with berry fruit characters and nice bright acid, which is what makes it go so well with summer foods. I think the best come from Barbera d’Asti and Barbera d’Alba, they can cost anywhere from ten to thirteen dollars for the more simple Barbera and fifteen to forty for the more intense and complex styles. Piedmont is thought to be where the grape originated making northwest Italy the home of Barbera. The grape may be related in some way to the French grape Mourvedre, and I can see that, they share some similar characteristics. Italian immigrants brought the grapes to California and parts of South America. It was sent to Australia by UC Davis and has been successfully grown there for over twenty-five years. Although Barbera may not be thought of as a particularly high quality Italian red, I think it has its redeeming qualities and there are some good ones out there. Try wines made by La Spinetta, Paolo Conterno and Prunotto.

Enjoy a little Barbera this summer. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thanks for joining me on today’s Vine to Wine.

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