Vini Rossi: the Red Wines
Barbera – The Barbera grape occupies nearly 35% of Piedmont’s 53,000 hectares of vineyards. In recent years, creative wine growers and producers have been adapting their management of this versatile grape to satisfy a wide range of tastes and demands. The results have been impressive, and at home in Italy, Barbera is firmly established as an important red wine. It is not, however, as well known in other markets, although this is changing slowly.
Piedmont’s provinces of
Asti
and
Alessandria
provide optimum conditions for the Barbera grape, and it is suspected to have originated from here. A high proportion of the best Barbera wines come from three DOCs (Denominazione Di Orgine Controllata): Barbera d’Alba DOC, Barbera del Monferrato DOC and Barbera d’Asti DOC. Barbera d’Alba tends to be what you most frequently see in export markets, as these are the Barbera wines made by the Barolo and Barbaresco producers from the Langhe region.
