Desperately Seeking a Good Barbera

When we went out to California to look at rootstocks and clones of grape varieties that we wanted to grow, we were advised that Barbera might be a good choice in our area. We don't know anyone growing Barbera in Connecticut, let alone the Southeastern New England AVA. I'm really not a fan of Barbera, possibly because of my limited experience with tasting it so we thought that we would do our homework and taste a range of Barberas.

We began with a 2006 Barbera D'Alba Scudetto (vineyard name) Mascarello (name of the family) Giuseppe e Figlio, a family owned winery that can trace back it's origin to 1881. This wine costs about $30.00 and was dark purple in color with a nose of cherries and a touch of leather. The flavor was a bit tannic and green so it could be that the wine needs to sit longer.

The second Barbera we tasted was a Ferdinando Principiano Laura 2009. We thought that Barberas in general benefit from being tasted with some kind of tomato-based food so we made a spaghetti. The color of the Principiano was a dark burgundy and somewhat cloudy. The flavor was fruit driven sour cherries.

At the same time that we drank the Principiano, we also tasted a 2008 Oddero. The Oddero was lighter in color and clear. This wine was not fruit driven and had enough tannins making it seem a bit more complex than the Principiano.

Lastly, we sampled a Conterno Fantino Vignota 2009 which tasted like a combination of the Principiano and the Oddero, with a nice balance of fruit and tannins. Interestingly, the Mascarello was the most expensive at $30.00. The Oddero, which we liked was $14.00 and the Principiano and the Conterno Fantino were $20.00.
We're still on the fence about planting Barbera in Connecticut and still desperately seeking a good Barbera.
Any suggestions?