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?

A Visit to Preston Ridge Vineyard

Yesterday, my husband and I called Steve Sawyer and asked if we could visit him to ask questions regarding his new winery. Steve made time to see us on the spur of the moment. We arrived at his location around 4 p.m. just as his partner Mark was leaving for New Jersey. Steve gave us a tour around his new facilities. This is his first crush! I can just imagine how exciting it must be after all the years of work to design and create a new winery and vineyard. That's my husband on the left and Steve on the right.
Steve let us taste the juices fermenting in his winery, a very nice blush wine made from Baco noir and a Cabernet franc. His 2400 square foot winery that we saw when it was just under construction in June, was now filled with stainless steel tanks, wooden barrels, crusher destemmer, press, lab, and a bottling room.
As we talked, a beautiful sunset illuminated the sky, a gorgeous view from the deck of the tasting room. More information about Preston Ridge Vineyard can be found here:
Preston Ridge Vineyard

NEWS FLASH: Article on Eddy Naim's Chateau Qanafar

Hi All!
I received an email from Eddy Naim. He is doing very well. In a previous blog I gave a link to Eddy's Facebook Site.
Eddy was recently interviewed for The Daily Star. Read the article here:
Businessman trades board rooms for vineyards

More on Biodynamics --- Article by Glenn McGourty

In Katherine Cole's book, Voodoo Vintners, she writes about a study done by Glenn McGourty of UC Davis. This study was published in the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture by Glenn McGourty and Washington State scientists Jennifer Reeve, L. Carpenter-Boggs and John Reginold. Here is a link to more information about biodynamic farming written by Glenn McGourty:
UC Cooperative Extension advisor researches biodynamic grape production.