It makes a lot of sense to follow a blog on Zinfandel and its importance to the Gold Country and Sierra Foothills AVAs with the other stalwart grape of the Sierra appelations which is Barbera. Barbera is a complementary varietal to the venerable Zinfandel of the wines of California’s interior. UC Davis said Barbera would do well in California’s central valleys. It has since also been planted in Sonoma, Amador and El Dorado counties, and provides many wineries the potential to leverage this versatile varietal. You will find a lot of Barbera at Northern California wineries.
Why the title of this blog, well because it can get confusing. Italy is the world’s most diverse wine country on the planet. It is said, that over 1 million unique vineyards exist in Italy, and they are the largest producing Country in the world just barely beating out the other two stalwarts of Europe which are Spain and France. Italy is a powerhouse in wine, and yes Barolo which is made from the Nebbiola grape varietal is not Barbera. So a small joke on the world of Italian wines, because it is so varied and complex. Cheers to Italy, they have been doing vinification of grapes for centuries.
Barbera in the foothill wine regions is usually made as Zinfandel is, trying to be a fruity, dark and bold wine. As Paul Bush from Madrona and Rucksack wineries explains how Barbera is very acid forward when the grapes are picked a bit earlier and Paul blends two distinct pickings to determine a better balance for his Barbera, focusing on medium body Barbera. I do love the Rucksack Cellars Barbera I think it is a classic Barbera for our area but there are of course many others to try. I prefer a Barbera that is structured with enough acidity and tannins (structure), to give it a long mellow finish, quite different, than California Zinfandel. Generally speaking, Zinfandel will be more tannic, and Barbera will be more acidic, but overall structure and balance is the key to drink-ability, and how well a wine will go with food.
Another foothills choice for Barbera would be a famous Barbera producer from a historical perspective and this is the Boeger Winery who is also the pioneering winery of El Dorado County in the modern era. Boeger produces lots of varietals, but they maintain Barbera as one long standing flagship varietal. Boeger Barbera should be an easy find if you are local within the region.
I want to mention 2 wineries from Amador, as Amador is very well known for Barbera plantings. Cooper Vineyards, takes Barbera very seriously. Cooper loves big Barbera trying to leverage all the grape can give, in a rich and opulent tone. Another Barbera from Amador to try is the Bella Grace Barbera, the organically grown Barbera fruit at Bella Grace is top end. Other players in the Steiner Road group do well with Barbera, right alongside all the Zinfandel that comes from this section of Amador County.
Like Paul at Rucksack says you should try to drink Barbera with food. The acids of Barbera especially common in Italian Barbera’s you can purchase are designed to cut through starchy foods, such as pasta, bread and potatoes. So it is a perfect compliment to some appetizers that may provide starch and this is a good starting way to pair this varietal.
If you want to go deeper on the varied world of Barbera I think it is a must to leverage an online wine store that brings in a good number of Italian Barbera’s so you can try the different more acidic nature of the Italian Barbera to see how that suits you. Italian Barbera’s go deep and wide. A great place to start is Astor Wines. Ones thing I love about Astor is they stock an amazing amount of varied Italian Barbera’s from all over Italy. So that’s a good online store that will let you try a few.
Enjoy any well crafted Barbera at your next Italian pasta meal just to see if you like that cherry tone and palate cleansing acid with your spaghetti, and remember to drink a few choices, as the varietal can be very diverse, especially when you dive in deeper to what Italy provides. Here is a launch point at Wine Folly into the Piedmont region of Italy, where Barbera is heavily planted and all types of Barbera wines are produced in Piedmont, from lighter elegant Barbera’s to very rich and opulent ones.