Parentage — Old Monferrato variety, first documented in 1512
sour cherry
blackberry
plum
violet
liquorice
Budbreak
Mid-season
Maturity
Second to third epoch; late September in Piedmont, before Nebbiolo
Leaf
Medium, pentagonal, five lobes; dark green, reddening in autumn
Bunch
Medium, pyramidal, winged, fairly compact
Berry
Medium, ellipsoid, intense blue-black; thin skin, low in tannin
Barbera is old Monferrato stock, first documented in 1512 in the Chieri district, and for centuries Piedmont's everyday red — the wine on the table while Nebbiolo waited in the cellar. It remains the region's most planted grape: high in acid, low in tannin, dark sour cherry, generous even on ordinary sites.
Its promotion came late and suddenly. In 1982 Giacomo Bologna aged his Barbera in new French barriques and called it Bricco dell'Uccellone; the workhorse proved a thoroughbred, and a generation of growers followed him. Barbera d'Asti was raised to DOCG in 2008, and old-vine bottlings from Asti and Alba now stand among Piedmont's serious wines — without ever quite losing their table manners.
In the blend
Share of this grape in a typical blend of each wine