In the impressive vineyard landscape of Piedmont, Barbera certainly holds a prominent position. It's the most cultivated grape variety in the region, found in various territories: southern Piedmont, Langhe, Monferrato, Tortonese, Astigiano, Albese, just to name a few. From these areas, the grape has crossed regional borders, extending its influence to other areas: it appears in some denominations of Oltrepò Pavese, the Colli Bolognesi, the Piacentini hills, and even in the Parma region. Actually, it would also be present in Campania, in Sannio, but that's an entirely different Barbera that has very little in common with the Piedmontese one.
Barbera is a highly versatile grape capable of producing wines for immediate consumption as well as ambitious and prestigious aged versions. Its distinctive characteristics lie in acidity, a tendency to provide alcoholic warmth, and a low presence of tannic structure: in essence, it's a versatile grape that, however, needs to be handled consistently to smooth out any potential rough edges.
The Barbera wines with the best quality-to-price ratio for the Berebene 2024 guide
While in the past Barbera produced "popular" wines, nowadays, companies and Consortiums for Protection, through extensive work not only in technical and agronomic aspects but also in cultural aspects, have managed to improve the fate of wines made from this grape variety. Today, it's not difficult to come across great versions of this eclectic Piedmontese red. Here, we offer a small list of the Barbera wines reviewed in the Gambero Rosso's Berebene 2024 guide, labels that have received a rating of over 90 points and can be found in wine shops or online for less than 20 euros.
- Barbera d'Alba 2018 - Pqlin
- Barbera d'Asti Frem 2021 - Scagliola Sansì
- Barbera d'Asti La Barbatella 2022 - Cascina La Barbatella
- Barbera d'Asti Lavignone 2022 - Pico Maccario
- Barbera d'Asti Sanbastian 2021 - Dacapo
- Barbera d'Asti Sup. Bricco Sereno 2020 - Tenuta La Meridiana
- Barbera d'Asti Sup. La Luna e i Falò 2021 - Vite Colte
- Barbera d’Asti Pautasso 2022 - Raffaele Gili
- Nizza Cipressi 2021 - Michele Chiarlo
- Nizza La Cappelletta 2020 - Cascina Barisél