Barbera Wine

Expert Ratings

Wine Spectator Bruce Sanderson writes | Bright and fruity, this sleek yet rich red offers fine balance and length, evoking cherry, raspberry and almond flavors, with a hint of tar. Succulent finish. Drink now.  

Wine Enthusiast Jeff Porter writes 90 Points | Maraia translates from the Piedmontese dialect to “little rascals” and this wine plays right into that moniker. Vibrant and playful aromas of sour cherry and raspberry dance with fresh flowers and wild herbs. The palate is zippy and pops with red currants and pomegranate that give way to savory flavors before finishing with crisp acidity.

Winemaker Description

This wine's ripe, dark-skinned fruit, culinary spice and new leather scents lead the way, along with a menthol note. The firmly structured, chewy palate offers dried Morello cherry, raspberry jam, licorice and espresso flavors alongside fine-grained tannins. Pair with pasta and beans, risotto with porcini mushrooms, chicken chasseur. 

Expert Reviews 

James Suckling 90 Points |  This is dark-fruited with notes of chocolate and dark spices as well as bark and wet soil. Full and creamy with intense fruit character and soft, melted tannins. Fruity finish. Drink now. (2021).

Winemaker Description 

Pure, vibrant and full of bright, juicy fruit. Mouthwatering flavors of strawberry and raspberry swirl from the glass with refreshing vibrancy, lip smacking acidity and savory complexity. This is a versatile with an endless spectrum of food pairing possibilities.

Our Review

With perfumed aromas of lavender, roses, tar, and juicy black cherries.  While preceding a mouth-watering, medium-bodied palate that’s lively with acidity and framed by soft tannins. Flavors of just-picked blackberries, cherries, and cranberries will be perfect alongside tomato-based dishes like pasta with ragù and pizza.

Expert Review

The 2020 has not been reviewed.  For your guidance the 2021:

 Stephen Brook, Vincenzo Arnese, Sara Bachiorri write:  Muted, black cherry nose with some floral aromas. Red berries, damsons and sour cherry on the palate with good freshness and integrated tannin. Lively with high alcohol and a very long finish.  - Decanter 90

Winemaker Description

Serra is the name the winery's family since long time has assigned to the fresher and more delicate slope of the Serraboella. More evolved soils, richer, less dry, in a more closed and fresh valley, gives origin to rigorous wine, full but never opulent and balanced in their freshness. For some years now, in the Serra they do not have only Neive grapes but also a small portion comes from the Rivoli region of Alba.

Expert Review

Wine Spectator 90 Points | A powerful yet fresh red graced by smoky blackberry, plum, graphite and black pepper flavors. Harmonious and lingers with a combination of juiciness and chalkiness. (2020).

Winemaker Description 

Intense aromas of blackberry and morello cherries. This wine is truly captivating, yet it remains fresh and extremely versatile.

Winemaker Description

The warm weather in the last part of the 2021 vintage gave Barbera a potent, powerful frame on which hang the aromas and flavors of blackberries, blueberries, spice and earth notes. The vibrant acidity keeps the wine light on its feet, dancing on the palate, where the flavors of black stone fruits and black raspberries envelop the taste buds. There are notes of tannins from the tonneaux, which give a bit of structure but are in no way dominant. The finish has notes of wood, minerals and a long fade that lingers in the mouth. Vibrant, fresh, crackling with the energy of ripe black fruits.

Expert Review

James Suckling 91 Points | This is very attractive with fresh dark and blue fruit together with hints of violets, dried citrus peel and cocoa, following through a medium-bodied, textured and sleek palate with crunchy acidity and vibrant juiciness to the fruit. (2021). 

Winemaker Description

Luminous, quite intense yet moderately translucent blood-red color. There are aromas of dusty cherries, some licorice, a little bit of brambly raspberry, light plummy notes, a sweet hint of dark-toned primary fruit and a touch of boozy alcohol.

The wine feels juicy, youthful and quite primary on the palate with a moderately full body and vibrant flavors of tart lingonberries, some sweet black cherry tones, a little bit of savory spice, light sweet notes of overripe dark plums, a primary hint of candied fruit character and a touch of fresh bilberry.

The wine is high in acidity with quite modest, gently grippy tannins. The sweet-n-sour finish is juicy sour with quite lengthy flavors of ripe bilberries, some tart lingonberries, a little bit of sour cherry bitterness, light spicy notes, a hint of gravelly minerality and a touch of alcohol warmth.

Winemaker Description

Aromas of red fruit open to notes of plums and cherries. Its palate is fresh and exceptionally pleasant.

Winemaker Description

Ruby red in color. Bouquet with notes of blackberry, raspberry and fruit jam with a mineral nuance. In the mouth the flavor is decisive, fresh and persistent.

Expert Review

95 Points Vinous  | The 2021 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Francia is fabulous. Rich and expansive, with tremendous presence, the 2021 is positively stellar. Super-ripe dark cherry, lavender, spice and pomegranate all gain volume and intensity with time in the glass. The 2020 is one of the finest recent editions of the Francia Barbera I can remember tasting. Today, it's explosive, heady personality is impossible to resist. (2021). 

Winemaker Description

Scarpetta Barbera del Monferrato is a bright plum red color. Aromas of crushed berries and plums intermix with aromas of earth and porcini mushrooms. On the palate, the wine is medium bodied with bright acidity and low tannins, yet wonderfully balanced.

The high acidity and low tannins let this wine work with everything from a pizza or homemade pasta to a piece of beef or pork.