Do You Consider Barbera A "Serious" Grape?

I like Barbera as long as it’s not blended with Nebbiolo. Do you consider Barbera a variety worthy of reflection, or more along the lines of Dolcetto? If you were attending a wine dinner that was featuring a couple of Barolos, but was going to start with a quality Barbera, would you be in a hurry to get through with the former to get to the latter? Or would you consider the Barbera to be a substantive part of the meal? Thanks.

I absolutely consider Barbera to be a serious grape variety. I think that its potential remains untapped in places outside of its homeland (perhaps even there, too).

I consider Barbera to be quite serious and ageworthy
and if you are serving a quality example of aged Barbera you better make sure it doesnt show up the wines that follow it

Yes

I didn’t like it at all in the early days, then found a few of the bigger ones that appealed, and now have discovered a few lighter ones I like.

Serious? Not sure I like that term, as it can mean anything from interesting to prestigious.

Definitely a place for it, and a bigger place than we give it with our obsession with Nebbiolo, but there are plenty of other interesting dark grapes in Piemonte beyond Nebbiolo and Barbera (and Dolcetto for that matter). A Vespolina would certainly excite me more, but I’m not saying it’s better.

Perhaps the problem with Barbera is the range of styles, from functional table wine, though something more serious (oops that word) but still quite understated, through to the muscular and oaked styles.

Oh, it’s serious.

Drinking a 2015 Castello di Neive Barbera that is fantastic! We visited there last June and while the winemaker felt Nebbiolo should be “left alone” (ie. minimal manipulation, large casks), he felt Barbera benefited from more TLC. He used newer oak and barriques. It was by far the best Barbera of our Piedmont trip!

I like barbera. I suspect it can go beyond the “tasty good value weekday red” level, but I haven’t personally encountered that yet.

Well, I did buy a Mascarello Scudetto a few months ago. It was a little rustic and grumpy, maybe had some room to smooth out with time. Not profound, but more than just your everyday Barbera.

Anyone have a few recs of “experience barbera” that you can get in the USA?

I make no distinction between serious grapes and frivolous grapes. I can’t imagine what I would gain by doing so.

If the barbera in my glass is a good one, I don’t rush past it. Unless there’s a Giacosa or something in the next bottle, and too much wine to finish. Tho if the barbera is a Giacosa, all bets are off.

I like barbera from Giacosa, Vajra, Cappellano, Conterno, Scarzetto, Cavallotto, Brovia, and others that don’t come to mind right now.

It’s a wine just begging for Hanna Winery to make.

An interesting question - and one that can be asked of lots of grapes, and is oftentimes. Cinasault a serious grape? Carignane? Grenache? Counoise?

As others have said, i believe the answer is yes - just ‘different’ and deserving to be viewed as such.

Cheers.

Oh it’s serious!!!

Yes serious!! More and more is being planted in favored terroirs and elevations in the Langhe that might otherwise have been planted to Nebbiolo. I am more enamored by Barbera d’Asti then d’Alba in general. Producers like Giacomo Bologna, Vietti, Conterno are making world class ageable Barbera.

Does it matter? Drink it and have fun with it!

Not sure about serious. Worthy of enjoyment? hell yes! Worthy of sipping while staring pensively at a mahogany bookcase of leather-bound PG Wodehouse in a dimly lit library of an an English country estate…sure why the heck not.

Seriously though I do take issue with how some producers have attempted to make Barbera more ‘serious’ (usually means more oak, as it always does). It’s a delicious dinner table wine though, not plonk.

Cappellano. Old regime Bruno Giacosa (maybe new regime, too, for all I know).

Yep.

Answer = yes. However, I look at it more of where it fits in with food. The less oaked barberas work well with red pizzas, red pasta, barbecue, & burgers and compliments sangiovese in this food space. The more oaked barberas stretch over into the grilled fatty meats like lamb which enables the high acidity(barbera) and tannin(barrel) work their magic in tandem…Disclosure - I just planted barbera clone AT84 last year.

As it happens, I was drinking an '05 G. Conterno - Cascina Francia barbera tonight with dinner. The Conterno has its own style, with lots of ripe dark fruit and a distinct earthiness (also significant reduction/sulfur on this bottle). These are lovely with 10+ years of age, but I don’t find them remotely as interesting as nebbiolo … or pinot noir or cabernet or tempranillo or mourvedre or good grenache-based blends. I never find the same tertiary development.

Most of the time, I prefer dolcetto to barbera young. Not that dolcetto is complex, but I prefer its structure.

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