In the rolling hills of Monferrato in central Piedmont, Barbera vines dominate the landscape. Nimmi Malhotra uncovers the charm of this juicy red grape and discovers a host of lesser-known local varieties waiting to be explored.
by Nimmi Malhotra
Piedmont, in Italy’s northwest, is best known for three wine styles: First, Barolo, often dubbed the king of Italian wines. Then, Barbaresco, the queen. Both are made from Nebbiolo and are structured, serious, and built to age.
And then, there’s Barbera. With the royal titles already taken, Barbera is often described as Piedmont’s quiet star. Yet, it is the most widely planted grape.
Indigenous to the region, Barbera is both a grape and a style, and typically shows bright red fruit — raspberry, cherry, some herbal notes like oregano and a touch of liquorice. It’s light on tannins, high in acidity and gloriously fresh — a quality that’s at the heart of its appeal.
Admittedly, when stacked up against its blockbuster cousins, Barolo and Barbaresco, Barbera comes up short. A structured Barolo can age for decades, while a Barbera is best enjoyed young. But judged on freshness, vibrancy and sheer drinkability, Barbera more than holds its own.
The Barbera resurrection
Some grapes need a champion. Think of Mencia in Spain’s Bierzo region, before Alvaro Palacios played fairy godfather to the varietal and transformed its fortunes. Barbera’s turning point came in 1982, thanks to winemaker Giacomo Bologna.
Before Bologna entered the picture, Barbera was considered a simple, quaffable wine, a porch-pounder, perfect for long pasta lunches. Bologna believed it could be more. He sourced fruit from a single hillside, harvested later than usual to tame the naturally zippy acidity, and aged the wine in expensive French barriques rather than the traditional large format botti. The result was Braida Bricco dell’Uccellone 1982, a wine that revealed Barbera’s potential for elegance, structure, depth and even the ability to age. It changed the conversation.
Today, two wine styles coexist: a younger, joyous style fermented in steel or cement, ideally enjoyed young. And then there’s the more serious superiore style, aged for a minimum of 14 months before release — six of which must be spent in wood — with the capacity to evolve for a decade.
The hills of Monferrato
The Monferrato region in central Piedmont is where Barbera finds its best expression. A UNESCO World Heritage site since 2014, the landscape here is breathtaking: gently undulating hills and valleys as far as the eye can see. Lattices of vineyards drape the slopes in a corduroy-like patchwork, dreamy stone-built towns sit on the hilltops, blankets of forest, hazelnut trees hug the valleys, and the rivers meander through it all.
Walking these hillsides, it’s easy to see why Barbera thrives here, growing on calcareous soils in the north and sandier ground to the south. Most wines are bottled under the broad Barbera d’Asti DOCG, alongside Nizza DOCG, a small and newer appellation that’s quickly attracting attention.
“Only in this special area, thanks to its soil and climate, can you achieve this structure and juiciness with real elegance,” says Susanna Galandrino of La Gironda, the matriarch of the family-run organic winery.
Her wines reflect the depth Nizza is known for. La Gironda La Nicchie 2017, a 100 per cent Barbera made under Nizza DOCG rules, offers a supple mouthfeel, cherry and mulberry fruit, smooth tannins, and alluring chocolate notes on the finish. Nearly a decade old, the wine has the potential to age longer.
“In Nizza, we use 100% Barbera grape, age the wine longer –18 months, including 6 months in oak,” she continues, distinguishing the lighter Barbera d’Asti wines.
Oak, however, isn’t the sole marker of quality. Nizza terroir naturally yields a more elegant wine. Further, Galandrino notes that many producers are experimenting with different oak formats. “A lot of them are moving to bigger oak vessels to enhance the freshness of the Barbera,” she says.
Nearby at Bersano, one of Nizza’s oldest wineries, chief marketing officer Federico Orione walks me through the Museo delle Contadinerie, a remarkable collection of historic winemaking equipment dating back to 1907 assembled by the winery’s founder, Arturo Bersano.
Barbera is the mainstay at Bersano, with 90 hectares dedicated to the variety. The Bersano Cremosina 2022 is a fine Nizza example — hand-picked, limited release and single vineyard Barbera that shows warm spices, blackberry fruit and polished tannins. La Generala 2024, a Nizza Riserva wine, is another pure Barbera, which I taste straight from the barrel. It will spend 12 months in wood (oak barrels and larger format tonneaux), followed by another 12 months in the bottle before release.
The two family-owned wineries, Bersano and La Gironda, couldn’t be more different. Bersano is a much larger operation, producing more than a million bottles across 25 labels (under all DOC and DOCG in Piedmont) with exports to the US, Germany, Switzerland and the UK. Orione, who also oversees international markets and exports, says they keep a close eye on quality at every step: “We control the supply chain, from the vineyard to the bottle.”
La Gironda, on the other hand, produces a modest 85,000 bottles a year with strong exports. Together, they represent the diversity captured in the 18 communes of Nizza.
Beyond Barbera: gastronomy and native grapes
Monferrato’s riches don’t stop with wine. Visitors flock to the hills as much for the food as for the bucolic escape. From Piedmont hazelnuts, which make the most delicious hazelnut torts and spreads (this is, after all, the land of Ferrero Rocher and Nutella), to porcini mushrooms, forest chestnuts, seasonal truffles and local cheeses, the region’s larder is generous.
At our table are local classics: bagna cauda — the pungent garlic-anchovy dipping sauce, agnolotti — the region’s pinched-pasta, and then, vitello tonnato — an oddly delicious starter of thin slices of veal with dollops of silky tuna cream and briny capers.
Throughout the region, the grapes continue to surprise and impress. Beyond the better-known varieties, Piedmont is a treasure trove of indigenous grapes, championed and resurrected by local winemakers.
At Cascina Castlet, winemaker and owner, Maria Borio, is best known for reviving Uvalino, a rare Piedmont red that was once on the brink of extinction. She even funded university research to preserve and promote its cultivation on the hills of Costigliole. A portion of her vineyards is now dedicated to Uvalino, producing just 5,000 bottles of Monferrato Rosso DOC “Uceline”, a pure expression of the grape.
“Wine has been made on these hills for a thousand years,” says Luciana Biondo, estate director at Tenuta Santa Caterina. An agronomist by training, she champions Grignolino, another native variety. “Here, Grignolino is the most important grape,” she adds, while pouring Monferace 2020, a well-balanced and pure Grignolino dominated with red fruits — strawberry, pomegranate and cherry, vibrant acidity and silky integrated tannins.
Grignolino is equally favoured at Azienda Agricola Accornero, where young winemaker Giulia Accornero pointed out the seven hectares dedicated to the grape. “Grignolino is naturally high in tannins,” she explained, “It has three to four times more seed than other varieties.”
The Accorneros are also passionate advocates of Ruchè, a once-overlooked grape varietal known for its intense floral aromas. Formerly used in blends and sweet wines, Ruchè has found new fans following its revival. Accornero’s Viari Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG 2024, made from 100 per cent Ruchè, bursts with violets, crushed rose petals and ripe plum.
The cast of revived native grapes adds texture and intrigue to the story of Barbera. These are wines made not for reverence, but for the table. And once you spend time with them here, it’s hard not to wonder why they don’t appear in our glasses more often.
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Useful Information
Heading to Monferrato? Milan or Turin are the nearest international airports. Accommodation options abound in the closest town of Asti or vineyards like Tenuta Santa Caterina. A rental car is the best way to explore the vineyards. To learn more about Monferrato and its wines, visit https://www.viniastimonferrato.it/en/.
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(Main photo credit: Tenuta Santa Caterina)
A Singapore-based independent wine communicator and writer, Nimmi Malhotra covers the Asia wine and spirits scene, contributing to key publications in Singapore, UK, India, and Australia. As an experienced speaker and panel moderator, she actively engages in industry discussions across the region. She is a wine judge at Decanter World Wine Awards, International Wine Challenge and serves on the jury for the prestigious Vinexpo V D’Or awards.
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