Piedmont Barbera: Panel tasting results

Stephen Brook, Vincenzo Arnese and Sara Bachiorri tasted 60 wines, with 3 highly recommended and 40 recommended.

Piedmont Barbera: Panel tasting scores

60 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 0

Highly recommended 3

Recommended 40

Commended 17

Fair 0

Poor 0

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit current vintage releases of still red Barbera wines from any of the DOC/DOCGs Barbera d’Alba/Superiore, Barbera d’Asti/Superiore, Barbera del Monferrato/Superiore, Nizza or Nizza Riserva

Barbera is a wonderfully versatile grape variety that can be produced in a range of styles, from lean and refreshing to bold, rich and oaky. Above all, it’s a wine designed to be enjoyed with food: its high natural acidity is perfect for cutting through rich Italian dishes such as lasagne. Acidity can be treacherous, however – too much and the wine will be tart and astringent; too little and it can be flabby or drab.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores from the Piedmont Barbera panel tasting

Barbera thrives in most of Piedmont, but its heartlands are Monferrato, Alba and Asti. The most prestigious DOCG, the 250ha Nizza, lies within the province of Asti. Although it doesn’t necessarily always produce the best wines, in this tasting the Nizza wines proved to be impressive.

It’s often said that Barbera fares best in the Asti zone, where the variety is greatly prized, whereas in Alba, Nebbiolo gets top billing, with the greatest vineyards dedicated to the Barolo or Barbaresco wines made from that grape. On the basis of this and other tastings, great wines are now produced in both Asti and Alba zones, as shown by the distribution of higher scores here.

The tasters agreed that the overall standard of winemaking was high, as Sara Bachiorri noted: ‘There was good quality across all the appellations.’ There were a few let-downs, but no duds, and the best bottles offered great drinking pleasure at an affordable price. Bachiorri found that vintage variations showed through clearly. Vincenzo Arnese agreed, but thought that winemaking styles tended to override vintage.

There was no opposition to oak-ageing, as such, but there was some disagreement about how skilfully the barrels had been deployed. Bachiorri commented: ‘Oak-ageing is fine if Barbera’s identity isn’t overpowered. But personally I like juicy Barberas for everyday drinking.’ And that’s what makes Barbera an exciting variety: it can deliver delightful wines after some months just in steel or concrete, more polished wines after a year or so in casks, or chewy, structured wines aged in barriques. This range of styles is a bonus for consumers.

See notes and scores for all the Piedmont Barbera panel tasting wines

For Barbera, ‘Superiore’ simply denotes longer ageing, whether in vat, cask or bottle. In blind tastings, Superiore doesn’t always live up to its name, but here there did seem to be an overall leap in quality and sophistication, with a much higher proportion (35%) of Superiore wines among those scoring 90 points or more than below 90pts. Arnese commented that ‘the Superiores were more elevated, almost like single-vineyard wines’.

The great majority of these wines can be drunk now, although the best – and most Nizzas – can easily age for eight or 10 years.

Barbera is an affordable wine, and there were pleasurable examples priced below £15, but it’s often worth paying a bit more to enjoy additional concentration and complexity.

There were some revered names among the top wines – Vietti, Chiarlo, Clerico, Vajra; but the same can be said of other names among the lowest-scoring! Scores were mostly consistent between the judges, and it was gratifying to see almost three-quarters of the wines rated Highly recommended or above.

Piedmont Barbera: Panel tasting scores

The judges

Stephen Brook is a Decanter contributing editor and the DWWA Regional Chair for Piedmont. The author of 35 books, he has won several awards for his work in wine.

Vincenzo Arnese is the director of wine at Raffles London at the OWO. Born in Naples, he previously worked at top hotels in Italy, Switzerland and Australia, as well as Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester. He is a DWWA judge, and in 2022 he won the coveted title of Taittinger UK Sommelier of the Year.

Sara Bachiorri is in the buying team at merchant WoodWinters. A DWWA judge since 2013, she was was formerly head sommelier at The Glasshouse in Kew, then Chez Bruce in southwest London, followed by a stint at Italian specialist merchant FortyFive10°.

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