Barbera - Wine Regions

Wine Regions

Northwest Italy is the viticultural home for Barbera, but Italian immigrants spread it through much of the New World, where its acidity is valued in blended wines for the 'freshness' it imparts. Barbera is found in the northwestern part of Italy, particularly in Monferrato, and to a lesser extent further south. Nearly half of all grape vine plantings in Piedmont are Barbera. It likes the same conditions as Nebbiolo, but the latter is more profitable, fetching nearly twice, so is grown on the best sites. The earlier-ripening Barbera is grown on the cooler lower slopes below the Nebbiolo, and other secondary locations. This explains why relatively little Barbera is grown around Alba, where the wines are entitled to the appellation Barbera d'Alba. Thus the best known Barbera is the DOCG of Barbera d'Asti. The Barbera del Monferrato DOC - which tends to be somewhat sparkling (frizzante) - is seldom exported.

Barbera came to Australia with cuttings imported from the University of California, Davis in the 1960s. It has been grown for ~25 years in the Mudgee region of New South Wales, with later plantings in a number of wine regions, including the King Valley in Victoria as well as the McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills regions in South Australia. John Gladstones, in his book Viticulture and Environment, includes Barbera in maturity group 5, which means that it will ripen at about the same time as Shiraz and Merlot, and that it should theoretically find a successful home in many Australian wine regions. Barbera went to Argentina with Italian immigrants. It is quite widely grown, but is used mostly for blending. As in Argentina, Barbera was brought by Italian immigrants to Brazil.