The colour is deep ruby. On the nose blackberries, liquorice, coffee. In the mouth fresh, but with a not so pleasant bitter finish. The aftertaste is short.
This Barbera del Monferrato Riserva Superiore DOGC, obtained from overripe grapes and aged in French oak tonneaux for 36 months, is made by Accornero.
Barbera del Monferrato Riserva Superiore was separated from the standard Barbera del Monferrato DOC in 2008 and promoted to the highest DOCG status. To earn the right to use the term “Superiore”, a wine must reach a final alcohol level of at least 13%, and must be aged for at least 14 months before release. A minimum of six months of this maturation period must be spent in oak barrels. As is the case for all Barbera del Monferrato wines, it must be made of least 85% Barbera grapes grown in the Monferrato hills of central and eastern Piedmont. The remaining portion of the blend can be made up with any combination of Freisa, Grignolino and Dolcetto.
I bought this bottle for a hefty 50 EUR when I visited the winery in Vignale Monferrato 9 years ago. Sometimes I like experimenting, and therefore decided to age this wine for a long time. Although this bottle held up reasonably well, the conclusion is that it is not worth aging Barbera based wines for too long.
Country: Italy
Region: Piedmont
Grapes: Barbera
Type: Red
Vintage: 2009
Producer: Accornero
Price range: Extra (50-100 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 2/5