Итальянское красное вино Барбареско

Italian red wine

Barbaresco is an Italian wine made with the Nebbiolo grape. Barbaresco is produced in the Piedmont region in an area of the Langhe immediately to the east of Alba and specifically in the comunes of Barbaresco, Treiso and Neive plus that area of the frazione San Rocco Seno d'Elvio which was once part of the comune of Barbaresco and now belongs to the comune of Alba. It was granted Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) status in 1966 and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita status in 1980. The wine is often compared with Barolo—another Nebbiolo based wine from the Piedmont area. Though the wines do share many similarities, there are some distinct differences between them.

Although it was already well known for the quality of its Nebbiolo grapes, the widely accepted birthdate of Barbaresco is 1894, when Cantina Sociale di Barbaresco was founded, as before that date Nebbiolo grapes from the Barbaresco area were mostly sold to Barolo producers. Domizio Cavazza, a young and brilliant agronomist born in Modena, was named to be the founding director of Alba's Royal Enological School in 1881, and soon started to develop its passion for Barbaresco, which led to his purchase of a farm and a vineyard in 1886. He cultivated its vineyard with Nebbiolo and with a group of nine growers founded the Cantina Sociale, outfitted with barrels and winemaking equipment in order to produce what are considered the first wines to be officially called Barbaresco. After a good start, Barbaresco fell on hard times with World War I and the premature death of Cavazza in 1915. The Produttori cooperative became one of the most respected cellars in Italy and inspired more landholders in Barbaresco to return to their vineyards and to make quality wine.

The vineyards around the town of Barbaresco make up for 45 per cent of Barbaresco production with many of the area's largest wineries located in town. Wines from this area tend to be relatively light in colour and body, but very well structured and aromatic.

Despite being made from the same grape and produced in neighbouring areas, less than 10 miles from each other, the wines of Barbaresco and Barolo do have some distinct differences. Located south of the river Tanaro, the Barbaresco zone receives a slight maritime influence which allows Nebbiolo to ripen a little earlier than it does in the Barolo zone, allowing earlier fermentation with a shorter maceration time. The early tannins in a young Barbaresco are not quite as harsh as Barolo and under DOCG rules it is allowed to age for a year less than Barolo. The Barolo wines that tend to be closer in body, fruitiness, and perfume to Barbaresco wines are generally the ones produced near the villages of La Morra and Barolo. The most pronounced difference between the two wines is that the tannins of Barbaresco tend to soften quicker, which can make the wines more approachable to drink at an earlier age but won't allow it to age for as long as a traditionally made Barolo could. The smaller vineyard areas mean that the annual production of Barbaresco is around 35 per cent of the production of Barolo and therefore the wines are not as widely available on the market. However, the smaller area does generally produce more consistent profiles among the Barbarescos than across the more expansive Barolo zone.