Barbera, from popular red to “pop” wine. In Piedmontese elegance its “manifest superiority”

A wine of all and for all, in the twentieth century Barbera is the grape variety that represents the rebirth of viticulture in Piedmont, after phylloxera (where, today, it accounts for 30% of the 43,000 hectares of vineyard area). As in the Piedmontese tradition and now universally known, the poet Giosuè Carducci declined it in the feminine, the master of journalism Mario Soldati in the masculine (as we recounted in a video on WineNews). DOC since 1970 and DOCG since 2008, after a long period in which it has continued to enliven the surrounding territories, the rise of Barbera d’Asti among the great Italian wines has been in the last 30 years of Italian history, thanks to a group of producers determined to increase the quality in the vineyard and in the cellar of this versatile and immediate red wine, which is also satisfying and complete, while far from being a congealed consumption, but which has in the typical elegance of Piedmontese wines its “manifest superiority”. Maintaining its close link with rural tradition and its territorial recognition with Monferrato, today one of the most vibrant districts of Italian wine, among the most evolving wines, Barbera d’Asti Docg, with its more than 5. 400 hectares planted with vines in as many as 167 municipalities between Asti and Alessandria for a production of 18 million bottles, more than 50% of which are destined for export (but with a higher potential), has been able, in fact, to renew itself to meet different needs and tastes, winning over international critics, thanks also to the Superiore type of which it can boast following a minimum ageing period of 14 months, of which at least 6 months in wooden barrels, and with the Tinella and Colli Astiani sub-zones, while that of Nizza has for some years now become a DOCG (the “super Barbera”, consecrated by “Wine Enthusiast” at the top of the “Top 100 Wines of 2018” with Michele Chiarlo’s Nizza Cipressi 2015). And it is here that, waiting for the now upcoming harvest, the first “Barbera d’Asti Wine Festival” desired by the Consorzio Barbera d’Asti e Vini del Monferrato (with the “Corriere della Sera”) is staged, from today to September 15 in Asti, on the occasion of the historic “Douja d’Or” No. 58, the event of events of Piedmontese wines.
When, in the early nineteenth century, Giorgio Gallesio, one of the greatest botanists of all time, in his work “Pomona Italiana”, speaks of Barbera, and more precisely of “vitis vinifera Montisferratensis”, elevating it among the most important Italian varieties, it was clear even to science that that vine had it. Although its origin and cultivation in Monferrato is hypothesized as early as the Middle Ages, its historiographical appearance is a cadastral deed from the 1500s, and as early as the late eighteenth century, by including it in his Ampelography, Count Giuseppe Pergamo Nuvolone, deputy director of the Agrarian Society of Turin, had made it a part of the list of Piedmontese grape varieties, of which today it is the most widespread and cultivated red grape variety. The beauty of it was that the wine that this rustic and artisanal native vine, whose characteristic was to grow abundantly and with great vigor, gave, did not owe its origin to enlightened intellectuals and noble marquises, like that red neighboring Nebbiolo destined for the glory of being the “wine of kings”: Barbera, thanks to its immediate spread throughout Monferrato, soon became the everyday wine, destined by farmers for their own consumption, helping to build the daily relationship that represents its deepest identity trait. However, Barbera has one thing in common with Barolo: that territory of Langhe Roero and Monferrato, which is the first Italian wine landscape to be recognized as a Unesco World Heritage Site-10 years ago, an anniversary being celebrated this year-for its exceptional beauty, the ancient historical tradition linked to vine cultivation, but also and above all for a real “wine culture” deeply rooted in the community.
A culture from which the “Barbera d'Asti Wine Festival” no. 1, promoted by the Consorzio Barbera d’Asti e Vini del Monferrato, led by Vitaliano Maccario, and dedicated to the “queen” of Piedmont (which, for years, has been relaunching itself, thanks to many corporate initiatives and also under the previous presidency of Filippo Mobrici, ed.), under the artistic direction of Luciano Ferraro, deputy editor of the “Corriere della Sera” (as he explained to us face to face), media partner, and spread throughout the city, starting from Palazzo Michelerio and Palazzo Alfieri. Between masterclasses (led by Italian and international experts, just to name a few, from Robert Camuto to Veronika Crecelius, from Gianni Fabrizio to Aldo Fiordelli, from Othmar Kiem to Jeff Porter to Marco Sabellico, at Palazzo del Michelerio), tastings and meetings with prominent personalities from the world of wine, culture and business, moderated by “Corriere” writers Ferraro, Roberta Scorranese and Isidoro Trovato: from Neri Marcorè, Italian actor, director and voice actor, to former soccer player Andrea Barzagli, wine producer with Le Casematte, from Curtis Frasca, entrepreneur, composer and owner winery Frasca La Guaragna, to singer-songwriter Giorgio Conte, from writer Stefania Auci to photographer of music greats Guido Harari, from Diego Parassole to Leonardo Manera; and, from the world of the industry, from Riccardo Cotarella, president Assoenologi, to wine consultant Costantino Gabardi; from Florent Roques Boizel, owner Atelier 1834 - Champagne Boizel, to Philippe de Lur Saluces, owner Château de Fargues; from Danilo Guerrini, general manager Borgo San Felice Resort and delegate Relais & Château Italy, to Cristina Mercuri, wine educator, founder of Mercuri Wine Club, from Filippo Bric (co-founder studio Bricolo - Falsarella) to Alessio Planeta (ad Planeta), from Paolo Porfidio, head sommelier Terrazza Hotel Gallia, to Tinto, host “Decanter” Rai Radio 2 and “Camper in viaggio” Rai 1. And, between shows, music and Cracking art, with the famous installations of giant animals made of regenerated colored plastic, to end on a sweet note, in the sign of the “pop” soul of Barbera, there is also the limited edition Barbera ice cream, created by Guido Martinetti, founder of Grom and the ice cream brand Lec with Ferrari driver Charles, and wine producers in Costigliole d’Asti, with Mura Mura.