Our best-selling red - classic Barbera that is full of fruit, round and deep but bright and juicy, great to drink both before and during just about any meal, plus it can even work with chocolate! Pure blackberry + pomegranate profile with classic zippy acidity but with good weight and low tannin.
Grown at 1450’ elevation on red, obsidian-strewn soil resulting from Mt. Konocti’s volcanic upheaval, our Barbera combines 2 clones in a focused package that reflects our region while respecting it’s Italian heritage and the fact that it may be the best all-round food and pleasure wine in the entire universe.
Tasting notes: Our best-selling red. Super juicy boysenberry, blackberry and pomegranate layers in a round, medium-weight but very densely fruited package with characteristic good acidity, natural spice elements, and low tannin. Good minerality. No new oak. The bright acidity means it works with so much food, while the low tannin makes it enjoyable on the deck or with simple bites. Barbera is naturally very fruit forward, meaning a smile on all faces.
Vineyard: One of the first vines planted in 1999 and then another block planted in 2004 to clones 02 and 09, both on St. George rootstocks. Clone 13 planted in 2013 on 1103R roots. Bilateral cordon training planted north to south on California sprawl trellising. Barbera requires massive hand work to keep the notoriously vigorous but small-leafed canopies under control. Barbera is famous for throwing suckers, and we want to keep it under control while also preventing too much sun exposure.
Winemaking: Hand harvested 10/17/19, destemmed and fermented separately by clone in stainless (and one bin) to different temperatures. Fermentation lasted an average of 15 days. Wood-basket pressed at dryness and combined. No sulfur added for the first 9 months, then bottled after 14 months of aging. Unfined and unfiltered but clean and bright with just a touch of the Barbera funk.
Vintage: 2019. Lots of rain, more than double “normal average” with an inch falling in June! It even rained lightly three times before the end of the season, practically Tuscan. July and August were very hot, taking us from two weeks late to one week early. The temperature rollercoaster was a good thing in the macro however, even though 6 days without electricity at the winery was challenging. Cold nights came fast after the heat. From early-September on things were gloriously mild with cvery old nights and days just kissing 85F over and over again. A year to pick on acidity.
Label Image: This is a just a very small segment of Athanasius Kircher’s encyclopedic Mundus Subterraneus (1664) frontispiece in which he personally documented and illustrated an unmatched treatise on geography and volcanology. A true polymath who wrote on every topic and travelled relentlessly, his dense image depicts the creator’s hand suspending the earth while angels blow winds through the sky, animating the world and every human soul with divine breath.
100% Barbera
3 different clones from separate vineyard blocks, fermented separately
Yield varies widely
(biggest block very light crop, newer clones are much heavier)
10 neutral 225l barrels used for aging, mostly 6-12 year old thin stave French and Hungarian oak
No racking, but when topping bungs were left off for a couple hours every month to control reduction and Barbera’s rubbery aroma
unfined, unfiltered
pH 3.53
TA 6.3gm/l
14.2% abv
R.S. less than .1gm/100ml
240 cases produced