Australian Wine from
Alternative Grape Varieties

Barbera

Barbera is an Italian red wine variety that is best known as the second most important Piedmontese variety after Nebbiolo. It is in fact the most widely planted variety in Piedmont. Its role has been mainly to produce the everyday drinking wines of the region. De Long's Wine Grape Varietal Table describes Barbera as

Mainly cherries, wide variety to styles from spicy and rich to smoky and smooth...

After years of being in the shadow of Nebbiolo this Italian variety is getting more attention from growers and winemakers and the resulting wines are much better. New methods including yield restrictions and barrel maturation have created what amounts to a new style. Barbera d'Alba and Barbera d'Asti compete for the title of the best Italian varietal wines made from this variety.

The naturally high acid levels of the grape are a beneficial characteristic of the variety especially in warmer climates. There are considerable plantings elsewhere in Italy as well as in Argentina, California and Australia.

Gladstones includes the variety in Maturity Group 5, which means that it will ripen at about the same time as Shiraz and Merlot, and a little earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and Nebbiolo.

On this basis it would seem that there are a large number of potential vineyard sites for Barbera in Australia. The ideal terroir and viticultural regime for the variety has not been agreed upon its native Piedmont, so that there may be many years before we see the best wines produced here. What seems reasonably clear at the moment is that Barbera has probably been easier to get results from in Australia than its noble cousin Nebbiolo.

Some of the Australian producers of Barbera wines include

Aldinga Bay McLaren Vale
Amulet Vineyard Beechworth
Angas Vineyards Langhorne Creek
Angullong Wines Orange
Barrecas Geographe
Boggy Creek Vineyards King Valley
Boireann Granite Belt
Bottin Wines McLaren Vale
Brokes Promise Hunter Valley
Broke Estate Hunter Valley
Brown Brothers King Valley
Catherine Vale Vineyard Hunter Valley
Catspaw Farm Granite Belt
Chain of Ponds Adelaide Hills
Chalk Hill Winery McLaren Vale
Chrismont King Valley
Clearview Estate Mudgee Mudgee
Cobbitty Wines South Coast Zone
Connor Park Bendigo
Coriole McLaren Vale
Crittenden at Dromana Mornington Peninsula
Dal Zotto Estate King Valley
David Hook Wines Hunter Valley
Di Lusso Estate Mudgee
Donnybrook Estate Geographe
Dromana Estate Mornington Peninsula
Dumaresq Valley Vineyard Northern Slopes Zone
Dunns Creek Winery Mornington Peninsula
Fairview Wines Hunter Valley
Gapsted Alpine Valleys
Glenwillow Vineyard Bendigo
Golden Grove Estate Granite Belt
Grove Estate Wines Hilltops
Heartland Vineyard Hunter Valley
House of Certain Views Hunter Valley
Idlewild Hunter Valley
King River Estate King Valley
Kingston Estate Riverland
Kyotmunga Estate Perth Hills
La Cantina King Valley King Valley
Lowe Family Wines Mudgee
Mac Forbes Wines Yarra Valley
Maglieri McLaren Vale
Margan Family Hunter Valley
Massoni Pyrenees
Michael Unwin Wines Grampians
Michelini Alpine Valleys
Monichino Wines Goulburn Valley
Monument Vineyard Central Ranges Zone
Morning Sun Vineyard Mornington Peninsula
Mount Broke Wines Hunter Valley
Orchard Road Orange
Pasut Family Wines Murray Darling
Pegeric Macedon Ranges
Piggs Peake Winery Hunter Valley
Poets Corner Mudgee
Primo Estate Adelaide Plains
Red Earth Estate Western Plains
Redbox Perricoota Perricoota
Riverina Estate Wines Riverina
Sevenhill Wines Clare Valley
Simon Gilbert Wines Mudgee
Thomson Brook Wines Geographe
Tombstone Estate Western Plains
Tower Estate Hunter Valley
Vale Creek Wines Central Ranges Zone
Vico Riverina
Vinea Marson Heathcote
Warrenmang Vineyard Pyrenees
Wild Broke Wines Hunter Valley
Witchmount Estate Sunbury
Yandoit Hill Winery Bendigo
Yass Valley Wines Canberra
Zontes Footstep Langhorne Creek

See how you can own this magnificent wine grape varietal table

Barbera wine and food pairing

The savory flavours and high acid levels in many Barberas make them ideal accompaniments to Italian style cuisine. You could serve Barbera with most dishes that have a tomato and herb based sauce. Try them with a mushroom risotto.

Fatty foods such as roast duck also benefit from being served with acid wines. Maybe you could use barbera with Duck and Orange Sauce. The wine would be robust enough not to be overwhelmed by the citrus sauce.

More food pairing suggestions for this variety

I'd love to hear about your suggestions for food pairing with this variety.

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