---

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

is a Vinodiversity featured producer of Barbera

• 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
• Broke's Promise Hunter Valley
• Broke Estate Hunter Valley
• Brown Brothers King Valley
• Carlei Estate Yarra Valley
• Catherine Vale Vineyard Hunter Valley
• Catspaw Farm Granite Belt
• Centennial Vineyards Southern Highlands
• Chain of Ponds Adelaide Hills
• Chalk Hill Winery McLaren Vale
• Chrismont King Valley
• Clearview Estate Mudgee Mudgee
• Clovely Estate South Burnett
• 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 New England
• Dunn's Creek Winery Mornington Peninsula
• Fairview Wines Hunter Valley
• First Drop Barossa Valley
• Gapsted Alpine Valleys
• Glenwillow Vineyard Bendigo
• Golden Grove Estate Granite Belt
• Grove Estate Wines Hilltops
• Heartland Vineyard Hunter Valley
• Hollick Coonawarra
• House of Certain Views Hunter Valley
• Idlewild Hunter Valley
• Jamieson Estate Mudgee
• 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
• Macquarie Grove Vineyards Western Plains
• 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
• Mount Langi Ghiran Vineyards Grampians
• Oatley Wines Mudgee
• Orchard Road Orange
• Pasut Family Wines Murray Darling
• Pegeric Macedon Ranges
• Piggs Peake Winery Hunter Valley
• Poet's Corner Mudgee
• Port Phillip Estate Mornington Peninsula
• Primo Estate Adelaide Plains
• Prince Hill Wines Mudgee
• Red Earth Estate Western Plains
• Redbox Perricoota Perricoota
• Riverina Estate Wines Riverina
• Rossiters Murray Darling
• Sevenhill Wines Clare Valley
• Skimstone Mudgee
• Thomson Brook Wines Geographe
• Tombstone Estate Western Plains
• Toppers Mountain New England
• 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
• Woodstock McLaren Vale
• Yandoit Hill Winery Bendigo
• Yass Valley Wines Canberra
• Zonte's Footstep Langhorne Creek

---

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.

Back from Barbera to Varieties Index