Boeri 2022 Barbera d'Asti, Piedmont

Barbera is one of Italy’s greatest food wines with its robust fruit flavors, soft tannins and bright tones.  It’s an affordable, crowd-pleasing red wine, and the perfect match for most foods we eat on a daily basis like pasta, pizza, chicken, soups and burgers.  Perhaps that’s why so many Italian-American vintners made Barbera in California before the 1980s Cabernet/Merlot/Chardonnay juggernaut pushed all the other wines aside in restaurant wine lists and retailer shelves.

It's too bad, really, because, like Beaujolais, Barbera has the fruit and easy drinkability that made it so appealing for those of us who want something good on the table to drink with meatloaf, pasta and meat sauce, salami and sausages.  Vegetarians love Barbera, too, because it expresses something alive and vibrant in the glass, like fresh produce from the farmer’s market.

The two great Barbera regions of Italy are Alba and Asti in the northern province of Piedmont, the first in a richer style, often made by Barolo producers.  Those coming from Asti are usually a bit brighter, with a cleansing quality to the finish, preparing the palate for the next bite.

Enter the Boeri family, who have been grape growers in the small hamlet of Bionzo in Costigliole d’Asti, a small town between the Langhe and Monferrato since 1904.  Today the fourth generation carries on the traditions of the region.  The vineyards extend outward from the hill of Bricco Quaglia, an area which has long been celebrated as one of the best for the production of high-quality wines (including our favorite Moscato d’Asti, La Spinetta). Boeri Vini also grows Moscato, Chardonnay, and Nebbiolo, the latter to make Barolo and Barbaresco.

This unoaked Barbera is light-to-medium bodied, fresh and easy drinking, with just the right amount of ripe cherry and berry fruits.  Give this affordable Italian red wine a go, and we’re almost certain you’ll be as charmed with it as we are.