Recommendation: Excellent Barbera that’s full of Character and at a good price.
Winery/Producer: Carussin; San Marzano Oliveto, Italy.
Grape Variety: Barbera.
Geographic Region, Appellation: Barbera d’Asti; Piemonte, Italy.
Vintage: 2012.
Price: $16.20 (with a 10% discount)
Purchased From: The Caviste Wine Shop; Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Paired With: Grilled hamburgers and grilled squash
Tasting:
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He said: Decanted 20-minutes before drinking. Dark, opaque, garnet color. Strong dark fruit and musty damp leather aromas with just the slightest hints of alcohol in the initial sniff. Delicious, medium-body, dry, mouth-feel that is full of dark fruit and raspberry flavors. The finish is long, dry and flavorful. GREAT Barbera…LOTS of freshness and character in this bottle. We tasted this wine at a Caviste Wine Shop Barbera tasting and we liked it then, but even more with food and a full glass. The dark fruit flavors are in the bouquet through the last of the finish. This gets a “VERY enjoyable Barbera” rating from me. At this price it doesn’t fit our “Bargain Category”; but it’s an Excellent wine at a a very reasonable price.
She said: Sometimes a wine is better at home than it was at the tasting in the shop and this is a good example, We liked it well enough to buy it but found there was a nice barnyard flavor we had not noticed at the tasting. The aroma was pleasant in both the shop and at home as were the acidity and tannins, but the finish seemed longer and more enjoyable at home with the dinner. One snafu was encountered when I put dill pickle on my hamburger; big mistake, but my taste buds recovered and I enjoyed the rest of the wine including its long tasting finish. This is highly recommended.
Comments: Just a note about wine tastings…We had this and four other Barbera wines at The Caviste Wine Shop in Winston-Salem yesterday and I’ll have to say tasting one grape variety (and in this case wines from the same local area) is so much more rewarding than tasting several different grape varieties. Although all of the five were similar, by tasting them side-by-side we were able to pick out the subtle differences that made each wine unique, and which best matched our taste. We have done many of these one grape variety tastings at the Caviste Wine Shop (see our review of a beaujolais tasting we did last year). If your ever in the Winston-Salem area (Central North Carolina) we strongly recommend you attend one of these very special tastings. Check the Event Calander on The Caviste Wine Shop web site www.thecavistews.com for their tasting events schedule. I guarantee you will not be disappointed!!!
Alcohol: 13%