2016 Braida Bricco dell’Uccellone

2016 Braida Bricco dell’Uccellone

2016 Braida Bricco dell’Uccellone, Barbera from Asti, Piedmont, Italy, 

Intense ruby red with purple hues. Notes of red berries, mint and vanilla. The bouquet is rich, aromatic and complex with a remarkable intensity and multilayered concentration. The wine is generous, voluptuous and full-bodied with a multidimensional structure, perfectly balanced between the grape characteristics and high quality oak, with a persistent long finish.

Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy. It produces good yields and is known for deep color, full body, low tannins and high levels of acidity.

Friendly and approachable, Barbera produces wines in a wide range of styles, from youthful, fresh and fruity to serious, structured and age-worthy. Piedmont is the most famous source of Barbera; those from Asti and Alba garner the most praise. Barbera actually can adapt to many climates and enjoys success in some New World regions. Somm Secret—In the past it wasn’t common or even accepted to age Barbera in oak but today both styles—oaked and unoaked—abound and in fact most Piedmontese producers today produce both styles.

Barbera d’Asti can be made in an array of styles from relatively straightforward, fruity and ready for consumption early, to the more concentrated, oak aged version with an ability to cellar impressively for 10-15 years and beyond. Some of the very best sites for Barbera in Asti are concentrated in the subzone of Nizza Monferrato.

The winery’s story begins with the nickname “Braida”, a name acquired by Giuseppe Bologna who played “fistball”, a traditional Piedmont sport, on town and church squares. Giuseppe “Braida” Bologna, a wheelwright by profession, owned a large Barbera vineyard in Rocchetta Tanaro and produced wine for his own and the friend’s consumption. His son Giacomo inherited the vineyard as well as the nickname, which he gave to the winery.