Barbera Shop Quartet
Barbera is one of the most versatile grapes on the planet. This flight features the more natural and elegant side of Barbera. Find out which bottle is your favorite!
Forlorn Hope ‘Queen of the Sierra’
Grapes: Barbera, Zinfandel, Tempranillo, Trousseau Noir, Mondeuse
Place: Sierra Foothills - California
Process: Fermentation was allowed to begin spontaneously with native yeast. Most lots were fermented separately due to different pick dates. All lots were pressed at dryness, averaging 14-21 days total time on the skins, and placed into neutral 227L barrique. After racking they remained in a combination of neutral oak and stainless steel until being bottled unfined and unfiltered. As with all Forlorn Hope wines, no new oak is utilized, and nothing was added to the must or wine (no cultured yeast, ML bacteria, water, tartaric acid, enzymes, nutrients, etc) with the exception of minimal effective SO2.
Family: At Forlorn Hope Wines, we love the longshots. We love the outsiders, the lost causes, the people/projects/ideas abandoned as not having a chance in the world.
We love the little guy because we’re all about tenacity, we relish a challenge, and – we admit it – we love us a good tussle. Taken from the Dutch ‘verloren hoop’, meaning ‘lost troop’, Forlorn Hope was the name given to the band of soldiers who volunteered to lead the charge directly into enemy defenses. The chance of success for the Forlorn Hope was always slim, but the glory and rewards granted to survivors ensured no shortage of applicants. These bottles are our headlong rush into the breach. Rare creatures from the limestone slopes of Rorick Heritage Vineyard, these wines are our brave advance party, our pride and joy – our Forlorn Hope.
Bottle: $27 | Glass: $12
Ercole
Grapes: 100% Barbera
Place: Piedmont - Monferrato - Italy
Process: Many folks know the Barbera grape for its bright acidity, and this wine is no exception to the rule. Far less known is the fact that Monferrato’s most prestigious zones are dedicated to Barbera plantings. (The very opposite holds true in the Langhe, where Nebbiolo reigns supreme.) Typically planted to southern exposure, these vineyards yield wines of great depth and balance.
Fun fact: Most experts have traced the origin of Barbera to the hills of Monferrato.
Grapes grown in calcareous-clay soil. Hand harvested late September to early October with an average yield of 70 hl/ha. Fermented in concrete; stabilized in Inox
Alcohol: 12.5%
Family: With a singular concentration on the Piedmont region of Italy, The Piedmont Guy has championed a select group of passionate winemaking families for nearly a decade. Ercole is our line of everyday wines upholding our commitment to honoring the work of the unsung heroes of Italy—the grape growers themselves.
Ercole, whose English translation is Hercules, is only made possible by a generations-old cooperative of local growers in the Monferrato area. Every fall, these men and women cultivate pristine and sustainably farmed fruit, allowing us to make authentic wines that are transmitters of time and place. Small, independent cooperative wineries like this are not only the lifeblood of thousands of small growers across Italy but also repositories safeguarding the native grape varieties and winemaking traditions of their respective regions.
Bottle: $19 | Glass: $7
Fuso ‘TÉH’
Grapes: : Barbera (60%), Freisa, Grignolino, Bonarda
Place: Piedmont - Italy
Process: Certified organic : 7-9 day maceration on skins depending on variety; fermentation in stainless steel and elevage in stainless steel and cement tanks. Native Yeast Fermentation. Minimal Sulfur added at bottling.
Family: The inaugural release of ‘Tèh’ comes from the Russo brothers at Crotin, located in Maretto municipality in the far west of the Monferrato Astigiano wine area. White marine limestone and sandy soils here accent Tèh’s punchy raspberry fruit profile with an aspirin-chalk stamp.
A palpable tension on the mid-palate – between Barbera’s vertical acidity and Freisa and Grignolino’s grippy tannins - remind of the Italian saying semplice ma non banalé: ‘simple but not boring’. Such is the way of’ Tèh,’ a humble Rosso Piemonte wine with both soil and grape variety clearly etched.
…FUSO is our project to search for and bottle Italy’s natural and characterful daily drinkers. We work with farmers and producer friends who are committed to organic viticulture, low-intervention, and terroir-driven wines.
Bottle: $23 | Glass: $10
Poderi Cellario E Rosso
Grapes: 100% Barbera
Place: Piedmont - Italy
Process: Hand-harvested into small bins. Spontaneous fermentation. Ten days maceration. Aged in 100hl cement tanks for one year. Bottled with minimal sulfur (~10ppm) and without sterile filtering or fining.
Family: Fausto and Cinzia Cellario are 3rd generation winemakers in the village of Carru` on the western outskirts of the Langhe. The family believes in only working with local, indigenous Piemontese grape varieties and fiercely defends local winemaking traditions both in the vineyard work and the cellar practices. The Cellario vineyard holdings cover some 30 ha between 5 different vineyard sites covering the southern Langhe. With holdings in Novello and Monforte, the Dogliani plot is arguably the family’s most prestigious land and I would consider them Dolcetto specialists. Vineyard work is organic (soon to be certified) and all the fermentation take place with indigenous yeasts. Sulfur is only added in tiny quantities at bottling if necessary (a practice not common with a winery in this mid-size range).
Bottle: $25 | Glass: $11