We’ve arrived! And I am blogging as I sit here in a room at Palazzo Zoia on my 49th Barbera D’Asti. Are my teeth red? Definitely. Are they being exposed due to the rather large grin on my face? Most certainly.
We’re tasting everything blind, hence the aluminum foil. The lineup is all barbera from Asti today. 2008, 2007 and 2006. So far, what sticks out to me is the use of french oak and whether or not it completely masks the barbera fruit or not. Which it does (when used with a heavy hand.) Barbera is at its best when it can stand alone. And when it can taste like barbera! The stylistic differences of Italian wines, especially in this area of the country, could be an entire other discussion. A large one. Maybe I’ll get into that another time…
In situations like this, it can be difficult to say whether or not a wine would be enjoyed outside of the confines of this room. If we tasted all of these wines again at dinner tonight, while eating, I’m sure a lot of my notes would be completely different. All I can do is make observations and I am lucky enough to have at my disposal almost all of the barberas made in the country for my personal comparative study on the varietal. Which is what I am calling it. Gotta get back to the wine. On to no. 59.
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