Winemaker Notes
Ideal with roasts and meat dishes, also with sauces, and mature cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a no-nonsense wine loaded with complexity and depth, but in its core is pure joy. Aromas of sun-warmed crushed raspberries and black cherries mingle with fresh thyme, while clove, anise and cinnamon stick lift the nose. The well-structured palate is a dance between fresh and preserved wild berries, guided by lively acidity. Savory spice, herbs and white pepper linger on the finish, revealing a wine that's serious, but just wants to have fun. Drink now–2035.
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James Suckling
A complex, beguiling barbera with layered aromas of licorice, sweet violets, earth, leather, restrained black cherries and plums. Medium- to full-bodied with flavors of oak bark and graphite, showing smoky complexity, velvety tannins and zesty yet integrated acidity. Long, chocolaty and warming finish. Drink or hold.
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Vinous
The 2021 Barbera d’Asti Bricco dell’Uccellone is packed with dark red fruits, espresso, licorice, new leather, chocolate, menthol and new oak. Ample and full-bodied, Bricco dell’Uccellone makes quite the statement. This heady, brooding Barbera from the Bologna family has a ton to offer.
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Wine Spectator
Well-marked by new oak, whose elements of sweet spices embrace the plum, blackberry and fruitcake flavors. Vibrant and silky, this firms up, offering a line of dense tannins on the long finish. Walks the line between power and elegance.
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.
Recognized as the source of the best Barbera in all of Italy, Asti is a province (as well as major city) in Piedmont, consisting of a gentle, rolling landscape with vineyards, farmland and forests alternating throughout.
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. Other red varieties grown here include Freisa, Grignolino and Dolcetto, which can be bottled varietally or blended into Barbera.
Historically consumers commonly associated the Asti region with Asti Spumante and Moscato d’Asti, both playful, aromatic, sparkling wines made from the Muscat grape. Asti Spumante is less sweet, fully fizzy and more alcoholic (yet still clocking in at only around 9% alcohol) while Moscato d’Asti is sweeter, gently sparkling (“frizzante”) and closer to 5 or 6% alcohol. Each is produced in stainless steel tanks to preserve the fresh and fruity flavors of the grape, often including peach, apricot, lychee and rose petal. Asti is also the spot for the pink-hued Brachetto d'Acqui, a slightly sparkling wine ready to charm with its raspberry and rose flavors and aromas.