Luigi Pira Barbera d'Alba Superiore 2018
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Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Intense ruby red color. The nose is young, complex, well balanced between spicy notes of oak and wild berries. The taste is mouthfilling, balanced and very persistent. It's a full-bodied wine.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Luigi Pira 2018 Barbera d'Alba Superiore offers a lush and rich bouquet with lots of dark fruit and blackberry. Background aromas include tilled earth, crushed stone and some blue flower or lilac. This is a pretty, mid-weight wine with vivid freshness.
Other Vintages
2019-
Robert
Parker
Established in the early 1950s, at first the estate only produced and sold grapes. Later on, wine was produced and sold in bulk to local negociants. Only a few years ago the estate started ageing and bottling its own wines. Giampaolo Pira recently took the reins at his family’s eight-hectare estate, overseeing the cellars while brother Romolo and father Luigi maintain the vineyards. Pira’s holdings are in the three most prestigious crus in the Serralunga commune: "Margheria," "Marenca," and "Rionda."
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.
An historic village situated right in between the famous regions of Barolo and Barbaresco, Alba is also the name for the larger wine region surrounding the village.
In a sense, “Alba” is a catch-all phrase, and includes the declassified Nebbiolo wines made in Barolo and Barbaresco, as well as the Nebbiolo grown just outside of these regions’ borders. In fact, Nebbiolo d’Alba is a softer, less tannic and more fruit-forward wine ready to drink within just a couple years of bottling. It is a great place to start if you want to begin to understand the grape. Likewise, the even broader category of Langhe Nebbiolo offers approachable and value-driven options as well.
Barbera, planted alongside Nebbiolo in the surrounding hills, and referred to as Barbera d’Alba, takes on a more powerful and concentrated personality compared to its counterparts in Asti.
Dolcetto is ubiquitous here and, known as Dolcetto d'Alba, can be found casually served alongside antipasti on the tables of Alba’s cafes and wine bars.
Not surprisingly, given its location, Alba is recognized as one of Italy’s premiere culinary destinations and is the home of the fall truffle fair, which attracts visitors from worldwide every year.