Our 2012 Estate Barbera is still in barrels and will be released in June of 2014. My friends and fellow wine makers want me to bottle it now, but they will have to wait. This wine is made like the old school Italians did. The wine is just over 12% alcohol smooth and tasty. We mixed the oak additions with American an French. The wine is not overpowering, and when you smell the wine you can smell the earth it was grown in. Barbera normally are very acidic at picking time, but softens out over the primary and secondary fermentations. My grandpa would love this wine, I wish he was around to try it. This wine can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and if there is any left can be finished around the fire pit.
The 2013 Estate Barbera grapes are grown on our land was picked at 25.5 brix. If grapes are grown correctly, which means shoot thinning, not over cropping, leaf pulling, acid adjustments are not needed and this wine came in so good, no acid additions were needed for this wine. We have just introduced the blend of oak, which is not fire roasted, but oven roasted giving the wine a vanilla and butterscotch finish. I am more excited about this wine than the 2012 because of how it was grown. Again the wine is very subtle not overpowering and really a nice wine for any occasion. This wine will be available for sale next year and was made under a bond, which will let me sell this beauty.