2023 Mauro Sebaste, Barbera d’Asti DOCG, Valdevani, Piemonte, Italy.
The ripe, dark garnet and delicious all tank raised 2023 Valdevani Barbera d’Asti from Mauro Sebaste, comes from vines in the municipality of Vinchio in the locality of Valdevani and Boglietto, showing off a rich and minerallly palate of blackberry, plum, cherry and currant fruits, along with a light dusting of spice, wild herbs, anise, subtle earthiness and dark florals in a silky and brightly focused medium/full bodied wine. This wine, an outstanding value, unpretentious in style reminds me why I fell in love with this classic Piemonte grape in the first place, making for a great companion to any pasta dishes you might find and or simple meat dishes. This is a Barbera to enjoy soon and often, its natural acidity cutting into the heady 14.5% alcohol nicely and softer mouth feel and refined tannins make it easy to love as is. Asti’s calcareous soils, rich in clay, limestone, sand and silt brings out a bit less flab as Alba and adds to a more chiseled detailing in the wines, maybe giving a slightly more elegant profile.
The Mauro Sebaste Barbera d’Asti DOCG Valdevani grapes are sustainably grown and carefully sorted in the vineyards and in the cellar with 100% de-stemmed berries getting fermented and aged in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks with the Barbera seeing about 8 days of skin maceration and fermentation before being racked off the skins. After the wine goes dry, it was allowed to go through natural secondary (Malos) fermentation and aged another 6 months in vat before bottling. Everything is traditional, clean and simple here with this version of Barbera, once thought of as a working class or peasant wine. The quality of Barbera saw a huge upswing in the late 1990s and earned a full DOCG in Alba and Asti, plus includes a higher destination with a Superiore also seen, with some great stuff available that can compete against the noble Nebbiolo offerings of Barbaresco and Barolo. So now is a great time to rediscover Barbera and its complete range of offerings from the basic stuff, more like what is seen here, more serious efforts, like Vietti’s, and the top cru bottlings, like La Spinetta’s Gallina!
($20 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive