2021 Braida, Montebruna, Barbera d’Asti DOCG, Piemonte, Italy.
The dark garnet and deep ruby/purple Giacomo Bologna Braida “Montebruna” Barbera d’Asti DOCG is a densely fruited, savory and well balanced red that delivers the joys of Barbera in the glass with crushed vine picked berries, sweet cherry, wild plum and earthy fig fruits on the full bodied palate along with hints of bramble, licorice, wilded roses, espresso grounds, cedary wood, minty herb and umami elements. While balanced and polished, this Braida Barbera is always best with meaty dishes and simple rustic cuisine choices, which I highly recommend, but also mushroom dishes for those that don’t eat meat will be a great alternative. This wine and Braida’s classic Bricco Dell”Uccellone, the other stylish Barbera d’Asti offering, here were standouts at the recent San Francisco Slow Wine tour stop, in the impressive set of wines on display. A big thank you to export manager Dr. Norbert Reinisch, who guided through the Braida wines and got me caught up on a long time favorite Piemonte winery. As I’ve said before, I am a Barbera fan and the rise of elevated examples in recent years has been a thrill to witness and taste, with Braida certainly being one not to miss.
The Braida winery’s Montebruna is a 100% Barbera d’Asti DOCG wine that comes from all estate Barbera grapes farmed in Rocchetta Tanaro. Intriguingly, it took Braida, what they says was, 35 legal documents and seven years to bring together the numerous sand and marl laced parcels of land that make up (the) Montebruna, a property with outstanding oenological value and history. When they finally succeeded, they were so ecstatic that they gave Montebruna both its voice and verse, involving artists, poets and musicians, who have sung about this Barbera and its land, almost instantly making an iconic wine. To best express the Montebruna the Braida winery carefully hand pick the grapes and sort them in the vineyard and in the cellar, keeping them cool to preserve aromatics and freshness of detail. They note that the must, or de-stemmed and crushed grapes, spends two weeks in temperature-controlled steel tanks to macerate and extract all the flavors, where it ferments slowly, and is then transferred to large oak barrels, or Botti, to age for a year. This ripe and delicious Barbera is fabulously rewarding and joins a tight list of favorite examples of this grape as a go to version.
($34 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive