Description
The Barbera d’Asti PDO is reserved exclusively for Red wine. The Designation also incorporates two geographical specifications.
Production Area
The production area of Barbera d’Asti PDO is within the territory of 116 municipalities in the Province of Asti, and 51 municipalities in the Province of Alessandria, in the Piedmont region.
Description of product typologies
Barbera d’Asti PDO is ruby-red, tending towards garnet red with ageing; it displays an intense fragrance on the nose, sometimes floral, with predominant fruity hues of cherry, small black fruit, and prune, which evolve into hints of jam and liqueur fruits, balsamic and spicy notes, developing hints of cinnamon, cocoa and liquorice when matured in wood; it is full and complex on the palate; wines aged in wood reveal sweet velvety tannins and a long, persistent finish. It can display Superiore, Vigna and Vigna Superiore on the label. Before being released for consumption, Barbera d’Asti PDO wines must undergo a minimum ageing period of 4 months, commencing November 1st of the harvest year; a minimum of 14 months for Barbera d’Asti PDO with the specification Vigna, 6 of which must be in barrels if the wine has the specification Superiore. The vinification and ageing process of Barbera d’Asti PDO must be carried out within the production area, although, taking traditional situations into account, these operations may also be carried out within the entire territory of the Piedmont region.
Geographical and sub-area specifications
The Barbera d’Asti Superiore PDO can be accompanied by two sub-area specifications: Tinella and Colli Astiani or Astiano, produced in limited areas which define the sub-area. Both geographical specifications can only be produced as Red wine with a minimum of 90% Barbera and the addition of similarly-coloured unaromatic grapes originating from other grape varieties suitable for cultivation in the Piedmont region, maximum 10%.
Additional specifications
The Barbera d’Asti PDO designation can be followed by the specification Vigna (Vineyard) with the relative toponym.
