Barbera (bar-BEAR-ah) is one of my favorite wines. I love the deep color, full body and acidity that pairs well with tomato based sauces. Therefore, I love a barbera with pasta! Wildrotter (like wilderness) is a relatively new winery in the California Shenandoah in Amador. It's small tasting room is near the giant producer of Bella Piazza, but the wines are small batch and very elegant. I actually had this wine for the first time, however, not at the tasting room, but at a local wine shop. The first sip was all it took for me to realize this was a wine I wanted to enjoy with a big plate of pasta and friends!
At first this wine may come across as BIG! It has a huge fruit nose of cherry and other fresh ripe red fruits. I can also get a hint of chocolate, but I am always looking for that in my barbera! The first sip bursts with a sort of tart chocolate covered cherry flavor that I find really cool! You will notice the acid immediately but you will not find it very high in tannin, so it drinks well right now! It is getting towards the end of summer, so I made a nice quick pasta sauce with heirloom tomatoes, fresh farm onions, olive oil, garlic and herbs and poured it over some cheese tortellini. It was a great pairing!
If you have not yet tried a barbera, this is a good one to start with. Fortunately for us, living in the Sierra Foothills affords us the opportunity to drink some truly world class barbera. Some wineries produce wine made from barbera fruit, and some wineries produce Barbera, made in the style such as the delicious Barbera d' Alba or Barbera d'Asti. I suggest if you like our local barbera wines to seek out these two Italian produced wines to compare. You will be glad you did!
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