Classic Barbera with Michele Chiarlo

As we’re approaching the Thanksgiving holiday we all look forward to good times with family and friends along with good food and of course good wine. The question every Thanksgiving that folks wonder is which is the best wine to pair with your turkey and all the fixings. It’s a tough question considering the variety of flavors all mixed in on our dishes. The simple response is to drink what you like. Although, there are wines that will pair well on your Thanksgiving table due to their versatility. One of those grapes is the Barbera grape and that’s what I’ll be sharing today. 

Barbera grapes - copyright of Consorzio Barbera d'Asti

The Barbera Grape 

Over the years I have featured a couple wines from the known Michele Chiarlo winery of Piedmont. I won’t dig too much into the winery today as you can reference it in my previous article. The Barbera grape shows appearance in historical documents in Piedmont since 1512. Initially it was a grape that farmers used for their own personal consumption. As the word got out about Barbera and spread throughout the provinces it made it’s way on the the “Ampelografia” list of Piedmont vines from the Count Nuvolone in 1798 and started to creep into international markets. 

In the 1980’s multiple producers devoted much effort to increase the quality of Barbera through their extensive work in the vineyards and cellars. Barbera is the most abundant grape fo the Piedmont wine region in northwestern Italy occupying 30% of the vineyard acreage. 

The wine I’m featuring today, the 2017 Michele Chiarlo “Le Orme” Barbera d’Asti DOCG, is grown from the Asti area as the designation insinuates in its name. The wines of the Barbera d’Asti DOCG are grown in the hills of the Monferrato and Asti hills. Originally this grape comes from Monferrato, but is grown mostly in the provinces of Asti and Alessandria. It was originally recognized as a DOC in 1970 and received the DOCG designation later in 2008. 

In 2000 3 sub-areas were delimited to express these areas true identity of Barbera d’Asti that comes along with stricter regulations. These sub-areas include Tinella, Colli Astiani and Nizza. Nizza was upgraded to its own DOCG designation starting with the 2014 vintage. 

Copyright of Consorzio Barbera d'Asti

The Barbera of today is produced in a variety of styles whether it spends time in stainless or wood, but overall this is a grape that produces wines with freshness, pleasant acidity and great fruit mostly red fruits towards darker skinned fruits. The usage of wood will add vanilla nuances, spice and possibly some balsamic notes.  You’ll also see this grape grown throughout Italy and the world exemplifying it’s terroir, but in my opinion Piedmont will always be its home. 

The Wine 

Michele Chiarlo works with 4 of the classic, native grapes of Piedmont including Barbera, Nebbiolo, Cortese and Moscato. This week I tasted the 2017 Michele Chiarlo “Le Orme” Barbera d’Asti DOCG this week is made from 100% Barbera. This is considered their flagship wine and a classic Barbera. The name given to the wine, Le Orme, translates to the footsteps. In my opinion it represents the mark that Michele Chiarlo leaves behind him in serving over 60 harvests in the family’s business, especially working with this special grape in the region.  

The grapes that make up this wine are sourced from the family’s all 4 estates in the Nizza area including the esteemed La Court vineyard.   The soils are considered “Astian” soils that is sandy soil rich in limestone. The grapes spend 10 days macerating with the skins and are fermented in stainless steel. They are further refined for an additional 16 months with 3 months in oak and the rest in stainless steel and time in the bottle. 

The 2017 Michele Chiarlo “Le Orme” Barbera d’Asti DOCG had a little age on it, but was still drinking nicely. Ruby colored with a touch of purple hues. Aromas of plums, blackberries and black cherry. Medium-bodied and fresh on the palate. Cherry, blackberry and savory notes creating a pleasant wine where the flavors and elements are in harmony. A touch of tannins that are elegant towards the lingering finish. ABV 13.5% SRP $12.99

I paired this wine this week with a bacon wrapped filet with a side of roasted butternut squash.  I also tried it with pork gyoza potstickers I got from Trader Joe's.  All pairing lovely with this Barbera d'Asti so explore and try it with a number of dishes and you'll experience it's versatility as well.

Do you have a favorite Barbera?

You can find Barbera wines as well as the wines of Michele Chiarlo  on Wine.com. 

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Information sourced from the Consorzio Barbera d'Asti e Vini del Monferrato

 

*I may receive commissions if any wines are purchased directly from the above site to support the operations of Vino Travels.  

 

Valle d’Aosta Co-op La Kiuva Rouge de Vallèe paired with Mushroom Soup

This month our Italian Food, Wine and Travel group explores the Valle d'Aosta and Piedmont wine regions led by our host Camilla of Culinary Cam.  The Valle d’Aosta wine region of Italy tucked in the northwestern corner bordering France to the west and Switzerland to the north is truly one of Italy’s hidden gems.  I explored this region on my honeymoon and was glad we went out of the way to venture there.  I was thrilled to find a bottle of Valle d’Aosta wine the end of last year at a wine shop since you don’t see these wines too often.  Plus, I’m always so intrigued by new grapes and many of these we’ve all probably never heard of before.  Today I explore the winery, La Kiuva, and one of their red blends along with a pairing of mushroom soup. 

View of Aosta from our agriturismo

The Winery - La Kiuva 

La Kiuva, pronounced La “key-oo-vah", is a cooperative that was founded in 1975 that consists of about 50-60 growers.  Their name, Kiuva, comes from a local dialect for “sheaf of leaves”.  These leaves were gathered to feed the local livestack in the fall.  Between the growers, La Kiuva occupies about 60 acres of vineyards in the Pied de Ville, which is a small hamlet within the town of Arnad.  This is where the coop was born.  Here the plains meet the surrounding mountains looming all around. 

The coop produced their first vintage in 1979 and today produces about 8,000 cases with most of the growers farming organically.   

The Valle d’Aosta has a central valley that spans over almost 50 miles with individual valleys that break off the central valley.  It’s a very mountainous territory and consists of four of Europe’s top mountain peaks, Monte Rosa, Mont Blanc, Gran Paradiso and Matterhorn.  We took a funicular up one of the mountains and climbed additional steps to get even higher.  I had never personally experienced the difficulty in breathing at such altitudes, but once we got to the top the views of Mont Blanc brought tears to my eyes.  What beauty!  Everyone should experience this region.   

View from the Torino Hut in the Mont Blanc massif in the town of Courmayeur

The Wine 

I purchased the 2020 La Kiuva Rouge de Vallée, which is a blend of 70% Picotendro and 30% a blend of the grapes Gros Vien, Neyret, Cornalin and Fumin.  Have you heard of any of those grapes before?  Picotendro is actually the name for Nebbiolo in this area.  It comes from the French word Picot Tendre.  Here you see the influence of the French language that is heavily used along with Italian in this region.   

As Nebbiolo usually is lightly colored, this wine was a transparent light garnet color.  There were aromas of red dried fruits.  I was surprised to experience the characteristics of this Nebbiolo, but it makes considering the alpine climate.  It was a light-bodied wine with bright cherry notes.  It was very approachable with rather low tannin for a Nebbiolo.  For those that like to drink reds in the warm months I think this wine would be a great choice.  ABV 13.5%. SRP $16.  The importer for this wine is Ethica Wines. 

The Pairing 

In researching this wine and the producer on Ethica Wines website they recommended a mushroom soup, which I thought would be a great idea with the Nebbiolo.  Even though the Nebbiolo was much lighter and less earthier than expected, this Rouge de Vallée from Kiuva was a nice complement with the mushroom soup I prepared. 

The base for my mushroom soup was beef broth.  I initially added some onions and garlic and sauteed those for a few minutes before adding the mushrooms and sherry topped with some flour well stirred. These cooked for about 5 minutes before adding the broth, thyme, salt and pepper. Easy preparation for a scrumptious meal and delightful pairing. What are your favorite wine and soup pairings?

Join our fellow Italian food and wine lovers as they share their personal selections with some food pairings as well from the Valle d'Aosta and Piedmont wine regions.  We'll also be chatting live on X (the old Twitter) platform this Saturday at 11am EST.  Hope to see you there!  Check out the rest of the writer's articles.

• Grosjean Fumin Valle d’Aosta DOC with Carbonade Valdostana & Polenta Concia by Crushed Grape Chronicles
• Nebbiolo delle Langhe DOC from Vietti 2020, A Symphony of Flavor by Avvinare
• Simple, but Seriously Delicious: Lasagne alla Valdostana + Grosjean Vallee d'Aoste Gamay 2022 by Culinary Cam
• Sweet Surprises Pairing Brachetto and BBQ by The Quirky Cork
• Two Cru Wines that Celebrates the Accomplished Viticultural Heritage of Piemonte by Grapevine Adventures
• Why has Barbera wine from Piedmont changed so drastically in recent years? by Life at Table
• Wine Braised Pork Loin and a 2019 Travaglini Gattinara by A Day in the Life on the Farm

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Monte Zovo and their wines of the Valpolicella

As I wrap up this months feature on the Veneto wine region I’ll share some of the Veneto’s great red wines, those that come from the Valpolicella wine appellation.  Some years ago I visited the wine estate of Monte Zovo and wrote briefly about my visit. Today I’ll give more of an overview of Monte Zovo and a couple of their wines that I tasted this week. 

The Monte Zovo winery 

Monte Zovo began back in 1925 when the grandfather, Carlo Cottini, of the current owner, Diego Cottini, bought the land.  At the time it was mainly used for fruits, especially cherry plants, along with cattle grazing.  Carlo’s son, Raffaelo, in the 50’s and 60’s converted the land over to vineyards in order to start to make wines.   

Cottini family

Monte Zovo has 4 different vineyard sites with three of them in Lombardy located near Lake Garda in the municipalities of Desanzano and Pozzolengo.  Lake Garda borders both Lombardy and the Veneto.  The three vineyards include Monte Zovo, Spiazzi and Bettinelle.  Monte Zovo is located around the winery in Caprino Veronese.  Bettinelle, is their experimential vineyards located on the plains of Rivoli.  Lastly is Spiazzi, which was Diego’s idea to plan Pinot Noir, Sauvignon and Mueller Thurgau at high altitudes of almost 3,000 feet.  He wanted to plant vineyards in an area that was outside the normal altitudes that would allow the aromas in the wines to shine. 

It wasn’t until 2000 that the Cottini family ventured into the Veneto purchasing the Tregnano estate.  This was Diego’s desire to purchase land from where he was born and worked with his grandfather.  The Tregnano estate is located northeast of Verona, in the eastern area of Valpolicella.  The vineyards sit on top of the hills that divide both the Ilasi and Mezzane Valleys that also border the Monti Lessini national park.  At the top of the hills they built a drying facility that sits at about 1,650 feet that provides great ventilation for the grapes to dry.  Out of the 345 acres that the Cottini family owns, about 123 acres are located there in Valpolicella. 

The Wines of Monte Zovo 

If you are familiar with the red wines of the Valpolicella most of them are based on a number of native grapes including Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara.  Some of them are produced as a dry style wine, while others are dried resulting in wines with a deeper, intense profile and concentration.   

I tasted the Monte Zovo Caligo Veronese IGT made from 70% Corvina, 20% Corvinone and 10% Rondinella.  I was pleasantly surprised by this wine, especially at its price point at $18, as it gives a nice introduction to the grapes of this region at a reasonable price point.  The grapes are grown in the northern area of Verona on morainic soil.  The grapes are left on the vines an additional 2-4 weeks to overripen going through a drying process while on the vine.  The wine is then picked and fermented for 25-30 days and aged for 12 months in a combination of barrique and tonneaux.  Ruby and rather transparent in the glass.  Violet and blackberries filled the aromas.  A medium-bodied, but on the lighter side with juicy fruits of dried cherries and blackberries that rounded out the palate with a hint of black tea.  Rather soft, but fruit filled.

I had the pleasure to taste the 2018 Monte Zovo Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG. I usually drink Amarone for Thanksgiving so I’ll probably have this one on the table that day. Made from 70% Corvina, 20% Corvinone and 10% Rondinella this wine also comes from the Tregnano estate from 12 year old vines. The grapes are picked and laid in boxes on one layer and moved to the drying facility where they rest to concentrate for a few months. The fermentation then takes place for 20 days and the wine is aged in barrique for 24 months and an additional 6 months in wood vessels (not sure of the exact kind). It then spends an additional 12 months in the bottle. This is part of the reason the price for Amarone is rather high is due to the extensive aging process.  

The 2018 Monte Zovo Amarone was ruby colored with garnet edges. Ripe raspberry and black cherry fruit aromas were apparent with a dusting of cocoa, dried herbs, licorice and some baking spice. A whole array of aromas! It was still a little tight, but I didn’t give this wine much time to aerate. Full-bodied on the palate, rich and smooth. Mostly currants and plums with some vanilla and baking spices again. For a wine that had 16% alcohol I didn’t pick up the heat at all thankfully. It had a nice elegance with integrated tannin and a nice acid backbone. SRP $50 

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*This wine was provided as a sample, but opinions are always my own.