Tried these two Calif Barberas over the weekend:
1. The Chef & The Winemaker Barbera SierraFoothills (13.5%) Sandra Simila & Hugh Chappelle/Camino 2011: Dark color; very strong blackberry/Amador briary/very spicy classic Barbera/fennel/Italian sausage some Am.oak/vanilla/smokey quite fragrant nose; lightly tart/tangy fairly rich/lush very strong blackberry/Amador briary slight earthy very spicy/Barbera/Italian sausage some toasty/vanilla/Am.oak flavor w/ light gentle/smooth tannins; lightly tart very spicy/blackberry/Italian sausage/fennel very briary/Amador light vanilla/toasty/Am.oak finish w/ light smooth tannins; reminds a lot of the old Montevian Barberas w/ more spice & more acidity & less very ripe character; an absolutely lovely Calif Barbera at a great price. $22.00 (CB)
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2. Idlewild Barbera FoxHillVnyd/MendoCnty (14.6%; www.IdlewildWines.com) Geyserville 2014: Very dark color; very strong black cherry/black cherry cola/ripe some dried Italian herbs/spicy bit tomatoey/MendoCnty rather perfumed very attractive nose; bit soft slight tangy/metallic very spicy/licorice/dried Italian herbs somewhat black cherry cola/ripe/Barbera very attractive flavor w/ light tangy tannins; soft slight tangy/metallic rather black cherry cola/Barbera bit tomatoey/MendoCnty light toasty/oak light dried Italian herbs finish w/ light tangy tannins; quite an attractive Calif Barbera on the ripe side but not the lean/hard/salado character of many Piemonte Barberas. $32.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I thought the name HughChappelle sounded familiar. He is the consulting winemaker at Madrona (he started out as winemaker there in 1993), SteeleHeadCllrs, Quivira, Heintz Ranch, with stints at Flowers & Lynmar. The guy gets around, obviously. Sandra Simile is the chef at LynmarWnry and Relais restaurant.
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2. I liked both of these Barberas quite a lot. The C&W was a little more classic varietal Barbera character. The Idlewild a bit more on the ripe side and very delicious. So...a small edge to the Idlewild.
Both of these Barberas were quite expressive of their terroirs...Amador for the C&W, MendoCnty for the Idlewild. Based on these two data points, it's obvious, to me, that Barbera is more expressive of its terroir than any other variety.
Tom