Barbera Nera

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Barbera Nera
Synonyms Barbera - for more see the Synonyms section
Barbera Nera
Art Grape vine ( Vitis vinifera subsp. Vinifera )
Berry color black
use
origin Italy
VIVC no. 974
List of grape varieties

Barbera Nera is a high-quality grape variety from Piedmont , where it was grown in Monferrato as early as the 13th century . It is now common across Italy and is considered adaptable and high-yielding.

history

The cathedral of Casale Monferrato , in whose archives the oldest written evidence of the Barbera Nera grape variety was found

So far it has been assumed that the Barbera Nera grape variety comes from the Monferrato area in the heart of Piedmont. The oldest written evidence comes from the 13th century. The Romanesque cathedral Sant'Evasio in Casale Monferrato, originally from the year 742 and completely rebuilt in the 12th century, has an important archive from the period between 1246 and 1277. On May 24th 1255 it was noted that the canon Ottobone di Coniole leased vineyards to Bernardo Lanbrosca di Castelnuovo with de bonis vitibus barbexinis. There is a similar entry for November 7th, 1249. Whether the grape called barbexinis is actually the Barbera Nera has not been proven beyond doubt, as one of the older synonyms for the grape variety Grignolino Berbexino was. On the other hand, the grape variety described by Petrus de Crescentiis in his 1304 work Ruralium Commodorum under the name Grissa could also be Barbera Nera. In 1606 Giovanni Battista Croce mentions a variety called Grisa maggiore , which thrives in the Turin area and is already clearly differentiated from Nebbiolo.

Leaf of the Barbera nera
Barbera nera vine

The first ampelographic description of the grape variety was made in 1798 in the Sulla coltivazione delle viti work , published by Giuseppe Nuvolone-Pergamo, the Conte di Scandaluzza and President of the Società Agraria di Torino. The grape variety was then led under the botanical name Vitis vinifera montiferrato ; a term later used by Giorgio Gallesio. At the beginning of the 20th century, the ampelographer Pierre Viala suspected the origin of the vine in Oltrepò Pavese (Lombardy), not far away .

Through Italian emigrants, the grape variety found its way to California, where it has been known since the 1880s, and to Argentina.

A wine boom set in in Italy in the 1970s. The vigorous Barbera Nera vine was ideally suited for producing huge quantities of a cheap bulk wine desired by the market.It is therefore hardly surprising that many Barbera wines were adulterated as part of the methanol scandals uncovered in 1985 and 1986. As a result of the scandal, wines of this variety were almost unsaleable and the area under vines was almost halved.

Ampelographic varietal characteristics

Barbera nera grape
  • The shoot tip is open. It is very hairy and slightly reddish in color at the tips. The yellowish young leaves with their bronze-colored spots (anthocyanin spots) are also very hairy.
  • The medium-sized leaves are five-lobed and deeply indented. The stalk bay is lyren-shaped closed to overlapping closed. The blade is bluntly serrated. The teeth are set wide in comparison to the grape varieties. The leaf surface (also called blade) is only slightly blistered.
  • The cylindrical to cone-shaped grape is large and dense. The slightly oval berries are large and blue-black in color. The aroma of the berry is neutral.

Maturity: about 20 days after those of the Gutedel . According to international standards, it is still ripening medium-early.

distribution

In 2010 the area under cultivation was 20,524 hectares in Italy. There are 24,178 hectares worldwide.

Outside Italy, Barbera Nera is grown in California in the Central Valley , in Argentina (546 ha, as of 2010), in the provinces of Mendoza and San Juan , in Mexico , Australia , Brazil , Greece , Israel , Romania , Slovenia , Uruguay and South Africa .

Wine

The wines made from Barbera Nera are considered to be powerful, with pronounced plum aromas, low tannins with a full " body " and a deep ruby ​​red color. They keep their body, i.e. their strong acidity, even when they are raised in hot climates, where they can reach up to 15.5% by volume. However, large quantities of the harvest go into the production of a light red wine, which is slightly bubbly (developed as a frizzante ) and serves as a refreshing thirst quencher in summer.

Large surpluses, especially in the 1980s , declining quality and the associated low prices damaged the reputation of this variety. In the meantime, people have returned to reasonable quantities and, above all, careful maintenance of the Barbera nera. Especially from Piedmont , where the Barbera Nera is still the most widespread grape variety, high-quality wines are coming again, including the well-known DOCs Barbera d'Alba , Barbera d'Asti , Barbera del Monferrato and the DOCG wine "Barbera del Monferrato Superiore". Other important growing areas are Lombardy (especially in Oltrepò Pavese ) and Emilia-Romagna (e.g. in the Colli Piacentini ).

In general, the Barbera Nera grape is only grown as a single-variety wine in these three regions . In many other regions of Italy it is used as a blending partner, for example in the DOCs Bardolino , Cerveteri , Colli Perugini , Falerno del Massico and Molise as well as in numerous table wines .

There is a variety in Sardinia called Barbera Sarda . A white grape variety Barbera Bianca is also known , but it is probably not related to the red Barbera.

properties

The Barbera nera grape variety is only moderately disease resistant. She is frequently afflicted with leaf roll disease and in California she is a regular victim of pierces disease . When it comes to choosing suitable floors, the winemaker has a wide range of options. While Barbera Nera thrives excellently on barren limestone soils or marl , the yield is naturally contained on sandy soils.

Their enormous growth is difficult. If the variety is not cut back sharply (→ vine training ), the yield can easily be 150 hl / ha or more. In these cases the berries are undersupplied and as a result the winemakers achieve thin wines with high acid values. In Piedmont in the 19th and early 20th centuries, however, the variety was grown on a large scale precisely because of the high yields and early maturity. Even in unfavorable locations, the Barbera Nera ripens almost 2 weeks before the noble Nebbiolo variety . In the region around Alba in particular , the Nebbiolo was assigned the best locations. During the harvest of the Barbera Nera, which was assigned unfavorable locations, the Nebbiolo grape was still able to ripen. In Piedmont, the Barbera Nera is harvested from the end of September to the beginning of October. Before that, the winemakers can still collect the Dolcetto grapes . It is only in the last few years that some of the leading producers are trying out the production of wines from late harvest grapes.

Synonyms

35 Synonyms: Barber a Raspo Rosso, Barbera, Barbera a Peduncolo Rosso, Barbera a Peduncolo Verde, Barbera a Raspo Verde, Barbera Amaro, Barbera Black, Barbera Blaue, Barbera Crna, Barbera d'Asti, Barbera di Piamonte, Barbera Dolce, Barbera Fina, Barbera Fine, Barbera Forte, Barbera Grossa, Barbera Mercantile, Barbera Nera a Caule Rosso, Barbera Nera a Caule Verde, Barbera Noir, Barbera Noire, Barbera Nostrana, Barbera Riccia, Barbera Rossa, Barbera Rosta, Barbera Vera, Barberone, Besgano , Cosses Barbusen, Gaietto, Lombardesca, Nigruz, Olivella, Sciaa, Uva Nera Antica di Viggiano.

Web links

Commons : Barbera  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

Individual evidence

  1. http://biferno.provincia.alessandria.it/userIta/istituzione/AT/showWebSite.bfr?rec_id=75&m=2&nS=15&pagIn=cap1schede.pdf (link not available) OTTOBONO DI CONIOLO by Andrea Desana (PDF)
  2. I Paesaggi vitivinicoli del Piemonte - Langhe, Monferrato, Roero (PDF; 266 kB)
  3. Storia della Barbera Regina delle Colline Piemontesi (PDF; 198 kB)
  4. The wine scandals never end. Panscher have now added a deadly poison to Italian vino. (Article in "DER SPIEGEL" 14/1986)
  5. K. Anderson, NR Aryal: Database of Regional, National and Global Winegrape Bearing Areas by Variety, 2000 and 2010, Wine Economics Research Center, University of Adelaide, December 2013 (first revision April 2014) (second revision May 2014) (third revision July 2014).
  6. Publication of the National Agricultural Statistics Service within the United States Department of Agriculture ( Memento of October 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 76 kB)
  7. Barbera Nera in the database Vitis International Variety Catalog of the Institute for Grapevine Breeding Geilweilerhof (English), May 30, 2020