Barbera D'Alba - Superiore - Diego & Damiano Barale

Diego and Damiano Barale's Barbera d'Alba Superiore DOC is the Barbera of the Langhe - the one that grows on the same hills as Barolo and Barbaresco, on the same calcareous marl and Serravalle Tuff soils that produce Italy's greatest Nebbiolo. Not the Barbera d'Asti of the Asti valley floor, but the Alba-grown style, more structured, more mineral, with a natural concentration and aromatic depth that directly reflect the exceptional vocation of the Langhe terroir.

Diego and Damiano Barale are two brothers who tend their own vineyards in the Langhe with the precise, consistent artisanal approach that distinguishes the denomination's best producers - those who do not seek immediate visibility but build a solid reputation over time, based on consistent quality vintage after vintage. The 8000 bottles of this Barbera Superiore testify to a small-scale artisanal production, attentive to detail and respectful of the land.

Barbera d'Alba - a DOC designation that geographically overlaps the Barolo and Barbaresco area - is Italy's most elegant and complex Barbera when it comes from outstanding vineyards on the hills of Castiglione Falletto, La Morra, Serralunga or Neive. On the same soils that produce great Nebbiolo, Barbera expresses a concentration of fruit, calcareous minerality and tannic structure that the Barbera d'Asti of the Asti plains cannot achieve. It is the wine that people from the Langhe drink among themselves while the great Barolo and Barbaresco mature in the cellar - but in the right hands it is much more than a wine to drink while waiting.

Diego and Damiano Barale interpret Barbera Superiore with 15 months of aging in French oak tonneaux - the 500-liter vessels that ensure elegant, gradual wood influence, bringing additional tannic structure and well-integrated spicy and vanilla notes without overpowering Barbera's vibrant fruit - followed by 3 months in bottle. The 2022 vintage in the Langhe was of excellent quality - a warm summer with nocturnal temperature swings that preserved natural acidity, producing Barbera of exceptional concentration.

The nose is intense and fragrant: ripe black cherry, blackberry, plum, currant, cocoa, delicate vanilla from the French tonneaux, light spices and a balsamic hint of aromatic herbs from the Langhe. On the palate it is warm and structured - the natural power of Barbera d'Alba well balanced by the grape's vibrant acidity, tannins more pronounced than in Barbera d'Asti thanks to the influence of the Langhe's calcareous terroir, harmonious glyceric sweetness and a long finish with notes of concentrated red fruit, spices and minerality. Serve at 16-17°C. It shows its best qualities between 3 and 8 years after harvest.