La Spinetta "Ca` Di Pian" Barbera D'Asti 2008

Hello everybody!  I had some quality wines this weekend and I decided to write about two of them, since they both left quite an impression on me. The first of these two is a barbera, the most widely planted grape variety in Piedmont. You would assume that nebbiolo of the Barolo and Barbaresco wines would be the most planted varietal, but for some reason it isn't. If I find out the exact reason why that is, I'll be sure to include an edit in this post to let you know as soon as I find out.

So this is a single vineyard barbera wine. In color, it was a bright, see-through ruby red. It had even, tall, and droopy legs. When tilted in glass, the wine showed some pink to clear coloration at the very edges, which gave the wine some pretty in-glass characteristics. The wine also boasted a beautiful swirl, something I haven't really noticed in a wine up until this one.

Usually, I split the nose and the flavor of wines into two different paragraphs, but because this wine was so simple and straightforward, I will combine the two into one. This wine tasted and smelt exactly like strawberry fruit roll-ups. You guys all remember those, right? That stretchy, chewy candy stuff. It also had a jolly rancher feel to it in flavor, it was wowingly (yet another time where I make up a word) vibrant and fruity. It had some high acid levels that might turn you off if you're not accustomed to acidity. The acidity really makes the tongue salivate, which is to be expected with the powerful sweetness this wine has.

So if this wine was so simple, what was so special about it that it left an impression on me? Well there is something to derive from the fact that it smelt like fresh fruit roll-up candy. This is an "Old-World" winemaking region, Asti (in Italy,) producing a clearly "New-World" wine. There isn't a doubt in my mind that this wine was produced this way for the American palate. That isn't a bad thing, though you may read it as if it is.

I personally dislike the notion that wineries around the world are constantly moving towards making these ultra fruity, sweet wines that appeal to international markets, especially America. What we'll be left with in time is millions of wineries making the exact same wine, trying to fetch high scores from Wine Spectator and the Wine Advocate. It's a shame, yet at the same time, we'll be left with easy-to-drink wines that are easy to buy without any worry that you won't enjoy them. It's a double-edged sword, and as of late, us as consumers have been swinging it willingly (and perhaps blindly, as well.)

Stay tuned, I'll post the second wine that I mentioned at the begining of the post as soon as it's ready!