2014 Barbera D’Alba G.D. Vajra

The stuff always begins as grape juice. The fun part is how a winemaker treats it. And Italians do some funky stuff with their grapes. One of their wine making methods lays grapes on grass mats; the grapes dry into raisins. (I’ve always wondered about flies and ants crawling over grapes during the drying process.) Then, the wine maker tosses then into vats, adds some yeast and sugar to produce “Amarone”. Then others keep the dregs form each wine cast, put them all together as one blend. (Now, that is squeezing the last bit of profit from a grape.) However, this Barbera is produced in the Piedmont region in Northern Italy, and its darn good. Heck, the winemaker used real corks! Its color is dark red with fine legs. Its nose is floral, like a linden blooms in the spring. The first tasting is sweet, a dark ripe plumb. With another taste, the plumb roils into red cherry. The sipping uncovers some red licorice. The finish is light oak with low tannin. This one you can keep for a few months or years; drink it and enjoy; store it for later, or take it to a party. Rating: 90