2017 Barbera

This varietal originates from Piedmont, Italy- an area well known for its production of Barolo wines and the Nebbiolo grape. Historically, the Nebbiolo grape was given the most prestigious terroir while Barbera found itself planted on the back sides of the hills in the less sought-after soil types. The Italians know the Barbera well as they use it for their daily table wine. In the United States, the rich flavors, high acids and ability to endure high heat has caught the attention of many winemakers. Barbera is an up-and-coming grape! Barbera plantings have sky-rocketed, especially here in the Sierra Foothills, which is home to the annual Barbera Festival. In the United States, Barbera is being given the opportunity to shine as it utilizes the optimal terroir and vineyard aspect to unleash its full potential.

This is a 100% Barbera made from our very own Apetahi Estate grapes.

The berries were hand-sorted and de-stemmed, throwing back just enough of the stems to add natural tannins. The juice was put through 48 hours of cold-soaking to extract the color from the skins. We punched down 3 times a day in the fermentation bins and allowed extended maceration, pressing when the cap fell.

We used our hydraulic basket press and captured both the free-run and pressed juices together. We aged for 16 months in 100% new oak barrels on the fine lees. We lightly filtered at 5 microns before bottling.