14 posts
2020 Sobon Estate Amador County Barbera ($17) Shenandoah Vineyards in Plymouth, CA, was founded in 1977 by Shirley and Leon Sobon. They moved from Los Altos, California, where Leon was a Senior Scientist with the Lockheed Research Lab. Leon’s gift f...
Barbera 🍷 Barbera (Bar-BEAR-ah) is thought to have originated in the hills of central Piemonte (“peh-ah-MON-tey”) Italy, where it has been known from the 13th century. That’s significantly earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon that has only been around si...
2017 Shadow Ranch Barbera ($25) Shadow Ranch, located in the Sierra Foothills of California, embraces the concepts of sustainable farming and having as little impact on the environment as possible. Their operation is solar powered and their vineya...
Riva Leone Gavi GOCG ($14.99) - From the Gavi area of Piedmont in Italy, this wine is produced from 100% Cortese grapes. Fermentation is carried out in stainless steel tanks and aged in steel for 2-3 months before bottling. This Riva Leone Gavi is a...
Italians really feel the holiday atmosphere starting in late November, but the Christmas season officially starts on December 8th, the Day of Immaculate Conception. On this day many Italian families decorate their home and trees, bake cookies, wrap t...
2015 Helwig Frenchmen’s Creek Barbera ($35) Dave Helwig had a dream to move to the wine country upon retirement. After searching with his wife, Nancy, for the perfect wine region to relocate to from their home in Southern California, Dave couldn’t r...
While Barbera is originally from Italy, it was brought to California by Italian immigrants in the 19th century. Much of it was originally grown in California’s Central Valley where it has been widely used as a blend component in mass-produced jug w...
Last time we began looking at Barbera, a wine that in Italy has traditionally been produced as an inexpensive table wine to be enjoyed regularly with meals. It’s not been hailed as a great wine - there are other Italian wines that get that spotlight....
My “Ah ha” moment with wine involved a Berbera. “A what?” I asked. I’d never heard of it and really, really liked it. Barbera (Bar-BEAR-ah) is a grape that is grown throughout Italy, especially in the Piedmont region. It is Italy’s third most grown ...
California’s Gold Rush of the 1850s included the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. As fortune seekers flocked to the Sierras to prospect for gold, small wineries also began to appear. But the decline of gold mining in the late 18...
2016 Josh Cellars Rosé by Joseph Carr ($10) We’re quickly coming up on Valentine’s Day, and what better wine to have in your glass than a rosé. This “Josh” rosé from Joseph Carr is a nice one. At 12.5% alcohol by volume (ABV), it’s a dry wine but t...
Last time we took a look at Barbera, a wine that hasn’t gotten the respect it deserves. And, I mentioned that my first exposure to Barbera was a real eye-opening experience. Unfortunately, in California, the Barbera grape has predominately been used...
Several years ago, while visiting northern California, I was served a glass of red wine from Amador County that made me do a double-take. When I asked what is was, I was told but the varietal didn’t mean anything to me. I ended up having another gla...
This Barbera is from one of the oldest wineries in the Sierra Foothills. Barbera is a grape grown throughout Italy. It’s a grape known for high acidity, soft tannin and dark fruit flavors. The Boeger Barbera certainly has flavors of plums and spices,...