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Deep Dive:
Australia’s Best Barbera

Wines Of Now
31 October 2025. Words by YGOW.

The northern Italian grape variety barbera has been a resident of this country since the 1960s, arriving here via a detour in California. A serious attempt to get some traction in the 1970s by a fabled Italian winemaker didn’t quite get the kettle boiling, but some steady growth at the end of the century – followed by a little bit of decline – has seen the grape chip out its own niche in the local wine landscape. While its home is the relatively cool region of Piedmont, its ability to thrive and retain acidity in hotter areas makes it a fine prospect for Australia’s wide range of climatic conditions. With makers continuing to explore a wide range of possibilities for this variety, we thought that a second Deep Dive into the subject was in order.

We gathered every Australian barbera that we could find and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines. Below are the wines that made the panellists’ top-six selections from the tasting.

Our panel: James Scarcebrook, winemaker, Vino Intrepido; Clarissa Lorenzato, sommelier and wine merchant, l’Enoteca at Mercato Centrale; Dmitri Lazariuc, winemaker, Clowns in the Rain and director of sales, marketing and logistics, Soumah; Hayley Williamson, proprietor and wine buyer, Nina’s Bar & Dining; Lorenzo Moriconi, head sommelier and wine buyer, Osteria Ilaria; Beatrice Checkley, sales representative, Joval Wines; Masahiko Iga, head sommelier, Victoria Racing Club; Jeremy Letur, manager and sommelier, Normandy Wine & Grill; Sam Baxter, sommelier, Maha.

The Top Wines

2021 Brackenwood Barbera, Adelaide Hills $42 RRP

Checkley, Iga, Lorenzato, Letur, and Scarcebrook all selected this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Checkley called it her number one pick for its nostalgic whiff of Iced VoVo and memories of the tea shop near her old high school: “The nose bursts with jasmine tea, raspberry liquorice, and a clean mineral note of sea salt – perfumed and inviting,” she described. “There’s a hint of resinous stalkiness on the palate, but this adds texture rather than green bitterness. The wine strikes a lovely balance of zippy acidity, fruit weight, and soft velvety tannins – a truly delightful and fun wine to enjoy.” Iga noted “a gleaming black ruby in the glass. Notes of sweet oak, charcoal, and vanilla rise immediately. Yet in Piedmont, when the harvest yields exceptional barbera fruit, it’s not uncommon to mature the resulting wine carefully in new oak. The fruit is deep and concentrated – blueberry and a kind of ume note, with a rare sweet-sour balance. This would be superb with chargrilled dishes.” Lorenzato found “a juicy, intense purple barbera with jammy notes of plum, strawberry, and cherry, rounded by herbs and a touch of vanilla spice. The palate brings more cherry, with elegant, tangy acidity reminiscent of mandarin zest. This is barbera in its classic Italian form – balanced, elegant, tasty, and true to style.” Letur described “a shiny ruby colour that attracts the eye and starts this wine’s charm offensive. The nose offers a perfectly tuned balance between fruit notes – think sour cherries, blackberries and raspberries – and a savoury, dry earth character.” Scarcebrook found it “wild and dark, showing an inkiness and deep spice, alongside black fruits of cassis and blackberries. Soft and mellow on the palate, with velvety round tannins and dark fruit characters.”

 

2022 Barrecas Barbera, Geographe $27 RRP

Moriconi, Williamson, Lorenzato, and Scarcebrook all included this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Moriconi called it “a really gastronomic wine – not obviously fruity at first. There are cherry notes to be found, and cured meats, clove spice, walnut kernel and some subtle vanilla come to play on the palate as well – but the real core of this wine is in its herbal thyme and lightly bitter medicinal notes. Definitely more savoury than your regular barbera, and therefore very versatile for matching with food.” Williamson found it opening “with blackberry and blackberry leaf, underpinned by a savoury umami edge. It has a nice weight to it, with sweet blackcurrant and blueberry flavours. New oak suits this wine pleasantly, adding vanilla and ginger notes. With tannins resembling Earl Grey tea and pepper, this wine is viscous and a little oily – but is lightened by its bright, fresh fruit character.” Lorenzato described it as “dark and deeply purple, glossy in the glass. The aromas are savoury and meaty – think roast meat with caramelised onion, bay leaf, and juniper berries, cooked plums and dark berries. I would surely bring this wine to a Sunday roast with family. Robust, satisfying, and soulful.” Scarcebrook noted it as “vibrant and fresh, showing mature ripe red fruits: wild strawberries, black cherries, and blood plum. Bold and juicy – not super-heavy and dense, but showing ripe bold dark fruits and supple tannins on the palate.”

 

2022 Vigna Bottin Barbera, McLaren Vale $44 RRP

Checkley, Lorenzato, Letur, and Iga all chose this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Checkley’s first impression was that this wine has life. “Like a breath of fresh air through a sun-dappled forest, it offers spicy, resiny goodness,” she described. “The nose is evocative: hairy raspberries fresh off the vine, a touch of raspberry leaf, sweet baking spices, black tea, tamari, and herbal anise. On the palate, it lingers sweetly and juicily, with soft tannic grip, delicate oak, and seamless integration.” Lorenzato found “medium-deep purple, with a fresh herbal lift on the nose – eucalyptus and wild herbs, layered with macerated fruit like cherry and raspberry. Reminds me of the berry sauce that goes alongside a traditional Bavarian pork roast dish that I love – and a glass of this barbera would be perfect with that roast, too.” Letur noted this barbera charmed him over its immediate competition just by virtue of its captivating ruby and garnet colour. “Its nose marries fresh fruit and leatheriness in one complex bouquet,” he observed. “The wine shows smooth and full texture, with lightly grippy tannins – the acidity holding the fruit together and keeping the finish alive just long enough.” Iga described “a gentle gradient of reddish-purple leading to a rim with slightly brownish tones. There’s a smoky, spicy aroma layered with vanilla and bright dried herbs – the oak use here feels dignified. This wine has a Piedmontese feel to it, with complex structure and tannins supported by lively acidity.”

 

 

 

2022 Mordrelle ‘Basket Press’ Barbera, Langhorne Creek $38 RRP

Baxter, Lazariuc, and Moriconi all selected this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Baxter called this “an example of barbera given the justice it deserves. The ripe blackcurrants, dark plum and savoury characters of Christmas cherry pie filling are balanced by fresh, luscious Virginian tobacco – think a warming campfire in a spring rainforest. These are incredibly complex and dynamic flavours, yet the wine manages to meld them together seamlessly. The palate is silky, dark and plummy – the rich juiciness and an almost-earthy Guinness note kept in check by an edge of cedar wood and a warming, smoky finish.” Lazariuc found “this barbera bursts with plum, chocolate, and a whisper of vanilla over a blood-red core. Its sharp-but-gentle acidity and silky mid-palate give balance and charm. Exciting without overreaching, it’s a wine designed to accompany shared laughter at your next wood-fired pizza night.” Moriconi described “a rich and moreish wine. On the nose, it shows plum jam, chocolate, peach yoghurt, and a whiff of coconut – if you like Rioja, you are going to love this one! Despite the generous use of oak on display here, this wine retains its refreshing acidity – making it nicely balanced, not clunky.”

 

2024 Serafino ‘Bellissimo’ Barbera, McLaren Vale $28 RRP

Iga, Moriconi, and Lorenzato all included this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Iga found “a ruby colour, with dark hues of deep purple. There’s a dusty, stony character that rises from the glass immediately – a fresh and slightly pungent minerality. The nose is rich with violets and ripe fruits – think blueberries and cherry jam. On the palate, the wine offers ripe, generous fruit while still maintaining barbera’s hallmark acidity, making it bright and drinkable. There’s a liveliness almost reminiscent of fruit punch or fruit candy, but it’s not just the acidity that’s dancing here – everything is in balance.” Moriconi noted “there is a coolness about this wine – the fruit profile is dark, and there’s a slight smell of the forest about it. On the nose: blood plums, forest floor, green peppercorn, and peppermint. On the palate, the fruit is plush, and warm spices and herbal elements on the back-palate bring great complexity and depth.” Lorenzato described “deep purple with floral lift – roses and cherry – backed by herbs, pink pepper, and a savoury, meaty note. A wine calling out for creamy porcini pasta with sage, butter, and plenty of cracked pepper.”

 

2023 First Ridge Barbera, Mudgee $45 RRP

Lazariuc and Iga both chose this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Lazariuc found “this barbera struts in with no need for compliments – it knows it’s the real deal. Sour cherry and blackberry with a dried-herb edge tumble out of the glass, setting the stage for a palate that’s juicy yet composed. Structured, long, and self-assured, it’s a wine that speaks with conviction. Perfect for a long Sunday lunch with roasted lamb, rosemary potatoes, and good friends – it shines without needing applause.” Iga described “a radiant ruby with a gentle gradation towards the rim. The nose is peppery and floral – it reminds me of the scent of spring. Alongside blueberry and blackberry notes, there’s a beautiful expression of soil-driven complexity here. On the palate, it shows stewed berry fruits, seamlessly integrated with its acidity, and fine, powdery tannins. There’s both structure and softness – this is a wine that balances juiciness with brightness and earthy depth.”

2022 King River Estate Barbera, King Valley $32 RRP

Checkley and Lorenzato both had this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Checkley found “this wine enticed me in ways hard to articulate – perhaps the macerated strawberries, red apple skin, Allen’s raspberry lollies, and apple blossom on the nose? Maybe the hint of cola, sweet vanilla custard, or woody thyme stalk? Or maybe it was the electric acidity on the tongue that saved the wine from feeling too heady, giving it lift and keeping it vibrant? All I know is that this barbera was so obviously handled with finesse in the winery, and it shows in the glass.” Lorenzato described “deep ruby with granite flashes, this wine leans into wood and oxidative charm. The nose swirls with smoky tones: dried apricot, hazelnuts, dark chocolate, black tea, raisins, and Marasca cherries in liqueur. On the palate it’s bold, yet cut through with elegant acidity that refreshes and keeps things lively. A bold-yet-lifted style that begs for cheese.”

 

2023 Michelini ‘Italian Selection’ Barbera, Alpine Valleys $28 RRP

Williamson, Baxter, and Lorenzato all selected this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Williamson found it “bursting with aromas of violets, liquorice spice, forest floor, rich blackberry, and black cherry – a darker, brooding style layered with vanilla and biscuit notes. Powdery tannins and a leathery grip add texture, while subtle umami hints – reminiscent of chicken broth – sit in the background without overwhelming the fruit.” Baxter called it “a perfect patio pounder. Rich, ripe blackberries, blackcurrants and luscious cherries are caressed by Irish pipe tobacco, struck match, and a perfume of lavender and purple flowers. The palate is like biting into a ripe black plum – silken in flesh, pithy in texture, and full of rich juice that fills the mouth.” Lorenzato described “an oxidative beauty: chocolate, sponge cake soaked in Marsala, dried apricot, nuts, and raisins – all wrapped in an intense purple robe. Long, persistent, and full of character, this wine feels festive. Comforting, generous, and celebratory.”

 

2021 Petronio ‘Whitfield Vineyard’ Barbera, King Valley $38 RRP

Letur and Scarcebrook both included this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Letur found this barbera showing “an elegant ruby colour with a hint of pale garnet. On the nose, it’s nicely balanced between sweet, ripe fruit – think black cherries and blackberries – and a touch of gaminess. The wine’s acidity keeps it lively, bringing out crunchy, fresh fruit flavours – mostly rich cherries. With its mouth-watering freshness, a tight finish, and lovely touch of minerality, it’s a very enjoyable wine that quickly became one of my favourites from the lineup.” Scarcebrook described “macerated strawberries, salty rhubarb, and a very slightly sweet pickled meat character reminiscent of bulgogi-flavoured beef jerky. On the light side in terms of weight, showing maturity and mellow tannins. Dry on the palate, with a savoury undercurrent reminiscent of sweet and umami meats.”

 

2024 Golden Grove Barbera, Granite Belt $35 RRP

Williamson, Baxter, and Moriconi all chose this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Williamson found “this wine smells of blackcurrants and soy sauce, with warm baking spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon. On the palate, it is restrained yet complex, with a nice balance of sweet fruit – think dark cherry and blackberry – and a biscuity, nutty umami note reminiscent of Vegemite. A vibrant and bouncy acid-driven finish gives the wine lift.” Baxter called it “a pie in a glass. Think the juicy fillings of huckleberry, boysenberry and Christmas cherry pies – alongside a soothing cup of tea, leaves and all, that warms the soul and cools the nerves. The palate is vibrant, blueberry-laden and concentrated, with a finish that stays with you long after you empty the glass.” Moriconi noted this barbera “has got some serious salinity to it – think salted blackberry, violets, seaweed, sea salt, and crushed white pepper. Light- to medium-bodied, the palate is zippy and refreshing, with a really cleansing finish.”

2023 David Hook ‘Central Ranges’ Barbera, Central Ranges $38 RRP

Moriconi, Lazariuc, and Letur all had this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Moriconi found it “very much on the classic spectrum of aromas for this variety. The nose is, as you might expect, all about the fruit and flowers – think crushed fresh blueberries and violet petals. So unapologetically fun and vibrant! The palate carries that same elegance and vitality – and the wine’s acidity and slight saltiness will make your mouth water for a long time after the wine is gone.” Lazariuc described “this wine’s colour whispers restraint, but the nose speaks volumes – dark fruit with supportive oak, sexy and inviting. The palate surges with plum, caramel, and truffle, bold and assured. With a little time, it will blossom into something profound.” Letur noted “finally, a barbera that offers a mixture of aromas from both the red and black berry spectrums, with prominent notes of cherries, raspberries, and blueberries. While it may not have been the most complex wine of the day, this is a wine that made my palate feel alive.”

2023 Amadio ‘Evanescence Range’ Barbera, Adelaide Hills $50 RRP

Checkley, Lazariuc, and Iga all featured this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Checkley noted “what I love about Barbera is that it’s a grape that inevitably showcases varietal character over winemaking. This wine, however, showed a touch more winemaking: subdued old oak and its gentle tannins, alongside time on gross lees, building weight and texture. Shortbread with frosted violets comes to mind. On the palate: stewed morello cherries, cranberry-driven acidity, and vanilla crème. I adore how perfumed and undeniably pretty barbera can be – and therefore entirely gluggable – and this wine reminded me exactly why.” Lazariuc found “with its brick-red glow and youthful pulse, this wine offers wild berries, autumn forest and incense stick aromas. The palate moves gracefully from juicy raspberry and strawberry to a subtle elegance, balanced and engaging. It’s a bottle for crisp evenings – best with roast game or mushroom risotto.” Iga described “a delicate gradation toward a pale rim. Clear, pure herbal notes – think dill and fennel – rise up in a fresh and precise way. The red fruit notes are wonderfully fresh. The acidity is plump and sweet-sour, with chewy red berry notes and a subtle toastiness lurking in the background.”

 

2021 Dal Zotto ‘L’Immigrante’ Barbera, King Valley $85 RRP

Letur selected this wine in his top six from the blind tasting. “This barbera shows a light ruby colour, with hints of garnet and orange,” he described. “On the nose, it’s got a strong leather scent, with a bit of smokiness and a shy berry note. The palate is captivating – ripe, slightly bruised strawberries balanced by black pepper, dried herbs and earthy flavours. It has a nice, lingering finish that highlights its ‘gourmand’ side – light and elegant, with smooth, balanced tannins and a dry aftertaste. It’s the kind of wine that makes you want to pour yourself another glass and enjoy the experience of tasting it all over again.”

 

2024 Vinea Marson Barbera, Heathcote $38 RRP

Scarcebrook chose this wine in his top six from the blind tasting. “Deep and focused – redolent of dense but not overripe red fruits, stewed plums, and cherries, alongside very subtle floral hints of roses and violets,” he described. “Not heavy, despite its density – instead, it’s vibrant and juicy, with well-managed acidity keeping it very drinkable and friendly. Nice dried fruits and just the lightest hint of sweet spices on the palate. A wine of distinct personality without bombast.”

 

2023 Tumblong Hills ‘Table of Plenty’ Barbera, Gundagai $26 RRP

Baxter included this wine in his top six from the blind tasting. “This wine is unrestrained in its power and its presence – the bouquet practically punches the nose with a whole punnet of blueberries, alongside dried lavender, cacao nib, and a tinge of campfire,” he noted. “This lush perfume leads into a intensely juicy palate, structured around grippy tannins and an extremely long, powerful finish. Pair it with good company, a nice balmy spring day, and your favourite bistro or wine bar – you’d already be reaching for the second bottle.”

 

2024 Hastwell & Lightfoot Barbera, McLaren Vale $35 RRP

Moriconi and Checkley both had this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Moriconi found “a seductive and immediate wine, showing ripe red cherry and sweet peach blossom, with a white pepper note that gives a little spicy edge. Definitely one for the warmer months – chill in the fridge, gather some friends, go to the park, and enjoy this burst of fruitiness balanced by refreshing acidity.” Checkley was emphatic: “For the love of all that is good in this world, throw this barbera at food. This is a wine that sparks heavy conversations in candle-lit darkness. Mercurial, it is at once juicy, plump, and heady, yet also reminiscent of the intense saltiness of beef stock. There’s anise, but it’s the dried fennel seed kind of sweetness. This again shows how diverse barbera can be. I’ll wholeheartedly raise a glass to this style!”

2024 Zerella ‘La Gita’ Barbera, McLaren Vale $35 RRP

Scarcebrook featured this wine in his top six from the blind tasting. “Fairly serious – deep and refined,” he observed. “A supple nose of purple and red fruits – wild plums, black cherries, and earthy, soft blackberry jam. Fresh, vibrant and round, with a fine balance and interplay between fruit and structure. Alcohol very supportive here – this wine shows the work of a deft hand in softening the fruits tannins and acids without losing any of its character.”

 

2021 Nacre Barbera, Alpine Valleys $34 RRP

Baxter selected this wine in his top six from the blind tasting. “A wine that tells tales of the earth, sky and wind for those who will listen,” he described. “Savoury tomato and tart blue and black berry notes dance on the nose, alongside smoked paperbark, dried Italian herbs, and summer forest floor. The palate is decidedly savoury, showing tomato leaf and wild mulberry branch characters, yet is accompanied by juicy mulberry fruit that creates depth and vibrancy to the wine. A perfect mid-week meal in a glass – with trashy TV on in the background, and tomato pasta on your fork.”

2024 Mercer Barbera, Orange $32 RRP

Williamson and Letur both chose this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Williamson found “blueberries and vanilla leading on the nose, with an alluring smokiness. The wine is punchy and leathery, with a dry, dusty red-earth note carried nicely by the bright acidity. It has dark cherries, blueberries, a little cranberry, a lick of liquorice, and an umami element resembling savoury yeast flakes. The finish is long and satisfying.” Letur described “a vibrant ruby colour indicating that this is a relatively young wine. This barbera displays aromas of red and dark berries – a mix of sour cherries, blueberries, and young plums – alongside violets and a mineral note. Delicious and gourmand, this is a brilliant wine that doesn’t need to force its talents – and one whose fresh, laid-back charms could easily please young wine drinkers.”

2023 TarraWarra Barbera, Yarra Valley $40 RRP

Williamson had this wine in her top six from the blind tasting. “This smells of five-spice duck cooking away on the stove!” she noted. “Lots of blackberry and cherry aromas, as well as a touch of vanilla and some lovely floral violets. The palate is bright and energetic, with bright acidity that makes the wine both generous and elegant. A gentle savouriness and supple grip balance its prettiness. It’s approachable and versatile – a bottle to happily place on the table alongside many meals, and one likely to disappear with ease.”

2023 Billy Button ‘The Affable’ Barbera, Alpine Valleys $38 RRP

Lazariuc included this wine in his top six from the blind tasting. “Vibrant red and utterly inviting, this barbera greets with roses, perfume, boysenberry, and nutmeg – an aromatic kaleidoscope,” he described. “The fruit is clear and purposeful, carried by structure that keeps everything in harmony. Balanced but provocative, it dares you to expand your sensory vocabulary. A wine that excites and intrigues, for lively dinners and big conversations – it keeps you guessing, keeps you engaged, and refuses to be ordinary.”

2024 Alpha Box & Dice ‘Enigma’ Barbera, Adelaide Hills $36 RRP

Lazariuc featured this wine in his top six from the blind tasting. “This Barbera is a stunner – blood-red and captivating,” he observed. “The nose buzzes with tension: zesty apricot, clove, and anise in perfect balance. On the palate, fruit unfolds slowly, layer by layer, keeping you hooked. Each return to the glass brings a new surprise, a wine that never stops flirting.”

2025 Collector ‘Overland’ Barbera, Hilltops $34 RRP

Checkley and Baxter both selected this wine in their top six from the blind tasting. Checkley noted “this barbera is here for a good time, not for a long time – and that’s perfectly fine. It’s the kind of wine you want free-flowing, drunk on conversation, with the dreamy notes of ‘Harvest Moon’ drifting from the record player. It’s flirty: think strawberry shake syrup and fresh red plum flesh. Slightly stalky, with some whole-bunch character lending phenolic crunch, and a dash of new oak that’s a little over-pronounced – but the super-juicy acidity keeps it fun and approachable.” Baxter found “spring is here – and this will be in my hand for my next picnic. Lush and dark summer berries burst onto the nose, sweetened by black roses and sun-kissed California plums. The palate is juicy, with warming alcohol levels and a racy tannic line. The structure makes it perfect for a cheeky spin in the esky – chill it slightly to take off the edge, and you have in your hands the key to the best spring barbecue day.”

2024 Longview ‘Jupiter’ Barbera, Adelaide Hills $40 RRP

Iga chose this wine in his top six from the blind tasting. “A beautiful gradation from deep purple sapphire to ruby,” he described. “The wine feels vibrant and fresh, with a subtly dusty, stony minerality. It’s richly scented, with floral notes of wild violets alongside hints of tea leaf and fresh herbs such as thyme. There’s also a flowing juiciness on the palate – crushed berry fruit sweetness, with soft notes of blueberry, raspberry, and cherry. The acidity is elegant and refreshing. Wouldn’t this go well with Peking duck?”

 

2023 Dal Zotto Barbera, King Valley $36 RRP

Scarcebrook had this wine in his top six from the blind tasting. “Sarsaparilla, creaming soda, cinnamon, cola-bottle lollies and some ginger notes on the nose,” he observed. “Aromas here are more spicy and confected than fruity – if anything, there’s some raspberry blackcurrant candy, alongside a bit of beef jerky and leather character that I suspect comes from bottle age. Supple and fairly elegant, it shows more fruit on the palate. With its soft and mellow structure, this wine has some length to it – but it’s fundamentally all about drinkability and food-friendliness.”

 

2024 Coulter Wines Barbera, Adelaide Hills $37 RRP

Williamson featured this wine in her top six from the blind tasting. “This wine has an expressive purple-fruited nose of blueberries and dark cherries, lifted by floral lavender and violet,” she noted. “On the palate, it shows bright, lifted acidity, with blueberries, Cherry Ripe, and a little cinnamon and star anise. Those pretty violet notes remain nicely lifted throughout, with a subtle soy-sauce element adding depth to the long finish.”

The Backstory

The northern Italian grape variety barbera has been a resident of this country since the 1960s, arriving here via a detour in California. A serious attempt to get some traction in the 1970s by a fabled Italian winemaker didn’t quite get the kettle boiling, but some steady growth at the end of the century – followed by a little bit of decline – has seen the grape chip out its own niche in the local wine landscape. While its home is the relatively cool region of Piedmont, its ability to thrive and retain acidity in hotter areas makes it a fine prospect for Australia’s wide range of climatic conditions.

The northern Italian region of Piedmont has recently evolved into arguably Italy’s most important when it comes to red wine, thanks mostly to the quality of the nebbiolo-based wines coming out of Barolo, Barbaresco, and (to a lesser extent) Gattinara. While the finicky, difficult to grow nebbiolo garners much of the wine world’s attention, the king of Piedmont’s red-wine varieties by volume is actually barbera, which currently occupies 31% of the region’s vineyard area. Despite this close association with Piedmont, Barbera’s true origins remain something of a mystery. 

Above: The rolling, vineyard-covered hills of Piedmont, Italy – unlikely to be barbera’s birthplace, but definitely its adoptive home and stronghold. Opposite: Drawing of barbera from Giorgio Galessio’s 1817 book Pomona italiana, ossia trattato degli alberi fruttiferi (‘Italian Pomona, or Treatise on Fruit Trees’).

Recent DNA analyses show that it is mostly unrelated to the grape varieties it is commonly planted alongside in Piedmont, leading most grapevine experts to conclude that its birthplace lies elsewhere. Somewhat confusingly, it’s also completely unrelated to the many other Italian varieties with the word ‘barbera’ in their names, such as barbera sarda, barbera bianca, or barbera del sannio. The fact that researchers continue to probe into the variety’s genome has not at all hurt its prospects in Italy, with barbera now grown widely across the country, and the variety making serious inroads in a host of ‘New World’ wine countries including Argentina, the United States of America, and Australia.

 

Barbera in the middle

In terms of prestige, barbera occupies the middle rung on the stepladder of the three key red grapes of Piedmont, with the much-lauded nebbiolo above it and dolcetto below. The three varieties are different but complementary foils for vignerons, with the early ripening dolcetto usually being a brightly fruited, juicy quaffer designed for earlier consumption (although there are significant exceptions from quality-minded producers such as Bruno Giacosa). By comparison, barbera is generally deeper-coloured and more robustly flavoured – whether it’s being pitched as an everyday wine, or a more premium bottling that has been selected from prime vineyard sites and/or matured for lengthy periods in oak.

The easiest way to understand the differences between these three varieties is in terms of acidity and tannin. Barbera has a deficit of tannins, which means that the structure of Barbera-based wines needs to lean on the variety’s spine of intense acidity. By contrast, dolcetto has much more tannin than barbera and substantially lower acidity, while the limelight-stealing nebbiolo has both acidity and tannin in spades. Nebbiolo’s intense combination of acidity and tannin means that wines made from it need to be tamed before anyone except the most masochistic can drink them, which is why the regulations for both Barolo and Barbaresco mandate extensive time in oak before release. Many producers of lauded Barolos and Barbarescos therefore still grow both barbera and dolcetto – both of which can be sold to the public much sooner, and therefore help maintain a vigneron’s all-important cashflow.

Above and opposite: The Barolo in Piedmont, Italy – home to some of the world’s most lauded expressions of nebbiolo, alongside pockets of barbera to help vignerons maintain cashflow while their nebbiolo-based wines mature in oak.

Barbera’s dominance in Piedmont can be chalked up to more factors than its economic utility. It’s relatively easy to maintain in the vineyard, and it offers reliably good yields – indeed, one of the challenges of growing barbera well is how to reduce the volumes of fruit it can produce. It also ripens a couple of weeks earlier than nebbiolo, thus avoiding potential late-season weather issues, and will happily ripen in cooler, less favourably situated vineyards that nebbiolo would struggle in. Finally, while the resulting wines are less costly than Barolo and Barbaresco, they tend to fetch higher prices than the average dolcetto. The variety’s forthright practicality means that even a mid-’80s scandal involving unscrupulous winemakers who added poisonous methanol to their barbera wines to increase alcohol levels – inadvertently killing eight people and hospitalising a further thirty – has only served as a brief blip on the radar for barbera’s ascendance in its adopted home region.

 

The Piedmontese workhorse goes global

That cheerfully pragmatic nature means that barbera has travelled more meaningfully within Italy  than either dolcetto and nebbiolo. While Piedmont takes the lion’s share of barbera plantings with 64% of Italy’s plantings, the neighbouring Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions respectively soak up about 14% and 10%. The remaining 12% totals 2,365 hectares or so scattered throughout Italy’s wine-growing regions, with the most notable presence in the south-western region of Campania, where it can be bottled as a varietal wine in the DOC of Castel San Lorenzo, with an increasing interest coming from the rest of the south – principally in Puglia, but it is clearly a grape that would suit any of the more arid zones. Those scattered plantings are not an insignificant tally, and brings barbera into eighth place on the league table of Italy’s most-planted wine varieties (both red and white).

Opposite: A vineyard in California – where barbera has found its ‘home away from home’. Above: A vineyard in Argentina – where barbera’s share of total vineyard area has slumped recently.

Barbera’s success across the rest of Italy can be sheeted home to its natural tendency to high acidity, which it easily retains in warmer climates. (By contrast, most other grape varieties that have evolved in cooler climates tend to shed their acidity at an alarming rate as they move into warmer regions – which is why many Australian producers add powdered acids to their wines, although few will admit to doing so.) The vines are also drought-tolerant, giving them another natural advantage. And while fungal diseases are not much of a concern in hot and dry climates, barbera has a reasonable resistance to disease – no doubt a function of its adaption to its cool and elevated adoptive home in Piedmont, where mildew and other diseases can be a more pressing issue. This ability to reliably produce both high quantity and reasonable quality grape crops saw barbera grow in popularity as a workhorse variety across Italy in the wake of phylloxera (an American vine louse that ravaged European vineyards in the nineteenth century) and the two World Wars – the main drawback being that its tendency towards high yields needs to be managed to maintain a balance between fruit character and acidity.

The same characteristics that make barbera so appealing across Italy have also seen it attract interest from the New World – albeit with mixed results. Given the long history of Italian immigration to Argentina, it’s perhaps no great shock that the variety has landed there, with 328 hectares under vine in 2024 – a large reduction from its high point of just over 1,000 hectares, and one that can likely be sheeted home to Argentina’s relatively recent love affair with malbec. Barbera’s real home away from home is in the US, where the majority of the rest of the world’s plantings can be found. California takes the lion’s share – as it does for most grape varieties in the US – with plantings here dating back to the late nineteenth century. The real boom time for the variety peaked around 1980, when there were around 8,500 hectares in California alone. Those plantings had much to do with American wine industry titan Julio Gallo seeing its potential as an anonymous blending component – using its acidity, depth of flavour and inky colour to give a fillip to otherwise flabby warm-climate red blends. While Californian plantings of barbera have dramatically declined since then – just shy of 1,671 hectares in 2024 – its prestige has risen somewhat, with varietal bottlings supplanting many of those uncredited inclusions in cheap and cheerful ‘jug’ wine.

 

The Californian detour

Barbera’s history in California proves crucial to its story in Australia. Today the viticultural resources of the University of California’s Davis campus boasts seven key clones of barbera – and it was one of these that first made the journey to Australia in the 1960s. (In this regard barbera’s Australian history is not dissimilar to that of merlot – it’s neither a heritage variety that landed here via the famous Busby collection, nor a sexy new ‘alternative variety’ brought in as part of recent efforts to broaden the biodiversity of Australia’s vine stock.) That importation didn’t immediately spark a boom, however, with the first serious attempt at growing Australian barbera occurring in Mudgee a decade or so later, in the mid-1970s.

Above: A short Australian documentary from the 1970s about Montrose, featuring Carlo Corino. (Skip to 1:39 to see Corino in action.)

That first foray in earnest was spearheaded by a young Carlo Corino, who was offered a job at the newly started Montrose winery after a casual conversation in his native Piedmont. Corino didn’t plant that Davis clone, though – he purportedly brought his own barbera cuttings with him in his suitcase (literal or figurative), alongside sangiovese and nebbiolo. While the other two varieties foundered in Mudgee’s heat, barbera took hold. Corino would spend a dozen years at Montrose, and though he had great success there, his experimentation with Italian grapes was a little challenging for consumers of the day. (In their defence, we have to remember that at the time getting Australians to drink any wine that wasn’t fortified or sweet was a serious challenge – and that labelling wines by the variety they were made from was a cutting-edge development then.) Corino would go on to become one of Italy’s most famous consultant winemakers – most notably at Sicily’s Settesoli and Planeta wineries, where he introduced modern techniques that helped revolutionise the region – before his untimely death at the age of sixty-eight in 2007.

Sangiovese and nebbiolo might not have flourished in Mudgee, but they eventually took root here in Australia – both in other wine regions, and in the collective consciousness of wine drinkers. Barbera, by contrast, has had a bit of a slower rise. It’s not that plantings didn’t grow – they did, with the peak coming in 2004 at just shy of 200 hectares. Unfortunately, that was followed by a decline, with the last official grapevine survey in 2015 registering only 110 hectares. (Annual harvest volumes have held roughly steady since, suggesting that barbera’s vineyard area has changed little in the interim.) For whatever reason, barbera has struggled a little to find Australian winemakers who champion its virtues – unlike sangiovese, which has makers like Coriole investing in a long and deep immersion, or nebbiolo, which is backed by a league of Barolo-obsessed producers who are fine-tuning its possibilities in Australia. In this regard, it’s telling that Tarrant Hansen of Spider Bill – who made the sole wine that was unanimously selected by the panel at our previous Deep Dive into barbera – no longer makes wine from the variety.

Opposite: Hunter vigneron David Hook – one of Australia’s leading proponents of barbera as a variety. Above: Margan Wines’ Ceres Hill vineyard, where barbera plantings have been expanded to keep up with demand.

That’s not to say that there aren’t makers consistently turning out fine examples of this variety, but simply that it hasn’t been of a scale that has quite captured the imagination of the broader drinking public – yet. Makers like the Hunter Valley’s Margan Wines (whose barbera vines were sourced from Corino’s original Montrose plantings, now sadly grubbed up) are certainly changing that script, with plantings being increased to accommodate demand that dwarfs their current supply. Also based in the Hunter, vigneron David Hook makes three examples – one from Orange, one from the broader Central Ranges zone that Orange sits within, and a ‘reserve’ example from the Hunter – each pushing the essential message that this is a variety that can express regionality. (Hook is such an ardent fan of the variety himself that he has made several research trips to Piedmont to study it.) In addition to the Hunter, the Adelaide Hills, Yarra Valley, and Clare Valley are also developing as important sources for the variety. For quantity, though, the Riverina is the undisputed champion – most of the country’s plantings are concentrated here, and the region produced a touch under half (49.1%) of the 2025 barbera harvest by weight. The King Valley, with its strong focus on Italian varieties, comes in a somewhat distant second place with 13.2% of the total.

 

Un vero vino da tavola

Kara Maisano, sommelier at Carlton’s Masani, foresees a strong future for barbera in general, which is partly based on her appreciation for the versatility of Italian expressions. “Although nebbiolo was always under the spotlight, barbera kept drawing my attention,” she says. “I often see two styles of barbera – fruity and tangy red fruits with bright acidity, or moreish and rounded dark berry fruits with baking spices. I don’t feel one style is necessary better than the other; it simply gives me diversity within the category that I can pair with rich or lighter dishes as well as the customers’ palate or mood.” That variation is often due to differences in how and where the grapes are grown, but there’s also a separation between wines that have been raised in stainless steel and ones that have been raised in oak for an extended period. “Thankfully, today’s wines have backed away from the new oak that was once considered necessary to counter the grape’s naturally low tannin,” says Matt Paul of Trembath & Taylor, one of Australia’s premier importers of Italian wines. While some Italian producers continue to make ‘premium’ examples of barbera that marry plush fruit with a lot of new oak, the trend in Piedmont skews towards more lithe and crunchy expressions. It’s a development that Maisano welcomes, too: “New oak can add power and richness but can also mask some of the varietal character,” she says.

Above: Kara Maisano at our recent Deep Dive into Australian fiano.

While Maisano may have cut her teeth on imports, she’s more than convinced by the potential of local expressions, having championed them for over a decade. “The first barbera I ever purchased for the list was the Quartier label, made by Sandro Mosele,” she says. “It was fairly ground-breaking at the time, from the Mornington Peninsula, and it had those signature red cherry notes and crunchy acidity, which customers loved by the glass.” That’s not to say that diners didn’t need some initial encouragement: “It was neither light nor full-bodied, but definitely a hand sell, as big heady reds, namely shiraz and cabernet, were still the height of fashion,” she says. The variety’s compatibility with a wide range of turned out to be the key to getting it in front of guests: “Pairings at Masani have included beef carpaccio with truffle cream and exotic mushrooms; pappardelle with wild hare and Venetian spices; citrus-roasted Aylesbury duck with grappa pears; veal osso buco alla Milanese; or with full-flavoured cheeses such as pecorino or époisses de Bourgogne …”

 

“Barbera is on high rotation at my house, especially over the cooler months. I like the way the grape offers that rich plump blue-fruits feel with juicy freshness.”

Unlike many other Italian red wine varieties, barbera doesn’t have the rugged tannins that make food a prerequisite to drinking enjoyment. “Barbera is on high rotation at my house, especially over the cooler months,” says Paul. “I like the way the grape offers that rich plump blue-fruits feel with juicy freshness.” But while you can have a glass of barbera without needing a plate of salumi alongside to tame its tannins, the subject of food is never far away from any discussion of Italian grape varieties – and barbera is no exception. “At the table, the acidity and fresh fruit in the young wines, made without oak, are great with pizza – if you’re not a beer drinker,” Paul adds. “Stepping up from there, I like barbera with pasta dishes such as tajarin with ragù, and also braised meat.”

“Diners find barbera approachable and enjoyable, both aromatically and structurally. It’s straightforward and delicious. Barbera’s signature high acidity and low tannins are very appealing.”

Paul points out that if we look to Italy, the potential for barbera in this country shouldn’t be underestimated. “When the site is great, the wines can age superbly,” he says – noting that barbera grown on great sites is becoming less and less common “in Barolo and Barbaresco, as more wineries push dolcetto and barbera out in favour of nebbiolo.” There is no doubt that our quest to find an Australian identity for barbera is still in its infancy, even when compared to some grapes that have been cultivated here for much less time – but there is also an increasing level of diversity in the expressions on the market, from regions that range from the cool to warm and somewhat arid, and across styles from the light and crunchy to the plush and silky. And the key to its long-term future here appears to be food: “Diners find barbera approachable and enjoyable, both aromatically and structurally,” says Maisano. “It’s straightforward and delicious. Barbera’s signature high acidity and low tannins are very appealing to today’s diners.”

Above: The lineup of wines for our barbera Deep Dive at the Bleakhouse Hotel, Albert Park (Melbourne). All wines tasted ‘blind’.

Outtakes from the Tasting

We gathered every Australian barbera that we could find and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines. Below are the wines that made the panellists’ top-six selections from the tasting.

Our panel: James Scarcebrook, winemaker, Vino Intrepido; Clarissa Lorenzato, sommelier and wine merchant, l’Enoteca at Mercato Centrale; Dmitri Lazariuc, winemaker, Clowns in the Rain and director of sales, marketing and logistics, Soumah; Hayley Williamson, proprietor and wine buyer, Nina’s Bar & Dining; Lorenzo Moriconi, head sommelier and wine buyer, Osteria Ilaria; Beatrice Checkley, sales representative, Joval Wines; Masahiko Iga, head sommelier, Victoria Racing Club; Jeremy Letur, manager and sommelier, Normandy Wine & Grill; Sam Baxter, sommelier, Maha.

Baxter commenced the discussion by observing that the lineup was “really dynamic”. “It was really cool to see,” he said, “because you had some really carbonic-macerated, fresh, juicy wines that I just kind of want to chill down, throw it on a picnic table, have a bit of cheese … I was like, ‘You know what? I’m here here for this. This is sick.’ And the alcohol’s in check. These were well-made wines, where I could see the winemaker’s vision. Then there were some that were just like, ‘Oh, I need steak. I need something big, something rich.’ It has complexity, it has power, it has structure – it has everything you want out of a really complex, powerful, rich wine. But it’s barbera, so it like won’t be $1,000 at a restaurant. So it was really fun to see both ends of the spectrum represented.”

Opposite: Clarissa Lorenzato. Above: Sam Baxter.

Lorenzato was struck not only by the quality and diversity of the wines on show, but also their distinctively Australian nature. “For one of the wines, I literally wrote, ‘This for me is classic Italian barbera’,” she said. “I actually found it went tick-tick-tick through the boxes of what I expect from a barbera from Italy. But I found that in only one wine.” For her, this came down to Australian winemakers’ willingness to handle their barbera more oxidatively than is the norm in Italy: “They become very complex due to the contact with oxygen,” she said. “They evolve while they stay in the glass as well. Every minute that you taste that wine, you’re going to taste a different wine. And for me, I’ve tasted very a few examples of that in Italy. So that’s what I like of the Australian barberas that I tasted here – more than one has those oxidative smoky notes and woody notes. These make it complex, make it long, make it persistent – and make it, obviously, perfect for pairing with your Sunday roast and stuff like that.” She added: “I also saw a little Vegemite note, which is obviously really ‘Australian’ – but it’s there in the wines, it’s actually there.”

“One of the wines went tick-tick-tick through the boxes of what I expect from a barbera from Italy. But I found that in only one wine.”

Lazariuc argued that the Vegemite note was part of a strong through-line of savouriness that became apparent throughout the tasting, despite the generally fruit-forward nature of the wines. “Fruit is important – barbera is a crowd-pleaser, or traditionally it has been, and what people are attracted to is fruit,” he said. “But there’s got to be balance to that, and I think those developing characters produce that balance really well – those umami, soy characters.” He added that “There were a few really well-made wines in there – and that shows that the industry is actually on the right track. All it takes is just one or two to really push the envelope.” By contrast, he found that the wines that didn’t work had, in his words, “a bit of oak imbalance”: “There was potentially too much new oak used in some of these wines. It’s a variety that doesn’t need a huge amount of oak, anyway.”

Opposite: Jeremy Letur. Above: Dmitri Lazariuc.

For Letur, the diversity of the lineup was not only down to Australia’s lack of strict winemaking rules – compared to Italy, where strict Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) rules mean that winemakers are afforded less opportunity to experiment with barbera’s possibilities – but could also be attributed to Australian consumers’ lack of experience with traditional Italian expressions of the variety. “I tried so many things today – you can find so many different styles,” he said. “Winemakers in Australia, they have such freedom now – because not everyone is like Clarissa [Lorenzato], who probably has more experience than a lot of us in Italian barbera. And barbera’s not like nebbiolo – people know nebbiolo, people expect certain things from nebbiolo, and they’re going to have to pay the big bucks for nebbiolo. So maybe with barbera, winemakers are going to be able to play around, do a bit of everything, and show it across a large spectrum – and I’m sure they’re going to try to please the Australian palate when they do.”

“Barbera is a crowd-pleaser, or traditionally it has been, and what people are attracted to is fruit. But there’s got to be balance to that, and I think those umami, soy characters produce that balance really well.”

Checkley argued that, despite the clearly Australian character of the wines on show, barbera was still in what she called its “varietal stage” here in Australia – by which she meant that consumers are still coming to grips with what the variety itself can offer, rather than seeing as a variety than can express regionality or terroir. “I know you guys were talking about how barbera has actually been in Australia since the ’70s,” she said, referring to earlier talk about the role of Carlo Corino at Montrose in establishing the variety here. “So it’s not part of the ‘new wave’ of Italian varieties, but I think it’s definitely classed in that new wave of exciting Italian arrivals for the average Joe. And at the moment they’re just looking for ‘fun, acid, fruit’ – not necessarily looking specifically for an Australian barbera. They want a varietal style, something that’s zippy, fun, and plush – down you gulp, very quickly.”

Opposite: Beatrice Checkley. Above: James Scarcebrook.

Talk of the variety’s history made Scarcebrook observe that it’s footprint in Australia was vastly smaller than you would expect for a variety that landed roughly sixty years ago. “Considering that barbera has been in Australia a lot longer than certain other Italian red varieties, it still hasn’t really established much of a foothold,” he said. “It’s surprising, considering how long it’s been around, how few entries there are in the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show compared to say, nero d’avola, which has just had this rapid expansion in terms of plantings. Therefore, because it hasn’t yet found a foothold, there is no real regional expression for barbera in Australia yet, from what I can tell.” He added, “Now, with the increase in demand for brighter, lighter, fresher reds, this might be the time for barbera to slip into the limelight.”

Opposite: Hayley Williamson. Above: Lorenzo Moriconi.

Williamson argued that while barbera’s inherent varietal characteristics – high acidity and freshness, with fruit character to the fore – might make it in line with current trends, pigeonholing it as only capable of this style might diminish its possibilities in the glass. and also make it less financially attractive for producers. “That’s where you hit the ceiling of price point,” she said. “You’ve got the ‘juicy red’ section of the bottle shop, and people won’t pay more than $35–40 to take away something from that section, unless they’re 100% sold that it’s specifically what they’re looking for.” She observed that even the largest restaurant wine lists were likely to only have one expensive barbera option – and that would likely come from an Italian producer who had established their reputation with a cult Barolo, such as Bartolo Mascarello. “You’ve got the one expensive one, right? You’ve got all these Barolos and the one expensive barbera … but then there’s a barbera from Victoria that’s only seventy bucks, so you’re more likely to buy it. It’s smart for the restaurant.”

Opposite: Masahiko Iga. Above: The panel tasting in action at the Bleakhouse Hotel, Albert Park (Melbourne). All wines tasted ‘blind’.

Moriconi saw the price point as something of an advantage for barbera as it establishes its identity in the country. “I think, if you’re talking about new alternative varieties, there’s an expectation from the public that they will come at a better price than their Italian equivalents, or their imported equivalents from other parts of the world,” he said. “These varieties don’t have as much history here. Maybe in the foreseeable future, nebbiolo will have established its place and will start hiking up in price a little bit – but barbera hasn’t found its place yet, and there’s no clear idea of what its potential actually is here. I think the lower end is where it’s at right now, and that’s where it needs to be for people to buy it. It’s like fiano – it’s doing well in certain places, but it’s not like, ‘My God, this is the the spot for it. This is the premium place for it, and you can play premium bucks for it.’ We’re not there – yet.”

Above and opposite: The panel tasting in action at the Bleakhouse Hotel, Albert Park (Melbourne). All wines tasted ‘blind’.

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