Barbera del Monferrato DOC: villages, wineries and conviviality

Its horizon includes hills of the provinces Asti and Alessandria. For a first exploration you can choose the Monferrato Casalese: the departure from Casale Monferrato allows to pass from the city to countries on the backs. The Barbera here is a frame made of compact housings, rows and roads that follow the trend of reliefs.

Cella Monte and Rosignano Monferrato offer two steps close to observe the relationship between the village and the countryside. Looking at the village from the opposite hill, after crossing the streets, helps to understand the location of houses and cultivated lands. The wine journey thus acquires a legible dimension even without entering the cellar immediately.

You can organize exploration for small groups of countries, leaving room for stops. The proximity between Cella Monte and Rosignano facilitates a first encounter with Casalese; a subsequent journey will be able to follow the Barbera itself in other parts of Monferrato and gradually expand the comparison.

In Casalese the wine continues to tell itself under the buildings. The infernot, excavated in the canton stone, show the care dedicated to the conservation of bottles. Niches and shelves belong to a patient work, linked to the characteristics of local matter. Visiting these environments adds to the vision of the vineyards a domestic history, made of collected spaces and repeated gestures.

This relationship between landscape, dwellings and wine gives depth to Barbera del Monferrato. Its diffusion is to be read in an agricultural culture that included many grapes and many uses of the winery. The recognition of the denomination has made public a link that was already present in the life of the countries: the bottle preserves a origin and together the work of those who cultivate and vinify.

Barbera is the basis of wine, with the possibility of contributions from other grapes provided by the disciplinary. This setting keeps the main vine recognizable and leaves room for composition choices related to local tradition. In the glass, freshness is an important element to follow: it supports fruit and makes the sip suitable for dialogue with food.

Interpretations may differ by texture and aromatic development. The color, the scents and the rhythm of the drink offer clues on the path chosen by the winery. Comparing two Barbera del Monferrato becomes an exercise of attention: one recognizes a common thread and one observes how the weight of the fruit changes, the intensity and the final feeling. The name offers a frame, the manufacturer gives it a voice.

A gastronomic stop completes the day well. Pasta, meats, meat dishes and home cooking preparations offer different meetings with a wine that brings liveliness to the table. The choice of the bottle can follow the character of the meal: a more agile reading invites to conviviality, a more full-bodied version accompanies more intense flavors and a greater stay in the glass.

To continue, discover the Barbera del Monferrato Superiore, separate designation that gives space to a specific refinement path. You can join them. Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese, to know another expression of the hills visited. The comparison combines the variety of wines to the continuity of the landscape: the same villages become the meeting point between different wine stories.