We sampled this with importer Jay Murrie of Piedmont Wine Imports, and a consistent question arose. How does this wine, from such a legendary producer, sell for less than $20? We didn't come up with any answers, but we all agreed that this was hands down one of the best red wine values in the store.
Vallana is one of the most historically significant names in the Piemonte, and they were called one of the top 100 producers on the planet by Wine Spectator. While their Nebbiolo-based wines garner much-deserved praise, their value-priced Barbera is the estate's "secret weapon." Soulful, classic in style, and offering up a nice mix of red fruits, flowers, and spice, it possesses seamless tannins and bright acids, and it sells for a song.
2020 Vallana Barbera
It should be illegal to sell this wine for less than twenty bucks, but we're doing it!
ORDER NOW in our online store.
Vallana is the stuff of legends. The estate as we know it today was founded in 1937, but the Vallana family name first shows up in connection to high quality winemaking in the Alto Piemonte in 1787. As Robert Parker says, these are “intense, traditionally-made wines that ooze with character.” Antonio Galloni of Vinous Media summed up Vallana's Barbera with three simple words -- "flat-out delicious." You'll get no arguments from me, as this offers up amazing quality-to-price ratio.
The vineyards of the Alto Piemonte, located 90 miles north of of Alba at the base of the Alps, are very different than the more famed vineyards to the south. Whereas the vineyards to the south get more of the warming influence of the Mediterranean, yielding bigger and brawnier wines, the sites in the Alto Piemonte are influenced almost entirely by the cooling influence of the nearby Alps. These elevated, cooler, and rockier vineyards give us wines with beautifully pure and transparent flavors, along with a complex minerality that gets wine geeks like myself excited.
Packed with Old World soul and character, this is traditional Italian red wine, from one of the country's top producers, at its best...at less than $20! Smelling of ripe red cherry, raspberry, plum, spice, and rocky minerality, this is plump, juicy, and energetic on the palate. Here me out folks, this is not a simple wine. As it sits in the glass, the acidity mellows, the flavors deepen, and the overall enjoyment increases.
A fun red to sip whenever with whomever, it is also an incredible food wine. The wine's combination of low tannin and high acid make it ideal for pizza, simple pasta and red sauced dishes, and just about anything you put in front of it. It also makes for an ideal "house wine." Get some now while we're dealing deep on this one!
ORDER NOW in our online store.
Josh Spurling
Owner, Operator, Wine Monger
Table Wine Asheville