Description

Ca’Bianca is part of a collection of wineries through Italy. Barbera makes up most of this Estates 39ha. They make a trio of Barbera d’Asti. Andrea Autino has been winemaker at Ca’Bianca since 2016. Andrea is a local to the region and has studied and worked in Turin and Piedmont.

Not surprisingly is the fact that these guys have made a great example of Barbera d’Asti. The nose is dark and peppery. The palate is lighter, with a nice line of acid. It is savoury and earthy. Characters of smoke, blackberry, and mineral. Long finishing, this wine is enjoyable on its own but a road test with spaghetti bolognese was heartily successful.

Piedmont

Known as one of the greatest wine regions in the world, its name literally means the ‘foot of the mountain’. Piedmont located in the North Western reach of Italy. There are a lot of parallels drawn between the best wines of Piedmont (Barolo and Barbaresco) and the wines of Burgundy. The region neighbours France and Switzerland with its border defined by the Alps to the north and west and Apennines to the south. These natural defences were used to keep the Ligurians safe from Roman invasions. Luckily it didn’t work forever, as we may not have the wines that we cherish today.

Asti

This Piedmont town is the home of the great Moscato, wonderful Barbera, Dolcetto and of course Nebbiolo. The wines tend to be a bit more obvious and fuller than the cross town rival Alba. And don’t tend to get as much attention sadly.

Barbera

Nebbiolo is the king but approximately half of the red wine made in Piedmont is made from Barbera. Look for currants and blackberries, liquorice and oak characters.