Barbera: Elsewhere in Italy

Barbera dominates much of Lombardy, in particular the vineyards of Oltrepò Pavese, where it makes varietal wines of varying quality and degrees of fizziness, some fine and lively, as well as being blended with the softer local Croatina or bonarda Piemontese grapes. It is a minor, and decreasing, ingredient in Terre di franciacorta and is found, as elsewhere in Italy, in oceans of basic vino da tavola.

Barbera is also much planted immediately south east of Piemonte in the Colli Piacentini, the hills above Piacenza, of emilia-romagna. Here too it is often blended with Bonarda, particularly in the Val Tidone for the DOC red Gutturnio. It is also planted in the Bologna and Parma hills, the Colli Bolognesi and Colli di Parma, where it may also produce a varietal wine which rarely has the concentration of Piemonte’s best and is regularly fizzy.