Barbera d'Alba - Fratelli Seghesio

Barbera d'Alba – Fratelli Seghesio

Not the Californian Seghesio of Zinfandel fame: this is Fratelli Seghesio, a winery from Monforte d'Alba founded in 1988.

Not to be confused with the more famous, similarly named Seghesio Family Vineyards of Sonoma: this is an entirely different story, in the heart of the Langhe, in the hamlet of Castelletto in Monforte d'Alba, where brothers Aldo and Riccardo Seghesio started the business by bottling their first Barolo in 1988. Today the winery farms 10 hectares of vineyard and produces around 60,000 bottles a year of Dolcetto, Barbera, Langhe Nebbiolo and two Barolos.

The vineyards sit at 330-350 metres, face north-east, and sink into a still-young, not-too-deep, calcareous soil. In the cellar the only vessel used is steel, for nine months, precisely to preserve the streak of freshness that characterises the wine: in the glass it appears bright and vivid, warm and inviting on the nose, while the sip flows agile and well balanced.

An everyday red for the table, equally suited to a board of cured meats or a hearty first course, and just as comfortable with simple, traditional Piedmontese soups.

Origin: Barbera d'Alba DOC, Monforte d'Alba (Piedmont, Italy)
Grape variety: Barbera 100%
ABV: generally 13.5-14% vol