Colli Piacentini Bonelli Barbera

A superb example of a wine that punches well above its weight! It has something unmistakeably Italian about the aroma, with savoury notes on finely scented fruit, with dark cherry, with something sophisticated and smart that is associated with quite fine wines made from Barbera in Alba. On the palate the fruit is like summer pudding, with plump juiciness but with a good finesse and acidity that keeps it lithe and long on the finish. A fabulous food wine - with pasta and a simple tomato and oregano sauce, meat ragu or pizza topped with nduja or anchovies and olives.

Barbera is a variety most associated with Piedmont, where typically it plays second fiddle to Nebbiolo. But Barbera is planted throughout Italy, and is pretty widespread in regions like Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, in the hills between Piacenza, Bologna and Parma. What Barbera does well is concentrated black cherry fruit with a really refreshing acidity.