People often consider Barbera an also-ran grape — too often, according to the folks at Shannon Ridge.
“Lake County is similar in growing conditions to the Piedmont,” said Joy Merrilees, director of winemaking, referring to the Italian region noted for the varietal in its finest expressions. “We find it grows well here.”
Indeed, the winery’s 2012 Barbera from their High Valley label presents the wine in an unfamiliar role. For most producers, Barbera works best as an everyday table wine, something pleasantly fruity but lacking in motivation, unwilling to challenge the palate. But the staff at Shannon Ridge took their time, allowing the wine to mature in oak and develop character in the bottle.
Instead of bright cherry aromas bursting from the glass, the 2012 High Valley seems to coil up, like an olfactory spring trying — with some success — to hold back a wealth of intense fruit. Yet it is there and it is dense. Ripe cherry teetering on the brink, deepened by hints of dark plum, with dried tobacco, vanilla and a gentle, earthy spice providing a supporting scaffold.
All of this reveals itself in one moment, so the first impression is of power on a leash. The first sip simply provides confirmation. Sour cherry, red berries and drying fruit balance the varietal’s soaring acidity with a few steps down, as if into a cellar. There is a jammy quality of concentrated fruit, but also a rich, hearty and bitter undercurrent, a tug of war between sweet tobacco and dark chocolate.
The wine was tempered with a little Petite Sirah (5 percent) then introduced to a mix of French and American wood. But the winemaker paid heed to the varietal’s finicky nature when maturing in oak. Hit it hard, the wine withers, tread lightly and the results — well, the 2012 High Valley Barbera is an example.
“Barbera generally has high acid,” Merrilees observed. “It’s more of a delicate grape.”
The wine can be poured as a table wine, to enjoy with a meal or conversation. It may, however, be best to present it alongside a centerpiece dish.
After all, it’s a wine that can fill both roles.
Of equal importance, it fulfills the winemaker’s goal.
“We’re trying to show off what does well in this region,” Merrilees said.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
