Asti and Monferrato Route
Two days across the Asti hills: Ruchè at Castagnole, Barbera at Costigliole and Nizza, spumante cellars under Canelli, and hot springs to finish at Acqui Terme.
Drive this route →Piedmont · DOCG
Barbera d'Asti DOCG The Monferrato Red, from Everyday Bottle to Superiore
Barbera d'Asti is the Monferrato's own red: the most-made wine of the hills around Asti and, the rulebook says, the one that best speaks for its farmers. A DOCG since 2008, it must be at least 90% Barbera and rest four months before sale. The Superiore waits fourteen, six of them in wood, and two small sub-zones go further still.
78
Wines live now
£9-£270
Price range today
22
UK retailers
Decode the label
What the label tells you
One denomination, 4 things it can say on the front. Colour first, then the qualifier.
On the label
Barbera d'Asti DOCG
the everyday red
90% or more Barbera, the rest non-aromatic reds
4 months from 1 November, wood optional
12% minimum alcohol
Cherry and plum, a lively acid edge, soft tannin. From supermarket own-label to named estates, most of the shelf sits here.
In stock from £8.95 See the 45 bottles ↓On the label
Superiore
14 months, six in wood
14 months from 1 November, 6 in wood of any size
12.5% minimum alcohol
Fuller and spicier, with wood in the mix by law. Big barrels or barriques both count; the estate decides which.
In stock from £9.95 See the 22 bottles ↓On the label
Tinella
the Superiore sub-zone south-west of Asti
24 months from 1 October, 6 in wood, 6 in bottle
13% minimum, from a 7 t/ha crop
Costigliole, Calosso, Castagnole Lanze, Coazzolo and part of Isola d'Asti. Cork only, vintage on every label. Rare on UK shelves.
No bottles in stock right now
On the label
Colli Astiani
the Superiore sub-zone just south of Asti
24 months from 1 October, 6 in wood, 6 in bottle
13% minimum, from a 7 t/ha crop
Montegrosso, Mongardino, Vigliano, Montaldo Scarampi, Rocca d'Arazzo and Azzano, plus part of Isola d'Asti and two districts of Asti itself. Also sold as Astiano.
No bottles in stock right now
The boundary
Where it is
Everything on this page, the estates, the bottles, the sub-zones, sits inside this line.
The zone covers 116 communes of the province of Asti and 51 in the province of Alessandria: the Monferrato hills on both sides of the Tanaro, from the Roero border past Asti to Casale Monferrato and down to Acqui. The hills are low, mostly 150 to 400 metres, and no vineyard may sit above 650. The older white earths of sandy and limestone marl lie to the north and south; the younger Asti sands line the Tanaro in the middle. Two named sub-zones sit close to Asti: Tinella in the hills to the south-west, and Colli Astiani on the hills just south of the city. Nizza, once a third, left to become its own DOCG with the 2014 vintage.
Inside the zone
167
Communes, two provinces
650 m
Vineyard ceiling
9 t/ha
Maximum yield
2008
DOCG; DOC since 1970
2
Sub-zones, Superiore only
Towns worth knowing
Asti
Nizza Monferrato
Costigliole d'Asti
Canelli
Castagnole delle Lanze
Rocchetta Tanaro
Agliano Terme
Vinchio
Casale Monferrato
Acqui Terme
Asti sits on the Tanaro in the middle of the zone. Nizza Monferrato, Agliano and Vinchio hold the southern heartland, Casale the eastern Monferrato, and Costigliole and Castagnole the Tinella side.
In the glass
What it tastes like
Black cherry
Plum
Blueberry
Black pepper
Liquorice
Rose petal
Green pepper
The disciplinare
The rules that define it
The same table on every denomination page, straight from the production rules.
Grape & its role
Share of the blend
050100%
Barbera d'Asti, Superiore and the sub-zones
BarberaThe grape; most bottles are all Barberaat least 90%Other non-aromatic red grapes of PiedmontAllowed as a top-up, rarely usedup to 10%Solid means the rules demand it. Striped means optional, up to that amount. The words on the right say the same rule.
At least 90% Barbera with the rest, if any, from non-aromatic red grapes grown in Piedmont.
Hillside only, no higher than 650 metres and new vineyards may not face north; they need at least 4,000 vines per hectare.
Yields are capped at 9 tonnes per hectare 8 for a vigna wine and 7 in the Tinella and Colli Astiani sub-zones.
Superiore waits 14 months, six of them in wood counted from 1 November, in casks of any size; the base wine rests four.
A sub-zone Superiore waits two years from 1 October, with six months in wood and six in bottle, and reaches 13%.
Ageing and alcohol minimums per tier are in the label guide above.
Editor's cellar
Bottles to try, and what Barbera d'Asti costs in the UK
Every live Barbera d'Asti listing, cheapest to dearest
67 wines · 22 retailers
Live prices, compared across 22 UK retailers.
Cellar doors · in Piedmont
Estates you can visit
12 working estates with their gates open.
Only show
No estates match these filters. Clear a filter to see more.
Experiences in the Barbera d'Asti zone
Cellar experiences here average around €45. These are the strongest fits for this page.
Food pairing
The 4 Sisters
Bersano
From breakfast to dinner. Four wines that don't ask for permission: they're uncorked, poured, and surprised. Easy to drink, never banal. Eve…
2 h From €35 pp
Book via
Winalist
Tasting
Our History
Bersano
The wines that have always been there. The ones on which trust has been built, sip after sip. Our signature, for almost 120 years. Between t…
1 h 30 From €45 pp
Book via
Winalist
Tasting & tour
The Selection
Bersano
Visit to the Museum and the historic cellars, followed by a tasting of 5 labels that have made the history of the Bersano winery: Arturo Cla…
1 h 30 From €60 pp
Book via
Winedering
Two names, one stricter rulebook
The sub-zones
Both sub-zones apply only to a Superiore, sit south and south-west of Asti, and demand a smaller crop, two years of ageing and 13% alcohol.
Tinella
Superiore onlySouth-west of Asti: Costigliole, Calosso, Castagnole Lanze, Coazzolo and part of Isola d'Asti. Superiore only: 7 tonnes a hectare, 24 months from 1 October, 13%.
Colli Astiani
Superiore onlyJust south of Asti: Montegrosso, Mongardino, Vigliano, Montaldo Scarampi, Rocca d'Arazzo, Azzano, part of Isola d'Asti and two city districts. Same rules as Tinella.
Vintage provenance
Why there is no vintage chart
No denomination-wide vintage chart is currently published for Barbera d'Asti. The producers' consortium describes the wine and its sub-zones rather than rating the years, and the critics score bottles, not the appellation. Quality is tracked producer by producer, and the base wine is made to drink within a few years in any case.
Buy the newest base wine; give a Superiore or a sub-zone bottle two or three years.
What to check instead
The sub-zone: where a wine comes from inside the zone changes what is in the glass. See them above.
The producer: quality here is tracked estate by estate rather than year by year.
How Barbera d'Asti is made
The zone is wide: the province of Asti and the Monferrato hills of Alessandria, on hillsides mostly between 150 and 400 metres and never above 650. Valley floors and damp ground are out, and new vineyards may not face north. At least 90% must be Barbera; any non-aromatic red grape grown in Piedmont may make up the rest. Yields are capped at 9 tonnes a hectare, or 8 for a wine that names its vineyard. The base wine rests four months from the 1st of November and must reach 12% alcohol. A Superiore rests 14 months from the same date, at least six of them in wood of any size, and reaches 12.5%. The two sub-zones, Tinella and Colli Astiani, apply to a Superiore only: a 7 tonne crop, 24 months from the 1st of October, six in wood, six in bottle, and 13%. Every bottle carries its vintage.
In depth
An 1873 survey of the vineyards of the old province of Alessandria is quoted in the rulebook. It called Barbera a very well known grape, native to the Asti hills and grown there for a very long time. Nothing has changed. The rulebook still calls Barbera d'Asti the most-made wine of the area and the one that best expresses its farmers. The DOC came on 9 January 1970. The step up to DOCG followed on 8 July 2008, and the Nizza sub-zone left to become a DOCG of its own with the 2014 vintage.
The land explains the two faces of the wine. The hills are low, mostly 150 to 400 metres, warm and dry with about 700 mm of rain a year. To the north and south lie the older white earths, sandy and limestone marls of the Miocene where fossil shells are common. Along the Tanaro lie the younger Asti sands. The rulebook says the white earths give full, deeply coloured wines that keep, while the sands give perfumed, red-fruited wines with lower acidity that mature faster. Barbera takes the slopes that face south-east to west and averages 13% alcohol here.
The shelf runs from under £9 to a 1968 vintage at £270. Araldica, The Wine Society's Superiore and Cantine Manfredi sit under £13, Prunotto's Fiulot and Michele Chiarlo's Le Orme under £17. Braida's Montebruna, Vietti's La Crena and La Spinetta's Bionzo sit between £21 and £41. At the top stand the wines that made Barbera famous abroad: Braida's Bricco dell'Uccellone and Bricco della Bigotta at about £55 and Ai Suma at £70, plus Scarpa's La Bogliona at £39.
On the table
What to eat with Barbera d'Asti
Agnolotti del plin, tajarin, brasato and a Margherita: the acidity cuts fat and matches tomato, the soft tannin keeps it easy.
In-depth guide
Barbera d'Asti, answered
Deep ruby, with cherry, plum and dark berries, a lively acid edge and soft tannin. The producers' consortium describes it as intense and vigorous, turning to jam and fruit-in-spirit notes with age. A Superiore is fuller, with wood spice from its six months in cask.
A DOCG, since 8 July 2008. It had been a DOC since 9 January 1970. Every batch must pass a tasting panel before release, as the DOCG rules require.
At least 90% Barbera. Up to 10% may come from any non-aromatic red grape allowed in Piedmont, but most bottles are all Barbera.
Time in the cellar and strength. The base wine rests four months from the 1st of November and must reach 12%. A Superiore rests 14 months, at least six of them in wood, and reaches 12.5%. Both come from the same vineyards under the same 9 tonne cap.
The two sub-zones, both for a Superiore only. Tinella lies south-west of Asti: Costigliole, Calosso, Castagnole Lanze, Coazzolo and part of Isola d'Asti. Colli Astiani covers the hills just south of the city: Montegrosso, Mongardino, Vigliano, Montaldo Scarampi, Rocca d'Arazzo, Azzano, the rest of Isola d'Asti and two districts of Asti. Both demand a 7 tonne crop, 24 months of ageing from the 1st of October with six months in wood and six in bottle, and 13% alcohol. Nizza used to be a third sub-zone and is now a DOCG of its own.
Same grape, two neighbouring zones. Barbera d'Asti is a DOCG, needs 90% Barbera, and rests four months before sale; its Superiore waits 14 months with six in wood. Barbera d'Alba is a DOC from the Barolo and Barbaresco hills, needs 85% Barbera, has no minimum ageing, and its Superiore waits 12 months with four in wood.
It follows the same rules as every other bottle: 90% Barbera, hillside vineyards, four months of rest and a tasting panel. Bottles at £9 to £13 are usually base wine from the big co-operatives, Araldica above all, and they are honest. Pay £15 to £25 for a named estate or a Superiore and you get more depth.
About half the shelf sits between £10 and £20, starting under £9. A good Superiore runs £17 to £30. The famous single-vineyard wines from Braida, La Spinetta and Scarpa run £36 to £70. One bottle stands apart: a 1968 vintage from Mario Pesce at £270. The price table on this page tracks live UK shop prices.
Explore more Piedmont
Same region only: the denominations Barbera d'Asti drinkers reach for next.
