BARBERA SUPERIORE Gran Madre 2001

This masterful Barbera is powerful and toothsome with a weight of black fruits and bread dough on both the nose and palate. The wine’s traditionally crunchy acidity has been softened by two years in French barriques and a further six-month bottle ageing before release. A ‘blockbuster’ without the perjorative New World connotations of over-ripe jamminess, La ‘Gran Madre’ shows how good Barbera can develop wisdom not wrinkles.