thewinesociety.com/barberaBMOCT15

The Italians are masters at producing good, flavourful bottles for everyday enjoyment and members’ enthusiasm for this nation’s wines go from strength to strength as a consequence; high time, I felt, to add a new Italian red to our Society range.

Barbera, the most widely planted and popular grape of Piedmont in north-west Italy, is a uniquely Italian grape. Deep-coloured with sweet juicy fruit, bright cherry flavour and a lick of fresh, sappy acidity, it can be a wonderfully appetising and versatile red for pizza, pasta and beyond.

For several years we have been working to find a wine with the right balance combining these appetising virtues with a keen price that would make it an attractive choice for regular drinking. The Society’s new Barbera d’Asti, from the excellent Araldica group of co-operatives, is the result and we are delighted to offer it here to members for the first time at a special introductory bottle price with Araldica’s support.

ref BM-IT20451 £6 bottle (instead of £6.75) £72 dozen (instead of £81) SAVE £9 per dozen

Sebastian Payne MW Society Buyer

Spotlight_Barbera D asti.indd 1 07/09/2015 16:26

thewinesociety.com/barbera 01438 740222

This offer is open until Sunday 25th October, 2015 while stocks last.

Uncork with confidence

The Wine Society is a mutual organisation, so our members’ satisfaction is paramount. If, for any reason, you haven’t enjoyed a wine we want to hear about it and will happily offer a credit, a replacement or a refund. thewinesociety.com/promise

WHERE IT COMES FROMOur new Society’s Barbera d’Asti comes from Araldica, a group of co-operatives, brilliantly run by oenologist Claudio Manera, who has access to a wealth of fruit from the rolling Monferrato hills around the town of Asti in Piedmont, north-west Italy – barbera’s natural home. Grapes are carefully selected for ripeness and flavour and the wine is softened in large traditional barrels of Slavonian oak and a small proportion of French barriques for a year, which mellow the flavour without losing the wine’s bright fruit.

BARBERA & FOODThe joy of good barbera is that its ripe fruit flavours are given ‘lift’ by fresh acidity providing the wine with the necessary bite to accompany a wide variety of foods. Though frequently referred to as the ultimate ‘pasta and pizza wine’, barbera has enough body and flavour to cope with more sophisticated dishes too. Araldica’s chef recommends serving with Piemontese specialities like stracotta al barbera (a slow-cooked meat stew) or risotto al barbera; delicious too with a winter gnocchi dish with lashings of butter, sage and Parmesan.

Find an authentic risotto al barbera recipe from Araldica’s own chef on our website at thewinesociety.com/risottoalbarbera

The Society’s Barbera d’Asti Superiore 2013A classically styled barbera with intense aromas of ripe damson and black cherry, complemented by smoky notes and given extra complexity from a year’s ageing in barrel. Full-flavoured, rounded and generous on the palate with intense plum and cherry fruit, balanced by the freshness and savoury tang typical of the grape. 13.5%

ref BM-IT20451 £6 bottle (instead of £6.75) £72 dozen (instead of £81) SAVE £9 per dozen

Spotlight_Barbera D asti.indd 2 07/09/2015 16:26