Rosa d’Oro Barbera 2007

This one awaited review for quite a while now, but it was well worth the wait!

Beautiful dark red-violet, opaque with just enough transparency to have a beautiful bloody sunset appearance at the edges. At first, the nose is intense and dominated by dark ripe fruit, black plums and black currants, which became more concentrated, sweet and jammy after about one hour. On the palate, the first notes are of ripe fruit as well, but lighter, starting with red plums and blueberries, then, with some black pepper kicking in the mid-palate, making way for darker fruit with more tart notes, with the finish dominated by black plums and black currants. Medium body with well balanced acidity. Virtually no tannins, this is a straightforward fruit bomb at first, but after two hours, the wine developed strong mature flavors which demonstrated its complexity and aging potential.

Paired beautifully with a spinach salad with cranberries, goat cheese and artichoke hearts. This is a very good wine, both with and without food, and a real bargain for its price at $18. Check out Rosa d’Oro Winery for this one and more Italian-style wines.

Note: the wine was received as a sample for review.