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The Merum editorial team has long been fond of the Monferrato region with its sometimes idiosyncratic red wines. Grignolino and Ruchè are an integral part of our tasting programme, and we have been reporting regularly for years on the sedate region in eastern Piedmont. Why do we go there again and again? Because the landscapes are wonderfully varied, the people endearingly modest, the wines and restaurants good and affordable. Unlike the bustling Langhe, where nebbiolo and truffle lovers flock, tourism is still in its infancy here, but that is precisely what gives the area its slightly sleepy charm. In fact, the Monferrato has so far only been visited by insiders.

Romina Tacchino (Luigi Tacchino) from Castelletto d'Orba in the south of Alessandria says: "Just a few years ago there were hardly any places to stay here. However, a lot has happened recently, the tourist offer has improved, also because the new generations have taken over the reins. Nevertheless, tourism here is much less well organised than in the Langhe, where there are even guided tours through the vineyards. In Monferrato, the visitor needs a car and has to explore the area on his own."

The famous winemaking stars in the villages of the Langhe, the great wines Barolo and Barbaresco are effective magnets for wine travellers and journalists. Such appeal is lacking in the Monferrato. Beatrice Gaudio (Bricco Mondalino): "We have only a few well-known wineries that could promote the area abroad with a strong brand. The majority are small family businesses.

Landscape in Monferrato (Source: Merum)

Barbera instead of Barolo

Like everywhere else, the economic crisis has also affected the winegrowers of the Monferrato. Smaller orders, delayed payments, they can all tell you a thing or two about it. However, we did not encounter any desperate situations or overflowing cellars during our visits. Mauro Pavia (Agostino Pavia) assesses the situation of the wineries as follows: "All in all, the winegrowers in Monferrato are doing satisfactorily. The crisis is not expressing itself dramatically. I myself have even gained some customers who used to fill their cars with Barolo and Barbaresco. Today, they only buy a little in the Langhe and come to us instead to stock up on Barbera."

Mauro Gaudio (Bricco Mondalino), who has renovated his entire wine cellar in the last two years and built a beautiful tasting room, is also positive: "Those who still sell cask wine and who have not succeeded in positioning their bottles on the market must indeed be worried. Everyone else is not exactly going through easy times, but you make ends meet. In any case, we are still selling our wines."

Given the passion with which the Gaudio family lives their vocation as winegrowers, this is not surprising. Our conversation with Mauro was gradually joined by his wife Gabriella, the two cellar workers from Tuscany and Australia, and daughter Beatrice. In no time at all, the bottles provided for tasting were opened - and the resolution to move on immediately because of our delay and to do without grignolino, grissini, salami and parmesan was gone...

The Monferrato DOC area comprises over 280 municipalities. (Source: Merum)

The situation is different for the approximately 5,000 farmers of the Monferrato, who cultivate only a few hectares of vines and cannot vinify their grapes themselves, but have to leave it to the cellar cooperatives. Fortunately, the situation has eased considerably in the past two years. While prices reached a low point in 2010, they have been slowly climbing again since then. At that time, a farmer got around 30 cents for a kilo of Barbera grapes.

Patrizia Barreri, director of the Asti-Monferrato consortium: "That was a dramatic year, but fortunately this low level has not been reached again. In 2012, grape prices were almost twice as high. But these are average figures. About a third of the grapes for Barbera d'Asti DOCG are superiore quality and fetch even higher prices."

Just three years ago, there was massive overproduction of Barbera, which caused both grape and bulk wine prices to plummet. Barbera in all variations were available at cheap prices in supermarkets in Italy, but also abroad, and the demand for quality wines was manageable. Today, according to the consortium, this is no longer a problem. Patrizia Barreri: "The two lean harvests in 2011 and 2012 have restored the balance between wine production and consumption. As a result, grape prices also recovered in 2012. This broke the vicious circle that forces farmers to save money and thus virtually to neglect their vineyards. For only in well-tended vineyards can good grape quality be produced, for which the farmers are adequately remunerated."

The changes in production regulations also caused demand to rise. Piemonte Barbera DOC, for example, has grown significantly in the last four or five years because the wines can also be bottled in bag-in-box. The Barbera winemakers declassified part of the overproduction to Piemonte Barbera DOC and thus opened up new, less tradition-conscious markets such as Scandinavia.

With the abolition of the natural cork obligation, this opportunity is now also available to Barbera d'Asti DOCG: currently, 40 percent of the almost 24 million bottles are exported, mainly to Germany and the USA. This could change with the introduction of the screw cap, and exports could increase further.

Barbera grape (Source: Merum)

Zero Wood Barbera

The Merum editors tasted Barbera for the last time for the 5/2008 issue - with moderate enthusiasm: "Barbera is a simple wine. It remains so even if only one grape per vine is left and the wine is aged in expensive barriques. The boot servant does not become a nobleman even if you put him in his master's expensive coat."

Unbalanced and woody, that could be said of most of the wines at the time, for a long time the editors' need for Barbera was satisfied. After a break of almost five years, the tasters dared to try Barbera again for the 1/2013 issue. With surprising results: A whole series of drinkable, fruity and varietal-typical wines are included, but marbled Barbera wines are rare. A reason for us to take a closer look at the situation of Barbera once again.

And indeed, something has changed in the Barbera universe, the style of many vintners has changed, the trend is going back to fruit-driven wines, Barbera for every day. This is also confirmed by winemakers and consortium director Patrizia Barreri. She says: "Indeed, many producers have rediscovered the wonderful fruitiness of Barbera. In my opinion, this is one of the keys to success. There is a learning process behind it that has led to a better awareness of the value and versatility of the Barbera grape."

Mauro Gaudio also believes that Barbera has more success in the fruity version: "We have been producing our Barbera Zerolegno ('zero wood') since 1999, which is aged exclusively in steel tanks. Other winemakers have also moved away from excessive barrique ageing in the meantime and produce fruity wines with little or no wood."

In the piazza (source: Merum)

Barbera d'Asti or Barbera del Monferrato?

Barbera is the most important wine of Monferrato in terms of volume. The four designations of origin Barbera d'Asti DOCG, Barbera del Monferrato DOC, Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG and Piemonte Barbera DOC account for almost three quarters of the total production of the two provinces of Asti and Alessandria, and over 50 million bottles of Barbera are produced.

Paradoxically, the growing areas for Barbera d'Asti DOCG and Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG are largely congruent, the winegrowers can decide for themselves what name they want to give their Barbera, the permitted yield per hectare is identical (9,000 kg/ha). However, since the Barbera d'Asti DOCG is easier to sell because of its name, the majority of winemakers decide against the Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG.

We asked the head of the consortium why the same wine can be marketed under two designations of origin, Patrizia Barreri: "Barbera d'Asti has always been a still wine, but in Monferrato in the 1950s and 60s Barbera was traditionally produced as semi-sparkling wine with the designation vivace. Even today, a Barbera del Monferrato DOC is in most cases a semi-sparkling wine. For still wines, therefore, Barbera d'Asti DOCG is more commonly used, and more rarely Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG. Local roots also play a role: Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG is mainly used in the province of Alessandria, Barbera d'Asti DOCG more in the province of Asti. So it's the producers themselves who assign a certain identity to their wine."

Marco Canato from the province of Alessandria is one of the few winemakers who have chosen the Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG appellation: "The fact that there are two appellations that overlap for the most part only causes confusion among consumers. They think there is a quality pyramid, especially because Barbera d'Asti has DOCG certification and Barbera del Monferrato only if it has the Superiore designation. All this is bureaucratic nonsense."

In the cellar (source: Merum)

Misunderstood Dolcetto

Barbera is no longer the problem child of Monferrato winemakers; rather, whites and Dolcetto are causing them problems. Patrizia Barreri: "The white wines from the Cortese variety (Cortese dell'Alto Monferrato DOC and Piemonte Cortese DOC) have never been very successful. Dolcetto d'Asti DOC, of which very little is produced, however, like the other Dolcetto in Piedmont, has been suffering from dwindling attention for a few years now, despite good quality."

Romina Tacchino, who mainly produces Dolcetto di Ovada, also confirms that Dolcetto is having a much harder time than Barbera: "We have travelled around the world a lot in recent years and had Dolcetto di Ovada tasted. That has helped, but compared to Barbera, demand is still slow. It is and remains a niche product. This is also confirmed by other winegrowers. Dolcetto remains our problem child, although it is priced at the same level as Barbera."

Why this is so, why Dolcetto is so sluggishly stuck in the cellar throughout Piedmont, is hard to understand. What is missing for Dolcetto to have more sales luck? Certainly, the trend towards an over-concentrated, jammy and woody style, as well as the corresponding prices, have led many to turn away from the variety. But in Monferrato, there are very drinkable Dolcetto with their fruit and powerful grape tannin.

However, one cannot exactly claim that the Dolcetto winegrowers would pull themselves out of their shells to change this situation. After all, when a wine magazine like Merum requests samples of a hard-to-sell wine, more than nine winemakers should react...

Grignolino grape (Source: Merum)

Grignolino - loyal fans

Although Barbera is the economic basis of the Monferrato winegrowers, each of them also grows local specialities, which together account for little more than a quarter of the vineyard area. Of these, we are particularly fond of Ruchè and even more so of Grignolino.

In his article on Grignolino, Merum editor Jobst von Volckamer wrote in 2006: "In the mouth, Grignolino is elegant and, despite a certain fruity astringency, also very supple. Its long finish is remarkable, often surpassing that of Barbera, for example. Finally, one of its most beautiful characteristics is the special nature of its tannin: it is wonderful how a sip of Grignolino cleanses the palate during a meal and thus increases the desire for the next bite" A declaration of love for a wine that was still unknown at the time and that gradually also managed to conquer the hearts of many a Merum reader.

Mauro Gaudio from Vignale Monferrato is one of the Grignolino winemakers who have been convincing with their quality for years: "We are one of the few wineries that produce as much Grignolino as Barbera. It is our flagship, we love it. In the last ten years, however, we have unfortunately not been able to noticeably increase the sales figures of Grignolino, the demand remains constant. The Grignolino is a special wine, it is light but extremely tannic, it has a delicate, elegant aroma. Once it has found its lovers, they remain loyal to it, but it is not a wine for everyone."

Typical Monferrato: Grignolino and salami (Source: Merum)
Grignolino has had little success abroad so far, although there are a large number of well-made wines on the market today. Its tannins are too stubborn, its acidity perhaps too sharp, its colour too pale. For us, however, Grignolino is one of the most elegant wines Italy has to offer. Our commitment to making it known outside the borders of Monferrato is therefore unbroken. Unlike Grignolino, the aromatic, apricot-scented Ruchè is currently having little trouble stepping out of the shadow of the more famous Piedmontese wines. Since 2000, the area under cultivation in the tiny wine-growing region around Castagnole Monferrato has quadrupled from 26 to 103 hectares. The awarding of the DOCG from the 2010 vintage will certainly play a role in the further development. Today, about half a million bottles of DOC Ruchè are bottled, 58 percent more than in 2009.

Monferrato wines are original, very different due to their distinct character traits and - if you want to put it that way - take some getting used to. Yes, perhaps they take some getting used to, but at the same time they are enormously endearing. Wines that taste like Ruchè or Grignolino are only to be found here. And even Barbera seems to be more and more aware of its original purpose, namely that of an inexpensive, drinkable everyday wine.

This article was made available to us by the Merum editorial team. Find out more about Merum, the magazine for wine and olive oil from Italy, here:
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