Barbera d’Asti Versante Nord Scovero 2022

Barbera d’Asti Versante Nord Scovero , 100% Barbera, natural production, low yields, rich, intense wine, a hands off approach giving a wine which aligns depth and body with a rusticity and an authentic mouth feel.  Andrea Scovero told me he likes big wines.  He makes his Barbera to show the varieties capacity for bold red wine with an intense red and black fruit character, a fair whack of Alcohol, (14%) and a slightly farmyardy, chunky palate.  If you are eating classic Piemontese dishes like Agnolotti Pasta, Brasato al Barolo or a Fritto Misto di Carne, (all of which come with heart attack warning), this is the wine to go with them, delicious, hearty and cosy.  An ideal companion on cold winter nights.

Andrea Scovero is a third generation wine maker in Bionzo, a small village next to Costigliole d’Asti, nestled in the hills of Asti.  The vines and old farmhouse where you find the winery and his home are at about 200-300 metres above sea level.  The 50 year old Barbera vines he farms are in a kind of Amphitheatre shaped bowl, which is where the wine Barbera originally called 'Ciapin' takes its name, 'Ciapin' meaning Amphitheatre in dialect.

Andrea is no suave, sophisticated Piemontese wine maker like Giorgio Rivetti at La Spinetta.  No, Andrea is a farmer and an artisan through and through.  He is a big guy, warm hearted and friendly but quiet and softly spoken.  He makes wines without any intervention in vineyard and cellar, something he tells me is still very rare in Piemonte where large companies and conventional practice still hold sway.   Andrea has to discard the fruit from the last row of vines in each harvest as these vines absorb the contamination from the neighbouring growers, some of which are literally a few metres from his own.

He is a committed natural grower and has stuck to his principles even when the prevailing wind is not in his favour.  His wines are different from vintage to vintage.  They are authentic, you might say a little rustic, but honest, gutsy and hearty.  Both Barbera and Rosato are excellent but his Nebbiolo is something particularly fine, especially when considering the modest price for a production of only 1500 bottles a year.