Pedemontis Barbera d’Alba Bajet 2022
£21.75
The wine
Perfumed notes of ripe red fruit, cinnamon, vanilla and a touch of pepper envelop a beautifully balanced palate, with supple tannins and a juicy finish. Barbera made for the table rather than the cellar.
Barbera is Piedmont's everyday red, naturally high in acidity and low in tannin, which is why it has always been the table wine while Nebbiolo waited in cask. Unoaked here, so the sour-cherry fruit and brisk acidity come through cleanly. Bajet is the dialect name.
The producer
Pedemontis
View all Pedemontis winesPedemontis takes its name from the Latin for at the foot of the mountains, which is what Piedmont means. The wines come from vineyards across the Langhe and Roero, the two halves of the Tanaro valley that between them account for most of what southern Piedmont is known for.
The two are quite different. The Langhe, on the right bank, is calcareous marl and gives the great Nebbiolos; the Roero, on the left, is sandier and lighter, which suits Arneis and gives softer, more perfumed reds. Working both allows a range that covers Favorita and Arneis for whites through Barbera to Nebbiolo.
The wine names are in Piedmontese dialect rather than Italian, which is a small act of local loyalty in a region whose language is genuinely distinct from Italian and increasingly little spoken. Favorita in particular is worth attention: it is the same variety as Vermentino, grown in Piedmont for centuries and almost abandoned in favour of Arneis.
