Wine of the Week 6/2/20

Alessandro Veglio Barbera d’Alba 2018

Regularly $19.99/On Sale for $16.96

 Alessandro Veglio grew up in a winemaking family, in the Barolo-centric commune of La Morra, where he still makes his wines. In 2005, he made his first wine using family grapes and a friend’s winery, and he has since become one of the most noticed young winemakers in the Piedmont. Alessandro crafts three delicious wines based on Nebbiolo, a Dolcetto, and very small amounts of this Barbera. Barbera is one of the Piedmont’s (if not Italy’s) best food wines: more structured, generally, than Dolcetto, and more forgiving than Nebbiolo. It’s a wine that can accompany meals both rustic and classy, and Veglio makes one of the best for the money. Barbera has documented roots back to the 17th century, but is probably much older. The Barbera d’Alba region is much smaller than the Asti or Monferrato regions where Barbera can also be grown, and it sometimes gets overshadowed by Nebbiolo, but we recommend NOT overlooking this grape, particularly at this price!