Gianni Doglia Barbera d’Asti 2020

Doglia’s Barbera has been a quiet staple of Nicholas Wines for years. I don’t often feature it in an email. I don’t have to. So many of you have tasted it at the restaurant or at the old walkaround tastings…and once someone tastes it, they always order it. Again and again and again. For many of you, it’s become your house.

But here’s why I can never sit still. Almost always, eventually, the masses catch up. Last year it was Herve Fabre and his Lifetime Achievement award from the International Wine Cellar. This year, it’s our friend Gianni Doglia winning the Italian Wine Bible’s (Gambero Rosso) highest honor: Winemaker of the Year.

The accolade has never been more deserved. Few farmers in Italy work harder than Gianni does. Back during my Spring visit in 2015, upon my arrival at 9pm at night, I found him pruning his steep Asti Vineyard by flashlight. He naturally farms the tiny estate in the picturesque hamlet of Castagnole Lanze. His Barbera is the product of 50 year old vines, vinified without oak to preserve its incredible fruit.

The soil is special, sandy and laden with limestone, perfect for big, fruity varieties like Barbera. The wine is black in color to the core, bright and wonderfully aromatic, it’s an organic, juicy red wine that is flat-out epic.