Upon arising this morning I knew that this would be a special day, as I would be tasting the best of the Barbera originating from the Asti province of Piedmont.
On this Monday morning, bright and early at 9:00, winebloggers and journalists arrived at the Barbera Meeting in Asti. The group was international coming from all over Europe, Asia and the United States. Our task this morning was devoted to tasting and evaluating 68 Barbera d’Asti wines. The itinerary was as follows:
Barbera d’Asti DOCG 2008,
Barbera d’Asti DOC 2007,
Barbera d’Asti DOC 2007 Superiore,
Barbera d’Asti DOC 2006
Barbera d’Asti DOC 2006 Superiore.
A grand selection of wines to taste were presented to us and it was impressive. The tasting started promptly at 9:30 and were finished by 11:30. This afternoon a bus will take the bloggers and journalists to a number of wineries in the Asti province. Our Italian hosts and hostesses had presented a beautiful wine tasting venue in a charming elegant bulding dating from the year1733.
I know exactly how a really good quality Barbera should taste and I definitely found some prime wines. Being Monday morning, it was certainly not a typical Monday—a room filled with an international atmosphere and the best of the Barbera wines form the Asti region. Tasting such a large amount could for some be a daunting task, but the key to being objective and sustaining oneself as a serious wine taster is not to get too overwhelmed by the wines themselves, in the meaning that one loses concentration from consuming too much.
The aromas definitely aroused my senses and my palate and all ready midway thorught he tasting I had spotted some favorites and by the end of the tasting I definitely knew which ones I would recommend and buy. What will be interesting is to see the final tallies for each wine tasted. The only criticism I have of this mornings tastings is that only those with Internet connection were able to have their evaluatins recorded for the statistics. A number of tasters had no computer and were primarily writing notes. In some ways a computer could be a bit cumbersome on the table,
nevertheless results were recorded. It will be interesting to see the final results for the Barbera d’Asti wines.
More people are expected to arrive tomorrow and that includes guests who registered through Face Book and Twitter. This morning’s tasting consisted primarily of wine bloggers and journalists, but more are on the way. The day is not over yet and more is to come….For now I have some photos to show you…..
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