Barbera B. Lovely

How did you spend your St. Patty's day? I actually had a pretty quiet one. In years past I would spend my day drinking with friends.

A good friend after too many Irish Car Bombs-St. Patty's Day Past

But this year I decided to spend the day in with my drinking buddy. ;-) We put the top down (it was a gorgeous day) and headed off to a local wine shop. I wanted to purchase some wine off my list and look into Barbera. As you may or may not know I have a twitter account and recently I noticed a conversation or tweets about Barbera. Are you asking the same thing I was? What is a Barbera?
A Barbera is a versatile Italian red grape. It generally produces lighter style wines with cherry and raspberry fruit flavors and aromas, mixed with rustic spice. This wine has a fantastic crispness and is ideal with food. Barbera is capable of producing medium to full bodied wines.

While at the store I found myself having a fantastic conversation with an employee. He reiterated that Barbera is very fruity, yet dry and while it can go with just about any food it would pair best with a bold, spicy red sauce. The prices ranged from $9.99 up to $30+. The salesman suggested I try an inexpensive one first ($9.99) just to see if I liked it. We decided upon Cren della Lepre Barbera Piemonte 2010.

Green label for St. Patty's Day


I have to admit, I was slightly concerned. The salesman stressed this was a fruity, yet dry wine. With my first sip I knew I had nothing to fear. I found this wine to be light, fruity and dry. Not too dry or too fruity, it reminded me a grape jelly, just not as sweet.

While I was learning about this wine, my drinking buddy discovered a tasting going on a few aisles over. In the spirit of the holiday he tried Irish whiskey (a few times) and a few wines. He found two that he liked. Now keep in mind he is super new to wine and so far only has enjoyed the sweeter ones. The first wine he liked and actually purchased was B. Lovely 2010 Late Harvest Riesling and the other, which we plan to go back and purchase Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz. Since we had the B. Lovely in the house, I might as well give you my thoughts on it.

I thought this Riesling was very sweet, crisp and tart. Probably a perfect wine for someone who favors sweet wines. For me, it was a little too sweet. I'm sure I'll purchase this again, not for me, but for him and his non-wine drinking friends. ;-)