The robust but sensitive Barbera, noble grape variety.

The robust but sensitive Barbera, noble grape variety.

The Barbera vine is a plant that adapts well to very different soils for chemical-physical characteristics, but is subject to a strong influence of the microclimate of the place where it is grown. It is able to offer excellent production in different environments. Because it is a very robust plant, it has not always been grown in the past on the best soils compared to varieties considered more valuable, such as Nebbiolo.

In the Langa, Barbera is often reserved for less favourable exposures, which are present lower down the slopes. In the past, therefore, this vine has rarely managed to exploit its real and considerable potential to the full. In areas where there has been no opposition with other vines, the cultivation of Barbera is more prudent and the most appropriate institutions. If we compare the productions of historical vineyards from different places, we see significant differences.

The vine produces many bunches, rich in sugars, acids and pigments. These bunches are ideal for delivering noble wines, of good thickness and also suitable for good maturation.

The phenological cycle begins with budding, about mid-April; the ripening of the bunches should be considered between the end of September and the first ten days of October. The growth of the shoots is rather disorderly: they are flexible and require timely care to support them, both for the proper arrangement of future forests and for the management of the green mass.

In spring, the Barbera vineyards can also be recognised by the colour of the foliage: a homogeneous, bright and unmistakable green. Only later do the adult leaves acquire more intense shades. The leaves are also rich in tomentum. The bunches are very characteristic, not large, with a stem formed by short internodes that give the whole a crouching, uniform and compact shape. The berries are slightly elongated and tapered at both ends. The colour of the skin is deep blue, also because of the plumose covering. It is a plant with a high capacity to repel shoots from the stem, stimulated by the strong reduction of the foliage with winter pruning.

The beginning of fruit ripening, characterized by a change in colour, is also special. It seems very irregular and takes a long time, and is almost ready when the ripening process is complete. When the bunches of the other cultivars are already well coloured, the heterogeneity of the colours in Barbera is clearly visible. However, when ripe, there are no comparisons for the beauty of the fruits.

This vine is on the one hand well adaptable to different soils, on the other hand it is sensitive to nutrient imbalances. The suffering can be the result of insufficient availability of potassium and magnesium in the plants. The cultivation is made even more complex by the greater sensitivity to the main cryptogams (i.e. plants with spores, such as fungi) of the vine: downy mildew, powdery mildew and grey mould. They are a constant threat, strongly influenced by the climate trend.

The care of the vineyard should therefore also include careful prevention, keeping the soil clean of weeds and a rational care of the row of vines. The formation of adult leaves on the entire espalier in the shortest possible time determines the greatest resistance to the attacks of downy mildew and powdery mildew; the vegetative balance and aeration of the bunches contribute to the prevention of gray mold.

But the biggest problem is flavescence: Barbera is susceptible to the disease and is the most affected vine. The care requires in particular the removal of contaminated vines and their immediate replacement by new plants. For the winegrower, this means different interventions in the same vineyard, given the simultaneous presence of plants that are still present in breeding and maturity. A difficult work justified by the preservation of the indigenous vineyards and their exceptional production.