I got to experience the full development of Albarossa, a serious, intellectual wine (hey, no one said that I had an easy job, right?)

Once again for Monferrato in the Glass, I have the pleasure of being joined by Paolo Bava, an expert on the grapes and wines of Monferrato. And, once again, we take a quick break from drinking all of that delicious Barbera to try another of the region’s compelling red wine options: Albarossa. For those of you who are familiar with a little bit of Italiano, you will recognize that the grape shares a name with one of America’s favorite cult classics, Red Dawn. In this case, however, you won’t need to fend off any invading armies… and it will almost certainly leave a better taste in your mouth than most of the not-so-classic cinema from the 1980s…

Paolo describes Albarossa as “something new” – and he’s right, at least by ancient Italian winemaking standards – but with an “old” history. It’s certainly an appropriate grape for us to taste together among the mind-bogglingly beautiful Piedmonte hillsides, because of its unique, regionally-inspired parentage. You see, Albarossa was born in the 1930s, in an attempt to combine some of the best qualities of two of Piedmont’s most storied wine grapes: Barbera and Nebbiolo. In some ways, Albarossa is the kind of grape that doesn’t fully make sense until you put it into the context of its land and its heritage (which Paolo does quite nicely for us in the video).

Luckily for me, Albarossa makes a lot of sense in the glass. Also lucky for me, Mr. Bava popped open an Albarossa from 2011, so I got to experience the full development of this serious, intellectual wine (hey, no one said that I had an easy job, right?). To find out what a true Monferrato Albarossa is like in the glass, and to discover more about its uniquely Piedmonte heritage, take a look at the video.

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