The Story
The Rosa dell Olmo Barbera d’Asti 2018 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s import wine, I am not sure if this is an exclusive TJ’s wine since I found a wine shop on the internet selling this wine for around $12. This is a DOCG designated wine.
Italy has strict rules and regulations pertaining to the farming of grapes and the production of wine. The lowest level is table wine (American wines don’t have these standards all US wine is designated table wine), then IGP which are wines from a particular region in Italy, but did not conform to all the rules for some reason.
Up from there are DOC wines and these are the wines that followed the regulations and the boundaries, and finally is DOCG which are vineyards that are deemed to be located on the prime ground (usually in hillsides near rivers with rocky terrain) and these wines have the strictest rules to follow.
D’Asti is inside the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, beside Barbera, Piedmont is famous for Barolo, Barbaresco for Red wine and Moscato D’Asti for white wine. There are two Barbera growing areas and the D’Asti provides the wines that tend to be more affordable.
This $5.99 Barbera is made by a large wine company that deals exclusively with DOC and DOCG wines in Piedmont, they control over 12,000 acres of vineyards and 2500 growers. They have the ability to produce large quantities of wine, but still, producing a DOCG Barbera D’Asti and shipping Italy the way to me in Chicago for less than 6 bucks is amazing.
Trader Joe’s import wines are often export versions of the wines that everyday people in Europe drink every day. Europeans drink more wine than Americans and often have a smaller wine budget than here, so folks in Europe drink cheap. The local wineries are set up to accommodate their needs and Trader Joe’s gives us a little taste of the action.
Rosa dell Olmo Barbera d’Asti 2018 Tasting Notes
The color is a dark garnet red with black highlights. The nose is bright concentrated red berries, soft spice, black pepper, lightly herbal, and licorice. This is a soft, smooth wine, with an edge.
It tastes of ripe raspberry mixed with chocolate powder, sweet plum, and spice. The mid-palate adds a little strawberry, leather, and raisin spice. The tannins are sweet and fir the flavor profile, the acidity is better than any 6 buck wine can expect to be.
The Summary
- The Rosa dell Olmo Barbera d’Asti 2018 just might get voted into the $5.99 wine Hall of Fame.
- It tastes good, this wine does not have any “issues”, and drinks well above its price tag.
I had put aside this empty bottle to try to remember where I bought it, as it was so very good. At that price I need to order by the case.