Barbera 'Monleale' Walter Massa 2015

Walter Massa ‘Monleale’ Barbera is one of the top Barberas from the leading producer in the Colli Tortonesi (southeast Piemonte), and one of a handful of truly age-worthy Barberas. It is a wine of great depth and structure, dominated by lively, vibrant cherry and raspberry fruit. It has a sappy quality, freshness and beautiful rich gamey notes along with darker fruit on the finish.

Walter Massa is slightly eccentric, a little mad but a genius and definitely the King of Barbera. He farms some rather unfashionable grape varieties in the very fashion conscious northern Italian region of Piedmont. This is the home of the great Nebbiolo grape and although Walter farms a little Nebbiolo, his main focus is on the hugely underrated red Barbera and white Timorasso grapes. He has worked tirelessly for 40 years to show the potential of the Timorasso grape, of which there are only a few hectares left. He has also been the greatest champion of aged Barbera, refusing to release his wines until he believes they are ready to be drunk.