OT: Pico Maccario Barbera D’Asti Mia 2012

Winery: Pico Maccario, the winery was founded in 1997 in Mombaruzzo, Piedmont with 70 hectares of vineyards in one piece of property in the heart of the Barbera d’Asti DOCG appellation. From the beginning, brothers Pico and Vitaliano Maccario have chosen modern methods to manage their vineyards and produce wine, due in equal parts to their personal taste and young age of their winery. The rose has always been a symbol of the winery. 4500 rose plants of the same cloned variety have the duel function of marking the start of each vineyard row, and – a traditional use – of signalling vine-threatening diseases before they get the chance to do damage. The presence of these thousands of rosebushes creates a beautiful walking experience between the rows of Pico Maccario.

Phone: n/a

Winemaker: n/a

Website: www.cantinapicomaccario.com

Brand: Mia 

DOCG: Barbera d’Asti is one of the most famous wines from the Piedmont region of north-western Italy. It became a DOC in 1970 and was upgraded to its DOCG classification in 2008, adding to Piedmont’s already impressive standing at this highest level of Italian wine classification.

Type: Young Red Wine 

Vintage: 2012 

Alcohol: 11.5%

Grape Variety: 100% Barbera

Vineyards: Pico Maccario, a dedicated Barbera specialist, is found on the hills of Mombaruzzo in the Asti DOCG at an average altitude of 180 meters. Comprising one single, contiguous parcel, their vineyard covers 70 hectares and is the largest solely-owned vineyard in Piedmont. Within the 70 hectares, there are some 315,000 vines capped at the end of each row by one of the approximately 4,500 red rose bushes on the property. It is no surprise that the rose is part of the winery’s emblem. Out of the 70 hectares, 55 are planted to Barbera.

Soil Type: Clay.

Bottle Size: 0.75

Price: It was a present at my favourite Italian restaurant in Madrid.

My wine rating: 87 /100 (A wine of good quality) NEW!