Sandhill 2012 Barbera
I recently visited Sandhill Winery and was pleasantly surprised with their updated tasting room, which was renovated and expanded about two years ago. It had been awhile since I visited. I was really impressed with their new space!
I came upon a couple bottles that peaked my interest - their Sangiovese and Barbera. I asked to try them but sadly they did not have them open. Normally I'm skeptical about trying varietals that aren't native to the region they're grown in, but recently I've been trying some phenomenal examples of non-indigenous varietals from the south Okanagan ( most specifically the Stag's Hollow Tempranillo and Dolcetto which showed surprising typicity) so I decided to chance it and purchased a bottle of each.
The sangiovese was excellent and paired beautifully with chili - but that's for another post!
The Barbera was exceptional! I normally expect a certain type of savory character from Barbera, with medium to medium plus acidity and body which makes for excellent pairing with high acid, savory and herbaceous foods. While this example wasn't quite as herbaceous as its north western Italian counterpart, it showed incredible body, luscious blackberry and dark berry fruit, with an ample finish and plenty of cigar box and tobacco notes.
Sandhill is the first winery in the Okanagan to make plantings of this varietal, and for this current vintage I was impressed with the expression and varietal character.
I left it open on the counter for 2-3 days and was blown away by how amazing it was on the last day I finished it off. It was even better after some oxidation.
At $26, this was a steal and I'll definitely be going back for more!
Food pairing: pizza, tomato based sauces or soups, anything with herbs (I've paired it with a dill and tomato soup before that was perfection)
I came upon a couple bottles that peaked my interest - their Sangiovese and Barbera. I asked to try them but sadly they did not have them open. Normally I'm skeptical about trying varietals that aren't native to the region they're grown in, but recently I've been trying some phenomenal examples of non-indigenous varietals from the south Okanagan ( most specifically the Stag's Hollow Tempranillo and Dolcetto which showed surprising typicity) so I decided to chance it and purchased a bottle of each.
The sangiovese was excellent and paired beautifully with chili - but that's for another post!
The Barbera was exceptional! I normally expect a certain type of savory character from Barbera, with medium to medium plus acidity and body which makes for excellent pairing with high acid, savory and herbaceous foods. While this example wasn't quite as herbaceous as its north western Italian counterpart, it showed incredible body, luscious blackberry and dark berry fruit, with an ample finish and plenty of cigar box and tobacco notes.
Sandhill is the first winery in the Okanagan to make plantings of this varietal, and for this current vintage I was impressed with the expression and varietal character.
I left it open on the counter for 2-3 days and was blown away by how amazing it was on the last day I finished it off. It was even better after some oxidation.
At $26, this was a steal and I'll definitely be going back for more!
Food pairing: pizza, tomato based sauces or soups, anything with herbs (I've paired it with a dill and tomato soup before that was perfection)
Comments