MonBirone Centenary Edition
Barbera d’Alba DOC
This year we celebrate a very important anniversary for our cellar and our family:
the 100th harvest of Barbera d’Alba MonBirone with the release of vintage 2018!
Back in 1918, our great-grandmother Clotilde Valente bought the vineyard on the namesakde hill in Canale and started the production of Barbera Monbirone “Grand Cru”, initially selling this wine in her Osteria as house wine, and then bottled from the 1961vintage: we still have some of these old bottles on which Clotilde herself had proudly written “Grand Cru”, with genuine ambition! The small family production was then carried on by her daughter Francesca Raimondo, who then passed the baton to her son, the oenologist Marco Monchiero, who took care of it until the 1990s. Since 1995 Monbirone has been curated by Francesco Monchiero, great-grandson of Clotilde, who wants to celebrate the centenary of production with a celebratory label bearing the signatures of the four authors of the success of this prestigious Barbera cru.
The total production of vintage 2018 consists of:
- 10.577 bottles
- 100 Magnum
- 10 Jeroboam
- 5 Balthazar
Grape variety: Barbera 100%
Production area: Roero, municipality of Canale
Orientation: ¼ East, ¼ South, ½ West
Altitude: 260 meters
Yield per hectare: 60 quintals
Vineyard surface: 4 hectares
Alcohol content: 13,5-14,5%
Acidity: 5,5-6,5 g/l
Bottle size: bottle (0,750 l), Magnum (1,5 l), Jeroboam (3,0 l), Balthazar (12 l)
Sensory profile
Colour: dark and deep with intense ruby tones, enriched by purple reflections.
Nose: excellent intensity and finesse with aromas ranging from wet woodland to cocoa, with spicy notes (juniper berries) blending into fruity notes of morello cherry and plum.
Taste: the entry shows a great stratified and complex strength, the alcohol ensures an initial softness immediately balanced by the acidity, which gives lightness to the fruity pulp. The finish is long and fresh and delivers good harmony between fruity and woody sensations.
Food pairings: its richness in alcohol and good acidity recommend its consumption with all meats prepared with long cooking, but also enjoyable with medium-aged cheeses.
