2016 Paolo Conterno La Ginestra Barbera d’ Alba Piedmont 750 ml

Paolo Conterno’s Barbera Ginestra is one of the most outstanding Piedmont wines we’ve tasted this year—and it’s immediately apparent that this wine is from a serious terroir. Boasting juicy dark berry aromas with floral accents, a palate that’s both powerful and smooth, with hints of thyme and allspice that lead to a finish of fine-grained tannins, this is a superstar Barbera—and it shows what happens when a grape that’s often relegated to second-tier status gets planted in one of Italy’s best vineyards.

A Barolo boasting the same pedigree will cost you four or five times more. Today, you get the power, complexity, and nuance of one of Piedmont’s top terroirs in a ready-to-drink bottle that’s just $22 per bottle. That’s a stunning deal, and we had to drop everything to offer it for our members.

Conterno’s Barbera Ginestra hails from the vineyard of the same name, and it’s one of the true Grand Crus of Barolo. Antonio Galloni rates it in his very top tier of Barolo crus, alongside vineyards like Falletto, Vigna Rionda, and Monprivato, calling it an “Exceptional” terroir and praising the “generally big, broad-shouldered wines with firm, chalky tannins and the structure to develop beautifully in bottle.” Top producers like Elio Grasso and Dominico Clerico bottle Ginestra cru wines that sell for $80-$100, but Paolo Conterno is committed to showing off the vineyard while the austere, tannic Nebbiolos mellow in the cellar.

Despite being beloved for its approachable fruit and rich textures, Barbera is rarely given the time to shine in Piedmont. The land is too valuable and the price of Barolos too high for most producers to devote any of their premium vineyard space for wines that don’t sell for $75+ per bottle. But Paolo Conterno doesn’t play by those rules—this gorgeous Barbera is a celebration of that fact.

And a little story for those of you who might be wondering how this juicy Barbera will fare in the cellar: Last time we were at one of our favorite Italian wine shops on Arthur Avenue in the north Bronx, we spotted a bottle of ten-year-old Conterno Barbera—one that appeared to have been “aged accidentally” (i.e. forgotten on the shelf). For $25, we decided it was well worth the risk, and when we put it to the test that night at Zero Otto Nove, the decade-aged Barbera absolutely sang with every bite of pizza, pasta, and especially the Peroni-braised shortribs.

When you add in the top quality of the 2016 vintage, which Vinous founder Antonio Galloni rates along with the 2013 and 2010 for the best of the decade, you have a wine that radically outperforms its price and status. Enjoy it now, and hang on to some for the future—if you can.