Barbera Grape: Michele Chiarlo's Crusade to Elevate the "People's Wine"
– tales of Piemonte, squatting rights, & grape delights!
This is a story of a grape called Barbera and a man called Michele Chiarlo. Barbera wine was known as “the people’s wine.” It was simple and fruity….until the 1980s and 1990s when the grape growing and winemaking innovations advanced. Michele was one of the promoters of Barbera – committed to improving its quality.
Both Barbera and Michele come from Piemonte (Piedmont in English) in Northwest Italy, whose main city is Torino (Turin). However, Barbera is likely a transplant from elsewhere in Italy, as he doesn’t have any grape relatives in Piemonte despite being the region’s most planted grape. There is nonetheless documentation to his existence in Piemonte in at least the 1500s and maybe earlier. So squatting rights definitely make him a “local” by now!
Michele was the first born of Pietro Chiarlo. Pietro was born in 1898 and his contributions were instrumental in the continued development of grape growing and winemaking in Piemonte and Italy. Michele followed suit and started making wine in 1956. His company, named after himself, produced its first vintage in 1958. In the 60’s he saw the potential growth for Italian wines on the export market. He focused on the Americas and Northern Europe and fostered trust with importers and consumers.
Another nickname for Barbera is the working horse grape. For this horse to change its rep as an inexpensive low-quality wine took some time. Michele was one of the people instrumental in advocating for quality of Barbera starting in the 1970s and 1980s.
He recognized that the grape just needs a little TLC. One problem is its tendency toward growing a lot of foliage (vigor) and high fruit yields which lead to low concentration of aromas and flavors as the vine’s energy is directed in too many directions. In the case of Barbera, this may also led to grapes not reaching desired ripeness. Consequently, higher quality sub-regions have wine laws that restrict fruit yield.
But how do you do this? Isn’t the vine going to do what it wants?
There are many approaches to limit yield in vine growing, such as green harvesting - also called crop thinning.
Green harvesting? Let me guess, you harvest and discard unripe grape bunches, allowing the plant to focus on the remaining grapes!
Exactly.
Michele used this technique, not typically done in the region at the time, leading locals to ask the priest to intervene. They thought Michele was sinning when they saw him harvesting unripe bunches!
The growing environment (soil, sunshine, weather, elevation, etc.) is another method used to control yields.
OK maybe a priest is needed now …because you want to play God! Who do you think you are? Shazam! I want higher altitude! Bam, less direct sun!
No, but choosing optimal sites when establishing vineyards is within our control. For example, the direction the vineyard faces, the altitude, and whether the site is flat ground or on a slope are all important considerations. This was advice Pietro Chiarlo gave his son while purchasing land, and one Michele took to heart!
Which brings us to 1995, when Michele buys the La Court property (Tenuta La Court/La Court Estate). This land is in a sub-region now called Nizza. Nizza has one of the highest elevation Barbera vineyards. Even so, Nizza did not come to be an official sub-region until 2014, thanks to the efforts of Michele and winemaker Giuliano Noè, who lobbied for Nizza recognition as an official sub-region in the 2000’s. The wine laws are more restrictive here in terms of yields and winemaking then other sub regions (Nizza maximum yield is 49 hL/ha, while some other Barbera sub regions are set at 63-84 hL/ha). Nizza wine also requires more ageing, namely 18 months, of which 6 months must be in oak. Other sub-regions do not require any oak and have shorter ageing time requirements.
Michele’s story comes to an end peacefully in November 2023. Fortunately for us, he ran his business until he died at age 88, leaving his mark on the wine world for as long as possible. Also fortunately, his sons Alberto and Stefano, who joined the winery in the 1990’s, now have the reins, allowing Michele’s legacy and his Barbera wines to live on.
La Court within Nizza is now a UNESCO world heritage site, and from where the Michele Chiarlo winery produces 4 Barbera wines. One of these is named Cipressi, after the Cypress trees that grow there as seen on the bottle label below.
Michele Chiarlo Cipressi Nizza 2018 from Piemonte, Italy
Style: Old World Medium Body Red
Varieties: Barbera
This harmonious wine entices with violet aromas and flavors of blackberries, ripe plum, and the complexity of mint, anise, baking spice, and coconut with an overall earthy quality. It has well-integrated moderately high tannins.
Best pairings: Pasta with Fennel-Seasoned Sausage Sauce, Risotto, Salamis, Medium Cheese: Goat & Morbier.
Serving Temperature: 16 degrees Celsius
Price: ~$34 (incl. Shades of Grape 15% discount & 5% gst)
Serving Tips: Temperature is key - this is a high alcohol wine, if served too warm, the wine will seem unbalanced even though the alcohol is well integrated.
I have compiled all my relevant wine recommendations in one place. I will do my best to keep this up to date. This version also has links on where to find the wines in Alberta. I also include the link(s) to the article in which the wine was featured.
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SOURCES:
Azienda vitivinicola Michele Chiarlo: I Produttori del Nizza (no date) Azienda Vitivinicola Michele Chiarlo | i produttori del Nizza. Available at: https://www.ilnizza.net/produttore/michele-chiarlo.html (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Barbera (2020) Consorzio Barbera d’Asti e Vini del Monferrato. Available at: https://www.viniastimonferrato.it/en/vitigni/barbera/ (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Barbera finds a second home in California (no date) US Grapes - Barbera. Available at: https://fps.ucdavis.edu/grapebook/winebook.cfm?chap=Barbera (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
The disciplinary: Associazione Produttori del Nizza (no date) The Disciplinary | Associazione Produttori del Nizza. Available at: https://www.ilnizza.net/en/the-disciplinary.html (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Green, M. (2023) Piedmont wine icon Michele Chiarlo Passes Away, Decanter. Available at: https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/piedmont-wine-icon-michele-chiarlo-passes-away-517523/ (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Michele Chiarlo (2018) La Court cru, Michele Chiarlo. Available at: https://www.michelechiarlo.it/en/cru-and-vineyards/la-court-cru/ (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Robinson, J. (2015) The oxford companion to wine. 4th rev. ed. Corby: Oxford University Press.
The Michele Chiarlo Winery produces wine from Langhe, Monferrato and Gavi (2023) Michele Chiarlo. Available at: https://www.michelechiarlo.it/en/about/ (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Sanderson, B. (2023) Michele Chiarlo, Italian winemaker known for Barolo and Barbera, dies at 88, Wine Spectator. Available at: https://www.winespectator.com/articles/italian-winemaker-michele-chiarlo-known-for-barolo-and-barbera-dies (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Todd, C. (2018) Michele Chiarlo, the man behind the wine legend, LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/michele-chiarlo-man-behind-wine-legend-cathrine-todd-dipwset/ (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Wine & Spirit Education Trust (2021) D1: Wine Production - An accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Version 1.2. London: Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Wine & Spirit Education Trust (2021) D3: Wines of the World - An accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Version 1.2. London: Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Imagine if he did. What was the family with whom we stayed?
Another great tale. Remember the Turin visit.