Coppo 2005 Barbera d'Asti L'Avvocata

Medium-dark color, a bit petillant.

Smell of plums, dark cherry, oak.

Sweet fruit flavor, plum and prune, tongue-tingling petillance, alcohol warmth at the end. All in all, an inferior bottle for $16.99, from a maker who produces some better examples.

St. Amant 2008 Lodi Barbera Tools of the Trade

This is my first US entry in the festival of Barbera and temporarily ends it (I'm out of fresh examples.)

Dark purple red, not quite opaque. Violet at the edges.

Surprising pencil-box oak is the most noticeable smell, then dark stone-fruit.

I haven't run across a Barbera with a significant degree of new oak in the flavor before. Plum and prune fruit, seems particularly sweet at the finish.

Not a bad bottle for $19.99, but a tad bit flat, it seems to lack some of the food-friendly acid I'm so very used to tasting in Barbera d'Alba and Barbera d'Asti.

Conterno Fantino 2008 Barbera d'Alba Vignota

Another entrant in the festival of Barbera!

Very dark color

Smell of lots of fresh oak, plum and prune.

Dark stone fruits, vanilla oak, deep flavor.

Full-bodied bottle for $30.99, fuller than any of the other Barberas I've had recently. Would be better, though, with a little more restraint in the cooperage.

Boroli 2006 Barbera d'Alba Quattro Fratelli

Another entry in my festival of Barbera.

Very dark color.

Plum and prune smell.

Dark plum and prune fruit, oak with restraint, sweet fruit well-balanced with plenty of acid.

Very good bottle for $20.99, medium-bodied but a bit fuller-bodied than the examples of Barbera d'Asti I've enjoyed over the last few days.

Coppo 2006 Barbera d'Asti Camp du Rouss

A fresh entry in the festival of Barbera, a celebration of one of my favorite general-purpose reds.

Near-opaque wine, violet at the edges.

Cherry and plum smell, leather and basil, evidence of some young oak which doesn't intrude.

Cherry and plum fruit flavors, bright with Barbera-typical acidity.

A fine medium-bodied bottle for $19.99, suitable for a lighter lunch or dinner.

Icardi 2008 Barbera d'Asti Tabaren

Dark clear ruby color.

Black cherry smell, oak, wet leather.

Plum and black cherry fruit flavors, new oak spice, vibrant with tart acid.

Good food-friendly medium-weight bottle of wine for $15.99.

More and more, I find Barbera an unfussy accompaniment to a simple dinner. Tonight I declare the festival of Barbera!