A millennium before there was Cabernet Sauvignon, there was Barbera, a northwestern Italian native with high-yielding, purple-black fruit; in fact, it’s such a heavy producer it usually needs to be pruned heavily to produce excellent fruit. It’s the third most-planted red wine grape in the Boot (after Sagiovese and Montepulciano), but Italian immigrants have brought it with them to the US west coast, Australia and South America as well.

Depending on age and region, Barbera’s hallmark characteristics tend to be intensely aromatic fruity bouquets (cherry, blueberry and blackberry are often present). It might be a cousin of Mourvedre, sometimes grape lineage is a little mysterious, especially grapes as old as this one.