Barbera

Barbera is a black grape whose high natural acidity is one of its most useful identifying features. Its Piedmont home includes several distinct wine identities—from fresh, fruit-led reds to oak-aged Superiore and the more tightly defined Nizza DOCG. Italian Vitis Database confirms the cultivar using morphology and SSR markers and notes that Barbera has few important synonyms, despite several unrelated local grapes that borrow the name. The name on a bottle therefore needs careful reading: Barbera d’Asti and Nizza describe protected wine origins, not additional cultivars.

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Dolcetto

Dolcetto is a black grape strongly associated with southern Piedmont. Dolcetto d’Alba is described by its consortium as dry, fresh and fruity, with a violet-ruby colour and bitter-almond aftertaste. The name should not be read as a promise of sweet wine. Italian Vitis Database lists Ormeasco as an official synonym scoped to western Liguria, while warning against several misleading historical names.

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