Moby and I braved the Friday evening traffic to make it to NJ in time for a nice dinner at 3 Guys Pizzeria. It’s a local Italian favorite that serves fantastic pizza as well as a sit down restaurant. The best part is they allow you to BYOB and we took full advantage. UncleGrape appeared from the wine cellar with 3 Barberas to try and off we went.

We started with an assortment of appetizers and the 2011 Bovio Barbera d’Alba: clams casino, fried calamari with mild and hot marinara, broccoli rabe and sweet italian sausage, and garlic bread with mozzarella. That bottle didn’t last long and we were onto the 2010 Renato Ratti Barbera d’Alba. I had the chicken and veal parm while Moby had the gnocchis with vodka sauce. We finished off dinner with the 2009 Camp du Rouss Barbera d’Asti and headed home to get ready for a big day Saturday.

Moby was under the weather for most of the trip so I thought I’d rate and discuss the wines rather than rate them. My rankings for this dinner:

1: 2010 Renato Ratti Barbera d’Alba

2: 2009 Camp du Rouss Barbera d’Asti

3: 2011 Bovio Barbera d’Alba

All three wines were delicious but I think the clear winner was the Renato Ratti. It had the best balance of fruit and acidity and I’d most certainly recommend it. All 3 of these wines should be readily available for less than $25.

How awesome is BYOB? Sadly it’s not a big thing here in New England but they have it everywhere in NJ. Sometimes they charge a corkage fee per bottle but often times it’s still less than the markup on a traditional wine list. I can’t tell you how many times Moby and I have been out to see $25 bottles we love on wine lists for $75 and we simply can’t justify buying it. UncleGrape recommended calling ahead and seeing if local places will charge corkage fees and allow us to BYOB and I’m going to give it a try. Corkage fees may range anywhere from $10 to $25 per bottle…I guess we’ll find out.

First things first let’s talk about the grape. Barbera is grown throughout Italy however in my opinion the best wine comes from two prominent regions located in Piedmont: Asti and Alba. I’ve only tried Barbera from these regions however my Aunt and Uncle have sampled many others and find they are lacking. Barbera wines can vary greatly from a nice medium body, fruity flavor meant to be drank young to a more complex, intense wine that may need aging. They do have one thing in common though: dark ruby color, tannins, and strong acidity. I think the versatility and deliciousness of this grape just furthers the notion that Piedmont is King when it comes to Italian wine.

Top notch Barbera producers according to my Uncle: Vietti, Renato Ratti, Bovio, Coppo, Conterno, and Giacosa. Once I find some of these wines I will let you know what we thing!

On to the wine…Moby and I spent Sunday afternoon making homemade tomato sauce with hot Italian sausage. We whipped up some garlic bread and headed to the wine cellar to find the perfect match and came back with this 2010 Barbera d’Asti. For $18 this young Barbera was just what we needed.

colonelgrape: 87. A very delicious wine. A deep red color but it’s young and alive. Low tannins but quite acidic, nice and tart. I taste a nice bouquet of fruit, both red and dark….but I’d say raspberry is the most prominent. Very fresh tasting. I think this is one to drink young, it doesn’t have the tannins to be  cellared but it doesn’t need it. Stands up without food nicely.

MobyGrape: 86.  This was a tasty wine, wasn’t super dry or winey, and it certainly wasn’t crappy.  There wasn’t a super strong flavor but was kind of acidic at the end (read: battery acid) but it gave it a little kick.  This is a good wine to drink when you just feel like having a glass of red wine but don’t want to commit to something enormous.  You don’t necessarily need a meal to go with it, but I think it would be up to the challenge of say, a nice meatball sub or some pasta (like we had with it).