MonteStregone Strja Barbera d'Asti 2018

Strja is a 100% Barbera from MonteStregone, a small Piedmont producer based in Acqui Terme in the province of Alessandria, within the Barbera d'Asti DOCG zone. The winery was founded by two trained winemakers and longtime friends, Alessandro Gallo and Roberto Orsi, who named the project after Monte Stregone, a hill near Acqui that local legend claims is so inhospitable that even vines cannot grow there.

The 2018 growing season in Piedmont brought heavy spring rains that replenished water reserves after the drought-stricken 2017, followed by warm days and cool nights through the late summer harvest window. Those cool nights in August and early September allowed the Barbera grapes to develop intense aromatics while reaching full phenolic maturity. The resulting wine is deep ruby in color with notes of ripe cherry, strawberry, and dark berries, a characteristic juicy texture, and a salty finish that lifts the long acidity.

Barbera is the main variety of the Monferrato hills, harvested in the second half of September from sun-exposed hillside sites. In this wine it is handled to preserve its natural freshness rather than to add oak structure, resulting in a medium-bodied red with low astringency and a lively, food-friendly profile.

The wine carries the Barbera d'Asti DOCG classification, which requires a minimum of 90% Barbera from vineyards in the provinces of Asti and Alessandria, and was elevated from DOC to DOCG status in 2008.