what:
red grape varietal
primarily from the Piedmont, Italy
basis of Barbera d’Alba, d’Asti, and del Monferrato
where:
Vino Vino
Sestiere San Marco, 2007
Venice
when:
early spring
character:
There is perhaps no more lamentable figure than the musician without a genre.
And yet this is the lot of Barbera, Northern Italy’s convivial crooner,
so often defined by what he is not. That is, he is not a famously oversized
tenor such as his elder neighbors, Barolo and Barbaresco, whose deep intonation
and perfect pitch are hailed by critics and connoisseurs alike. Nor is he
the next sensational teenage pop star, such as the younger Dolcetto, with
a high sweet voice and magazine cover good looks and a flock of clamoring
young fans. No, Barbera is somewhere in between. Thirty-something. Tall
enough. Handsome enough. Fit enough (though known to smoke on stage). Affable
enough. He sings standards rather than chart-topping hits or arias, in small
nightclubs rather than opera houses or stadia. To see him one merely strolls
down the street, shakes hands with the doorman, and slips into a booth near
the back just as he steps to the microphone—his voice full, rich,
and warming. He is always a bit sad; but then right when you are about to
feel sad for him, he gives the room a wry little wink to let you
know that his is a good life, after all.
tastes like:
“On an
Evening In Roma (Sott’er Celo de Roma)” sung by Dean
Martin.
pairs nicely with:
High plush red-leather crescent corner booths filled with an equal assortment
of old and new and soon-to-be friends; “That Old Devil Moon”;
long wooden antique family style tables with seating for at least three
generations; “These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)”; the
words, ‘another bottle,’ a shared nod with the waiter which
implies the same, “You Do Something to Me”; spontaneously standing
near the end of a long meal and, while using an empty bottle of Barbera
as a microphone, serenading at volume and across a crowded table either
one’s sweetheart or one's mother; “…when the world
seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine, that’s amoooooore”;
and group laughter accentuated by clapping.