On the label, the word "Superiore" is a formal guarantee: it means the wine has complied with a more stringent set of rules — lower yields, mandatory ageing. But what does this actually mean in practice, and why should it change the way you approach a bottle of Barbera d'Asti?
The regulatory framework: from DOC to DOCG
Barbera d'Asti received DOC recognition in 1970, after years of pressure from local producers to protect the name and origin of the wine. In 2008 it was elevated to DOCG — Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita — a higher tier that requires stricter analytical and sensory controls before the wine can be released to market.
Within the Barbera d'Asti DOCG, two main types coexist: the base version and the Superiore. The distinction is not merely one of minimum alcohol (10.5% for the base, 12.5% for Superiore) but also concerns maximum yield per hectare — lower for Superiore — and, most importantly, mandatory ageing.
The Superiore rules: yield, alcohol, ageing
The Barbera d'Asti Superiore DOCG specification sets precise requirements. Maximum grape yield may not exceed 70 quintals per hectare, compared to 90 for the base version. Fewer clusters per vine translates to greater concentration of sugars, aromas and structure. Minimum alcohol is 12.5%.
The most defining rule concerns ageing: Superiore must remain in the winery for at least fourteen months from the beginning of the harvest year, of which at least six months must be in oak vessels. This oak passage is mandatory — not a stylistic choice left to the individual producer, but a requirement of the denomination. The wine cannot be released to market before 1 January of the second year following the harvest.
The size of the oak vessel — 225-litre barriques, large 25-hectolitre botti, or intermediate formats — is left to the producer's discretion. It is a choice that profoundly influences the final character of the wine: small oak imparts tannin and spice more quickly; large oak works through slower oxidation with less direct aromatic impact.
Why "Superiore" does not simply mean "better"
The Superiore designation codifies a guaranteed quality floor, but it does not mean that every Barbera d'Asti Superiore is necessarily superior to every base Barbera d'Asti. A careful producer working the base version with controlled yields, spontaneous fermentation and a year in steel can make an excellent wine — perhaps more vibrant and immediate than certain Superiore wines burdened with heavy oak.
The distinction is better understood as one of intent. Superiore is a wine designed to wait, to open over time, to accompany structured dishes. The base version is meant to be drunk with pleasure and without ceremony. Two different proposals for two different contexts.
Madonna dei Monti: our Superiore
Madonna dei Monti is our Barbera d'Asti Superiore DOCG. It comes from the same twenty-year-old vineyards as Millecolli — the same south-facing exposure, the same grey marls of Grazzano Badoglio, the same hand harvest and spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts. The difference lies in what happens after fermentation.
Madonna dei Monti ages eighteen months in 225-litre barriques. That time in small oak builds a complexity that steel cannot give: the tannins of the wood integrate with Barbera's acid structure, the toasted and spiced notes weave into the dark fruit, and the wine acquires a depth that is not yet legible at bottling but emerges in the months that follow. It is the wine that asks most of our patience, and gives it back.
We release it when we believe it is ready: always beyond the fourteen months required by the denomination, often well beyond. Not to comply with a rule, but because in this case the rule happens to coincide with good sense.