Maryland Barbera

On Saturday, March 28, 2026, we did a vertical Maryland barbera tasting with food pairings. This red grape originates in Italy's Piedmont region and typically has high acidity, low tannins, medium-body and red fruits like cherry, plum and raspberry, along with earthy herbs and sometimes a little spice or vanilla from oak aging. Due to its lower tannin and lighter body, you want to drink these wines young and be careful when food pairing so you don't overpower it. We had three great Maryland barberas for this tasting from Crow Vineyard and Winery, Port of Leonardtown Winery and Simple Theory Wine Co. For the food, we had sausage bolognese, stuffed mushroom pizza appetizers, stuffed mini sweet peppers with sausage and cheddar, twice baked sweet potatoes topped with crispy prosciutto, roasted acorn squash curry soup,  blueberry goat cheese, kale chips, crackers and hummus. We did a Bottle Review  Podcast on Crow's so check it out! It had red fruit and pepper aromas, tart raspberry and cranberry on the palate and medium acid. It paired best with the mushrooms,  soup and goat cheese. The Port of Leonardtown had smoky, cedar and tobacco on the nose. Dark cherry and raspberry, along with thyme were present, as well. Acid was medium plus. It paired best with the bolognese, kale chips, sweet potatoes and the prosciutto. Simple Theory's had oak and cedar aromas, along with black cherry, strong tannins and medium plus acid. It paired best with the peppers, cheddar and bolognese. This was a particularly interesting tasting since we had three barberas from three very different areas of Maryland. They all had different dominant characteristics and  therefor paired with different food on our menu. A number of Maryland wineries are making this varietal and these are three that are doing a pretty fabulous job!