Walter Massa ‘Terra’ Barbera is an amazing value entry level Barbera from the King of Barbera himself, Walter Massa. The wine has a wonderful purity of fruit, it feels alive with sappy, crunchy red fruit and beautiful freshness. It is complex with balsamic notes, forest floor and touches of spice and chocolate. Really good buy.
Walter Massa is slightly eccentric, a little mad but a genius and definitely the King of Barbera. He farms some rather unfashionable grape varieties in the very fashion conscious northern Italian region of Piedmont. This is the home of the great Nebbiolo grape and although Walter farms a little Nebbiolo, his main focus is on the hugely underrated red Barbera and white Timorasso grapes. He has worked tirelessly for 40 years to show the potential of the Timorasso grape, of which there are only a few hectares left. He has also been the greatest champion of aged Barbera, refusing to release his wines until he believes they are ready to be drunk.
