Marilena Barbera's wines on The Wine Advocate

Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate's Italian Wine Specialist, gave excellent scores to all wines represented in the US market.

The very popular wine magazine founded by Robert Parker has just released its Italian issue for 2016, confirming the excellent quality of all Marilena Barbera's wines currently available in the US market. 

Read all Monica Larner's scores and comments here below.

• 2015 Ciàtu Alicante Menfi 90+
  With its Quintarelli-styled handwritten label, Marilena Barbera hits a new stride with her 2015 Menfi Ciàtu. Unrefined and unfiltered, this is an inky dark and impenetrable red wine with a seamless presentation of dark fruit aromas.
  In terms of flavor, it takes you slightly off guard thanks to a sour point of fresh blackberry or bitter almond that is characteristic of the Alicante grape.
  That astringency makes for a good contrast against the overall heft and density of the wine. This is an extreme wine for resilient palates.

• Coste al Vento Grillo Sicilia 88
  The 2015 Sicilia Grillo Coste Al Vento shows a pretty golden color and luminous appearance. The bouquet is redolent of tropical fruit, peach, citrus and a subtle note of green olive. This Grillo is easy-drinking and approachable but it also has the mild structure to pair with a more important dish like pasta con le vongole. Some 3,500 bottles were produced.

• Microcosmo Perricone Sicilia 88
  The 2013 Sicilia Microcosmo is 90% Perricone and 10% Nerello Mascalese from one of the most innovative producers in the southern part of Sicily. This wine offers a very exotic bouquet with Indian spice and Turkish bazaar mixed in with dried fruit, prune, black olive and marinated capers. Perricone is a marked and deeply etched red grape that delivers loads of intensity and a brooding personality. The wine is firm and muscular.

• Nero d'Avola Sicilia 88
  Another good value wine, the 2015 Sicilia Nero d'Avola takes a very direct and immediate approach to the grape. This Nero d'Avola shows the dark olive, caper and rosemary aromas. The wine is streamlined and tight with a sour point of cranberry on the close.

• La Bambina Menfi 87
  The 2015 Menfi Rosato La Bambina is an amber colored rosé with copper and raspberry highlights. This Nero d'Avola-based wine shows delicate aromas of honey, wild berry, candied fruit and acacia flower. The bouquet is deeply fragrant and floral. It offers good value from the deep south of Italy.