Here's another food-friendly alternative from beautiful Piedmont. The Rizzi 2021 Barbera d'Alba opens to an inky dark appearance with thickly concentrated flavors of cherry liqueur, crème de cassis and black plum. The wine is textured and layered with soft fruit flavors. It ends with a spot of freshness, but the acidity is balanced against the sweetness of the fruit. This wine sees a brief six months in oak followed by a slow 16 months in cement to relax and integrate. Some 13,700 bottles will hit the market in September.

The 2020 Barbera d'Alba is a terrific wine, especially if pizza night is on the calendar. This is a fun and exuberant expression of Barbera with sweet cherry and plum and lots of easy texture to absorb the natural acidity of the grape. This is a simple but very well-balanced expression of Piedmont's favorite food grape.

The Rizzi 2018 Barbera d'Alba is a pretty simple expression that's snappy enough to pair with a blue cheese pizza or any buttery dish. It does show lively notes of dark cherry fruit and crushed aspirin, but mostly you'll just enjoy its simplicity and nice acidity. Some 12,000 bottles were produced.

The 2016 Barbera d'Alba shows nice intensity, with dark fruit nuances, smoky layers and loosely knit texture. The alcohol content is 14%, and you feel that power. This Barbera would pair nicely with fatty foods such as salami or other cold cuts.

The 2010 Barbera d’Alba (aged in stainless steel and cement) offers more heft and power with bright red fruit, plum and black cherry. The wine is soft and pleasantly round in the mouth with a touch of milky almond on the close. Anticipated maturity: 2013- 2015. As always, Enrico Rizzi delivers classic, even-handed expressions of Nebbiolo from his family estate that is perched along the backbone of a vine-covered ridge in Treiso. I have always admired the work achieved here with cement vats. Importer: David Bowler Wine, New York, NY; tel. (212) 807-1680