It was a great year for Camp du Rouss. Considering the points that reviewers have given both the 2011 and 2012 Barbera d’Asti DOCG this year, we can’t be anything but completely satisfied. From Vinous to Bibenda, from Paolo Massobrio’s Golosario, and from James Suckling to Wine Spectator, Camp du Rouss has proven to be a pleasing wine for its fresh, structured personality.

The points from December, overall the review from Antonio Galloni, were a welcome Christmas gift that paid back all the work we’ve done. Every Barbera we produce has its own character and bright identity, telling a unique story with every sip. With a score of 91/100, the founder of Vinous, Antonio Galloni, describes Camp du Rouss 2012: “…impeccable, not to mention a terrific example of the vintage. Expressive, perfumed aromatics meld into a core of dark red and bluish fruits as the 2012 shows off its round, succulent personality. The 2012 is best enjoyed over the next few years. This is very nicely done, especially considering the price.”

We are “barberists,” we can’t deny it. And these reviews have made us proud. Barbera comes from the territory we were born in and goes back to our roots, to the traditions that have always been with us at the table. In other words, barbera is part of our DNA. Here in the Monferrato Astigiano, barbera means the same thing to us as nebbiolo does to the Langhe. It is the variety that’s given the best soil, the sunniest land, and our most attentive care. One of the most interesting etymologies of barbera says its name derives from the root alb or arb, the same as that of the term albéra, or “height,” where trees grow — in Latin, arbores. Barbera would therefore be identified as the “variety of height,” or the variety chosen in ancient times for obtaining noble table wines. It is the per eccellenza wine of our hills.

But this hasn’t always been the case. On the contrary, barbera has overcome various periods of near-oblivion and neglect, tied to poverty and difficult economic times, especially after the Second World War in the Asti hills of the Monferrato. Many producers favored quantity over quality, leaving the potential for this variety untapped.

Today, every award and every positive review given to our Barbera is a recognition of the work and faith that Casa Coppo has always had for this variety. Beginning in the 1980s, we believed in this variety and began to observe it more closely and produce it with a totally different spirit than our contemporaries. We strived for perfection in its expression, to highlight its nuances and develop particular areas for its cultivation. We were strict with yield and harvest time, making sure we picked the grapes at the right point of ripeness. We intuited the gradual introduction of barrel aging, which amplifies the sensorial richness of Barbera d’Asti and emphasizes its complexity and longevity.

It wasn’t by chance that the first harvest of Camp du Rouss was in 1985, just one year before the first vintage of Pomorosso, the Coppo label that literally carved a path to a new way of interpreting the variety, together with very few others in the area. If Pomorosso is our flagship wine and Barbera Riserva di Famiglia is the jewel of our production (made only during exceptional vintages), then we can safely say that Camp du Rouss earned its experience in the field, affirming itself as one of the great labels of Barbera d’Asti DOCG year after year.

Non è un caso che la prima vendemmia del Camp du Rouss sia il 1985, a un solo anno di distanza dalla nascita del Pomorosso, l’etichetta di Coppo che – assieme a pochissime altre – aprì letteralmente la strada a un nuovo modo di interpretare la varietà. Se il Pomorosso resta la nostra “ammiraglia” e la Barbera Riserva di Famiglia la chicca prodotta solo nelle annate eccezionali, oggi il Camp du Rouss può tranquillamente affermare di essersi guadagnato i gradi sul campo, caratterizzandosi, anno dopo anno, come una delle grandi espressioni di Barbera d’Asti Docg.

Here are the best scores that Camp du Rouss 2011 and 2012 received this past year.

Wine Spectator – Camp du Rouss 2011

 

James Suckling – Camp du Rouss 2011

 

Bibenda – Camp du Rouss 2012

Golosario – Camp du Rouss 2012

 

Antonio Galloni, Vinous – 91\100