[1] Century-old vines still exist in many regional vineyards and allow for the production of long-aging, robust red wines with intense fruit and enhanced tannic content.

[4] Documents from the cathedral of Casale Monferrato between 1246 and 1277 detail leasing agreements of vineyard lands planted with "de bonis vitibus barbexinis" or Barbera, as it was known then.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, waves of Italian immigrants brought Barbera to the Americas where the vine took root in California and Argentina among other places.

[5] In 1985, the Piedmont region was rocked by a scandal involving Barbera producers illegally adding methanol to their wines,[6] killing over 30 people and causing many more to lose their sight.

In Piedmont, the vine was prized for its yields and ability to ripen two weeks earlier than Nebbiolo even on vineyard sites with less than ideal exposure.

In recent times, winemakers have been experimenting with harvesting Barbera later at higher sugar levels to produce heavier, more fruit-forward wines.

Lower yields and harvesting riper grapes with more fruit and sugar have been found to be a better balance for Barbera's high acidity.

[1] Northwest Italy is the viticultural home for Barbera, but Italian immigrants spread it through much of the New World, where its acidity is valued in blended wines for the 'freshness' it imparts.

[7] At its highpoint in the late 20th century, there were over 50,000 hectares (120,000 acres) planted but the fallout from the "Methanol scandal" of the 1980s and the lack of a driving worldwide market caused those numbers to decline.

Being one of the warmest areas in Asti, Nizza has the potential to produce the ripest Barbera with sugar levels to match some of the grape's high acidity.

As in Lombardy, Barbera is often softened by blending with the lighter Croatina as it is in the Val Tidone region for the DOC wine of Gutturnio.

[1] Barbera was an important grape in re-establishing the wine industry of the Apulia and Campania regions following World War II due to its high yields and easy adaption to mechanical harvesting.

Today it is a permitted variety to be blended with Aglianico in the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wine of Taurasi though it is rarely used.

The influence of Italian immigrants has led to a scattering of Barbera plantings in South America, notably in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.

John Gladstones, in his book Viticulture and Environment,[9] includes Barbera in maturity group 5, which means that it will ripen at about the same time as Shiraz and Merlot, and that it should theoretically find a successful home in many Australian wine regions.

South African producers have begun widespread plantings of the grape in the warm climate regions of Malmesbury, Wellington and Paarl.

In recent years, the fashion of Italian grapes has caused more California winemakers to look into producing high-quality varietal Barbera.

Some characteristics of the variety are more consistent—namely its deep ruby color, pink rim, pronounced acidity, and normally rather modest levels of tannins.

While some producers delay harvest in order to increase sugar levels as a balance to Barbera's acidity, over-ripeness can lead to raisiny flavors.

[5] Grape breeder Giovanni Dalmasso at the Instituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura in Conegliano in the Veneto wine region used Barbera as one of the parent vines for many of his crosses.