Disclaimer: this review is of a sample that I received from the producer’s US importer. My review has been conducted in compliance with my Samples Policy and the ISA wine tasting protocol and the opinions I am going to share on the wine are my own.
In this second post of the “Barbera Trilogy” we will review Coppo‘s mid-range Barbera, “Camp du Rouss”, a fancy name which, in the dialect of Piemonte, means “field of the red-headed”(!) – apparently, the reason for the name is that the previous owner of the vineyard where the grapes for this wine are grown was a red-headed man.
The Bottom Line
Overall, Coppo, Barbera d’Asti “Camp du Rouss” 2009 DOCG ($23) was a good, muscular Barbera, with a nice balance between its secondary, fruity aromas and the tertiary, spicy ones as well as an appealing price. It makes a good complement for red meat dishes. As a matter of personal preference, while I liked the Camp du Rouss, I liked L’Avvocata a tad better, because of the slightly lower ABV and more delicate tannins. But again, this is just a question of personal taste and YMMV! 😉
Rating: Good and Recommended, considering its good QPR 
– $$
(Explanation of our Rating and Pricing Systems)
About the Grape and the Appellation
You may find all relevat information regarding Barbera as a grape variety and the four appellations in Piemonte where Barbera is the main grape variety on the “Barbera” entry of our Grape Variety Archive.
About the Producer and the Estate
You may find information regarding the producer, Coppo, and the estate in the first post of this series of reviews of the Coppo lineup.
Our Detailed Review
The wine that we are going to review today is Coppo, Barbera d’Asti “Camp du Rouss” 2009 DOCG.
It has a muscular 14.5% ABV and is fermented for 14 days in stainless steel vats, before going through full malolactic fermentation. It then ages for 12 months in French oak barrique casks, 80% previously used ones and 20% new ones. The reason for utilizing used barriques is to limit the interference of the oak with the organoleptic profile of the wine, so that the tertiary aromas developed during the barrique aging period do not overwhelm but rather complement the fruity secondary aromas developed during the fermentation phase. The wine finally ages for an additional 12 months in-bottle before being released for sale. In the U.S., it retails for about $23.
As usual, for my review I will use a simplified version of the ISA wine tasting protocol that we described in a previous post: should you have doubts as to any of the terms used below please refer to that post for a refresher.
In the glass, the Camp du Rouss poured ruby red and unsurprisingly thick when swirled.
On the nose, its bouquet was intense, quite complex and fine, with aromas of red cherries, raspberries, leather, and cigar box.
In the mouth, the wine was dry, warm (you can distinctly feel the “heath” of its ABV on your palate!) and smooth; fresh, tannic (with firm but not harsh tannins) and tasty. It was full-bodied and balanced, with intense and fine mouth flavors of wild cherries and black pepper. The finish was quite long and the evolutionary state ready (i.e., fine to drink right away, but likely better if you let it rest 2/3 more years in your cellar).
Clicks & Corks 
I appreciate the balance of wine-tasting report and interesting facts. I’m always learning from your posts, without being overwhelmed by TMI (too much information).
I’m with Tracy on this. The structure of your tasting notes really helps, once I got the vocab down. Well done. Now all I need to do is get them to send me their wines as well…:)
Yeah, and when you figure out how to do that, Oliver, let me know!
Thank you, Oliver – I know that it takes a little bit of an effort to nail the vocabulary down – especially because, in an effort not to make things too tedious, I have never posted the whole chart with the 116 wine tasting terms present in the ISA vocabulary. Who knows, maybe one day I will find a way to present it in not too boring a style… 🙂
Thank you, Tracy: I am glad to hear that you found the post “balanced” – that was my intent in the first place, not to flood readers with too much information at once 🙂
This sounds like another good wine, Stefano. I’ve just got to track it down — and build a wine cellar for all of your recommendations. 😉
Thank you, John: that would not be a bad project after all! 😉
Yes, dear Stefano, it does sound very good. We’re all ready for tasting! 🙂
This is totally beside the point, but I’d like to move over to another part of Italy, to Liguaria – not too far from your hometown and to The Cinque Terre National Park. Have you ever walked the five villages? I suppose our nex trip outside England will be this region, it’s top on our list.
Sunny greeting from the home of the Riesling
Dina
Way to go, Dina!
Liguria is nice to visit, especially off season. Also, there is some simple yet flavorful food to be had there, and a few good wines too.
Cinque Terre are beautiful. I have not hiked there, but have gone by boat which is also a nice option.
Clearly, if you need any help planning our trip, please let me know and I will be glad to assist you! 🙂
A big hug,
Stefano
Thank you so much, Stefano!
When we’re ready to do the hike I’ll get backt to you on this offer. 🙂
Big hug back
Dina
Stefano, it’s interesting that you prefer the entry level L’Avvocata. Although I have tasted neither my gut feeling is that all other elements being almost equal I would, like you, have a preference for the wine with the lower ABV. 😉
Thank you, B: you know, when you compare wines from the same producer and grape variety it is all relative of course, and like I said I quite liked the Camp du Rouss too, but to my taste, if I had to choose between the two, I would go for the mellower L’Avvocata. Now, if we are talking about the Pomorosso instead… but that’s going to be discussed in the next installment! 😉
I am looking forward to the third installment. 😉
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