Of all the
countries we studied in the Intensive Sommelier Training at the International
Culinary Center, I found Italy to be the most perplexing and I felt like we
didn’t spend enough time on it, especially since it is the second largest wine
producer following France. So, as soon as we graduated and passed the Certified
Sommelier exams my first thought was, “I need to revisit Italy.” Then when it
was decided by my fellow sommeliers that we would begin with Italy in our study
group I was more than willing to go along.
Our chosen text
books for this current course of study are Vino
Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy and The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy: A Regional and Village
Guide to the Best Wines and Their Producers (The World’s Finest Wines)
In our first
meeting in which we tasted wines from Piedmont, most of us had not received our
texts books yet or had just received them in the mail so we didn’t have time to
read them. So, our first gathering was fairly informal and we just brought
wines from the region to share and taste. Some of them were “grid wines” and
others were not.
Our first wine
was an Arneis which is not on the grid for the Advanced
Sommelier tasting exam. The only Italian white wines on the grid are Pinot
Grigio from Friuli and Trentino- Alto Adige.
The Grape
Arneis, which means
“little rascal” in Piemontese, is commonly found in the hills of the northwest
of Alba, where it is part of the Roero DOCG white wines and Langhe DOC wines. It
is produced just across the Tanaro River from Barolo, and is sometimes referred
to as Bianchetto or Barolo Bianco (white Barolo). I have also come across this
grape on a few occasions in my wine travels in California.
It was once on
the verge of extinction just prior to the 1960’s until a few producers decided
to save this difficult grape; it is low-yielding and susceptible to powdery
mildew, and in warm seasons struggles to retain sufficient levels of acidity.[1]
The Winery
The Vietti winery began as a family farm in the 1800’s which
was then converted to a winery by Mario Vietti in 1919. In 1952 Alfredo Currado
(Luciana Vietti’s husband) continued the family business produce high quality
wines from their estate vineyards as well as purchased grapes. The Vietti winery
grew to one of the top-level producers in Piemonte and was one of the first
wineries to export its products to the USA market. Alfredo was one of the first
to select and vinify grapes from single vineyards (such as Brunate, Rocche and
Villero). In 1967 Alfredo invested a lot of time to better understand, revive
and preserve this nearly exinct variety, earning him the reputation as the
“father of Arneis.” Today they own 35 hectares (86 acres) of vineyards from
which they produce all the major Italian varietals.
The Wine
The 2012 Vietti
Roero Arneis is a clear white wine, lemon in color with a tint of green and
medium- viscosity. On the nose it is clean with moderate- intense aromas of
lemon pith, lemon grass, green melon, green apple, canned pineapple juice,
fresh kiwi, subtle notes of passion fruit, hints of almonds and salty sea
breeze minerality. It is dry with very
high acidity, medium body, medium alcohol (13.5), it is well-balanced and had a
moderate length finish. I have experienced about a half dozen Arneis or so and this
one is better than any other I have tasted.
[1] http://www.cal-italia.org/varietals/arneis.html
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