Love Arneis

So I have a new wine love.  She is Arneis.  Arneis is a little known grape originating in the hills of Italy's Piedmont.  In the past she was mostly used in scant amounts to blend with the noble Barolo of the region.  This practice echos that of vignerons in the Rhone who blend viognier with syrah to give it a little more finesse and aroma.  I suppose my love is fitting in that Arneis is often compared to Pinot Noir, my favorite red grape, in terms of being a notoriously difficult grape to grow.  In fact Arneis means "little rascal" in the local dialect.  Like Pinot Noir, when it's great it's ethereal.  Unlike Pinot Noir, which has to be the most "en vogue" grape, Arneis was nearly forgotten.  Only by the grace of a cluster of Barolo makers is it still around.  Over the past few years it seems to have gained some steam outside of the Piedmont.  I have seen examples from California and Australia.

I only recently was turned on to Arneis at the Golden Glass event here in San Francisco.  I tasted numerous examples highlighted by the Cornarea Roero Arnies.  Roero is the name of the region just north of Alba.  Roero Arneis DOC is normally the wine classification on the bottle.

The bottle I had last night was beguiling.  It was a 2004 from Giovanni Almondo (Giovanni is also the mayor of Monta da Alba.)  His "Sparse" vineyard is located at a fairly high altitude only about 20 miles from the Swiss Border.  I kept thinking what does it taste like?  Chardonnay?  Pinot Grigio?  Semillon?  No.  Not any of these.  It is singular.  Very light in color.  Great aromatics of pears and apples and a subtle but definite taste of almonds.  Lingering sexy finish. 

I think I shall add a bottle per week to my habit.