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25 Tasting Wines of Roero—Arneis & Nebbiolo MAR 2021 categories: , Reviews

If you’ve read my Northern Overview and, more recently, my Diploma WSET Theory and Tasting—, you’ll note that (for good reason) the primary focus is on the regions of and , Dolcetta d’Asti, d’Alba, and to a somewhat lesser extent my personal fav—Gavi di Gavi.

Recently, I had the opportunity to learn and taste through the wines of Roero, located on the western side of the region, just below Asti on the map. The tasting and master class was provided by the The Consorzio di Tutela Roero. Founded in 2013, the Consorzio di Tutela Roero aims to protect and promote Roero Docg Bianco and Rosso through the synergy between vine growers and in the area. According to the Consorzio, the Roero appellation, a DOCG since 2004, covers a total surface of 1,158 hectares of , of which 889 are planted with Arneis vines and 269 with Nebbiolo vines. Out of an annual production of about 7 million bottles, just over 60% is exported.

And so was our focus of the tasting—the Arneis and Nebbiolo , which can produce a variety of wine styles dependent on specic .

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Nebbiolo di Roero tasting line up

According to regulations, Roero DOCG is reserved for Roero Bianco made from Arneis grapes (minimum 95%) and Roero Rosso made from Nebbiolo grapes (minimum 95%). The DOCG also includes the Riserva typology—16 months of ageing for the , 32 months for red.

In 2017, the Consorzio added provisions for MGA (or single-vineyard/site-specic plots that can be named on the bottle labels). There are 135 MGAs and our tasting focused on producers creating expressions of either their Arneis or Nebbiolo grapes from their specic MGAs. I’ve included maps on the right-hand side of each tasting note indicating where each winery’s MGA is located in Roero. The thumbnails can be expanded into a larger image.

Another interesting thing about the Roero terroir is that it is home to steep slopes with high percentage of sandy soils (in addition to clay and marl) along with salt deposits, from its prehistoric underwater past.

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Embedded sea fossils can be found in certain areas of Roero.

In the white Arneis wines, there was a clearly consistent wet stone/mineral note I picked out in each of the wines; the Nebbiolos were lighter, and slightly more lifted aromatically (even a bit more ‘approachable,’ I’d say) than their Barolo or Barbaresco counterparts.

Clearly an indication of terroir.

Further, all the winemakers who spoke indicated that they are either hold a sustainable certication or, at the least, practice sustainability in the vineyard and in the cellar in order to “safeguard the health of the producer, the customer, and of course the health of the soil,” as one producer said it. The Consorzio is also in the process of banning all herbicide use.

A brief overview of the two grapes (based on DipWSET information):

Nebbiolo

“Tar and ,” is the common descriptor for the wines produced from this ckle First to bud, last to ripen, it’s susceptible to all the environmental threats known to Piemonte’s continental climate: thunderstorms, hail fog, frosts and late-autumn rains. The vines themselves are quite vigorous, thus management is A cluster of Nebbiolo. (wikipedia) essential to avoid shading

briscoebites.com/tasting-wines-of-roero/ 3/6 Tasting Wines of Roero—Arneis & Nebbiolo - Briscoe Bites Vines have to be pruned high because the rst few buds are infertile, thus more buds are needed (and again canopy management/cluster thinning essential for vine balance) Mass selection preferred for new vine propagation; the goal: vines with low vigor, open bunches, and small berries Best wines are said to come from planted calcareous marls on south, south- west facing aspects

Arneis

Most Arneis is, indeed, grown in the Roero area. said to have light (but complex) aromas, typically including white owers, chamomile, white peach and lemon medium (–) acidity, as the grapes are known to drop acidity fairly quickly, thus proper picking time is essential described by Jancis Robinson as “Piemonte’s scented and full- Arneis means “little troublesome.” bodied signature dry white.” (piemonte.co)

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Tasting

Marchesi di Barolo Roero Arneis DOCG 2019

Appearance: pale lemon (with tiny little petulant bubbles)

Aroma: medium intensity— chamomile, white tea, white blossom, lemon, lime, baby’s breath, fresh hay, honey or honeycomb

Palate: dry, medium (+) acid, medium alcohol, medium body,medium avor intensity—conrming the nose and adding just a touch of white pepper florals and white pepper Finish is medium.

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Conclusion: This is a good wine that is all about the oral aromatics with just subtle hints of lemon and lime zest. These are earthy orals, incorporating white tea and fresh hay, along with a natural honey or honeycomb nuance. The modest alcohol does well not to overwhelm the avors but adds just enough lift and body to give the wine some weight (any less, and the wine would indeed be at and watery). I do not nd the wine overly complex. Indeed, this is a wine that is best enjoyed in its youth. The nish concludes at a solid medium length, incorporating a bit of bitterness (not unpleasant—in fact I rather enjoy a bit of bitterness in these styles of wine). This is an overall good wine. Drink now.

FUN FACT: This is actually a combination of three different MGAs. “The three different combined provide a more ‘generous expression’ of the Arneis grape.”

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