Region: Roero Arneis, Piedmont, Italy

Varietal: 100% Arneis

Tasting notes: One of my favorite sommelier tricks is to buy white wines from great red wine producers. While everyone clamors for the reds (often with good reason) these producers typically make outstanding white wines at a fraction of the price that their reds see. This Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis is a prime example of when to use this trick to score great wine. Giacosa wines are legendary in Piedmont and their wines often go for well over $100 a bottle. This stunning white gets the same treatment from the winemaking team, making it an absolute steal at this price.  Intense straw colored with greenish glints. The nose presents lemon, pineapple, peach and apricot notes with floral hints. On the palate, it is fresh, full-bodied, with mineral notes and a persistent finish. A beautiful wine.

Producer: One of the legendary winemakers of the world, Bruno Giacosa crafted the most prestigious single-vineyard Barolo and Barbaresco wines during a career that spanned nearly eight decades. He joined the family business at the age of 15, representing the third generation of his Langhe winemaking family. Giacosa’s unfailing pursuit of perfection, his unrivalled palate and his intimate knowledge of vineyards in the Langhe quickly drew recognition and helped establish Piedmont as a leading wine region. In 1982, Giacosa began to acquire prime parcels in Serralunga d’Alba, La Morra and Barbaresco to produce wines that are rightly regarded as the finest expressions of Nebbiolo. His legacy rests with daughter Bruna, who continues to uphold her father’s winemaking philosophy to respect traditional techniques while using the best of modern technology. The goal is for each distinguished site to produce articulate, unique wines.

Vineyard and Winemaking: Even to this day, the Roero folklore lives on about witchcraft lurking behind its dramatic contours and obscure woods—but these stories only add to the region’s allure and charm. Actually today Roero winemakers are some of the most astute and motivated in Piedmont.  Bruno Giacosa was one of two producers in Piedmont credited with saving Arneis by bottling the wine commercially in the late 1960s. Sourced from select vineyards in the villages of Vezza d’Alba, Monteu Roero, Santo Stefano Roero, Canale, Montà d’Alba. Vines average between 20-27 years of age. Vinified in stainless steel to preserve freshness and aged 4 months before bottling.