bottle runner

While drinking a bottle of Vietti Arneis the other night I was reminded of a sweet story about the most recent history of Arneis. It goes something like this...So two guys were sitting in a bar....NO, that's not the one.

Wait, let me think....what of Arneis?

Arneis is a grape variety that is particularly close to the history of Vietti because they produced the first Arneis as we know it today. In 1967, Luca's father Alfredo was looking for a white wine but he didn't want to plant Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.

He remembered there was this very, very old variety, Arneis, but the wine was always sweet, like a Moscato, although not as aromatic. It was also blended with Nebbiolo to make a summer rosé wine, and was called vino de la suocera the wine of the mother-in-law, but it was a terrbile rosé as the Nebbiolo gave it too much tannin.

Much time was spent to find a source for this grape, but it was nearly impossible to find because there were literally no vineyards devoted to Arneis. The variety had all but disappeared with a few vines here and there. Plus, he couldn't just go from grower to grower asking for grapes because farmers were a suspicious lot in this area at the time and with very close family ties, so if the farmer didn't know you, well..... niente.

And then the great idea!

Luca's mother went to the priest of the town where this Arneis was grown and she asked him, "Please introduce us to the farmers of this variety", because it was known if you get the introduction and the presentation from the priest, all the farmers will open their doors.

The priest, who was also their friend, was a wine lover. Let's say a very good drinker. In Italy there is an expression 'happy priest', and so he was.

So it happened one Sunday over 40 years ago during harvest as farmers were attending Sunday mass, because they wanted to and because they needed to because you just can't not go to church during harvest, when midway through Mass the priest starts to talk about wine, and all the farmers look to one another each thinking to themselves '"The priest, he is worse than usual He is already drunk @ 10 o'clock in the morning. What is happening?"

However, the priest was not drunk, and what he had to say to the farmers was this, "It's okay for you to harvest the nebbia bianca before you come to church. Bring your grapes because someone will buy them", (nebbia bianca in Piemontese dialect means 'white nebbiolo', and was used at the time to refer to the grape variety now known as Arneis).

And so in 1967 Alfredo was there the very next Sunday with his tractor and the farmers brought their grapes. He was able to do the first vinification of Arneis dry as it is today. Everybody loved it. The Robert Parker of the time wrote full pages in the food sections of the Corriere della Sera, much like the NYT in America, of the birth of a new white wine-- the Arneis.

The end.

FYI-

There are DOC and DOCG Arneis. Vietti is DOCG, 100% estate everything, and is made much like in the old way with a longer maceration- almost 12 hours and very unusual for a white wine, followed by a long fermentation on the lees.

The wine stays in cement vats that keep a perfect temperature. No oak.

The wine becomes very floral and very fruity, but more rich and with big structure and lovely body.

2008 is the current vintage, but his 2007 bottling was delicious just the other night. Vietti , with its super low yields (I can't think of another with such low yields @ 1.5 tons/acre), makes a great style of Arneis that can age for at least 3 years.

Italy doesn't really have a cocktail wine. All the wine goes with the food. So first off, Arneis is like an apertivo, where you go to the bar and while you are waiting for dinner you have a glass of Arneis. It's also terrific with dinner- salad, poultry, pasta with a nice ragu.

Now I am hungry and very thirsty.

The end.