Vietti 2023 Roero Arneis
Vietti 2023 Roero Arneis
The Wine
The grapes are selected from vineyards located in a region in the middle of the Roero area called Santo Stefano Roero. The densely-planted vineyards and 25-ish years old. After hHarvest starts in mid-September, the grapes are pressed and then clarified before alcoholic fermentation beings at lower temperatures (10-12°C, 50-53° F) to preserve some freshness express by natural CO2 from the fermentation. The winemker chose not to invoke malolactic fermentation so as to preserve acidity and freshness. The wine is held in stainless steel tanks on fine lees until just before bottling.
The wine appears in the glass with a pale, straw yellow color and expresses fresh floral, citrus and melon aromas with hints of almond. An unoaked, dry, medium-bodied white wine with crisp acidity, the Arneis is well-balanced, elegant wine with good complexity and a lingering finish.
Perfect as an aperitif with light hors d’oeuvres, crudités, seafood, salads, light soups, simply prepared veal, pork, chicken and creamy cheese.
The Winery
The Vietti winery, now managed by the family’s fifth generation, is based in the small medieval village of Castiglione Falletto in the heart of Piedmont’s famous “Langhe” region. Here the Currado family carefully and patiently handcrafts lauded wines that are the result of a unique combination of sun, soil and the winemaker's craft.
Although the family has made wine for two centuries, the first Vietti-labeled wines were produced by third-generation Mario, who transformed the family’s vineyards into an estate winery. In 1952, Luciana Vietti married winemaker and art connoisseur Alfredo Currado, whose intuitions – from the production of one of the first Barolo crus (Rocche di Castiglione – 1965), through the single-varietal vinification of Arneis (1967) to the invention of Artist Labels (1974) – made him both symbol and architect of some of the most significant revolutions of the time.
In 1970 the Viettis began working with artists on an ongoing, original artwork label program, featuring Pier Paolo Pasolini and Janet Fish, which received an exhibition at New York’s MOMA in 1996. In 1990 Alfredo and Luciana’s son Luca joined the family business as winemaker after working at California's Simi Winery, Opus One, Long Vineyards and Bordeaux's Mouton-Rothschild.
His innovative winemaking utilizes a unique combination of the modern and traditional. Luca's focus on terroir is reflected in his careful cultivation and organic farming of more than 25 single vineyards. The estate has gradually grown over the course of time, and today the vineyards include some of the most highly-prized terroirs within the Barolo winegrowing area.
In 2016 the historic winery was acquired by Krause Holdings, enabling Luca and Elena, always at the head of Vietti brand, to add a number of prized crus to the estate’s holdings, and be able as a result to look to a future with new, stimulating prospects, all while maintaining the family approach for which the cellar has always been known.