Arneis
Arneis, occasionally referred to as Barolo Bianco, is a white variety grown near Alba in the Piemonte region of northwestern Italy. Difficult to grow, it means “little rascal” in the local Piemontese dialect and, historically, has been used as a blender to soften tannins in the red wines of the area, much as the French use viognier in the northern Rhone Valley.
A wine best consumed in its youth, arneis offers citrus and pear-like aromas, with a hint of almonds. In California, where little arneis is cultivated, it is best grown in areas with warm daytime temperatures and cool, fog-influenced nights to insure ripeness while retaining the grape’s acidity and delicate fruit.
Arneis makes a good aperitif wine as well as an excellent companion to grilled or sautéed shellfish, other lighter fish dishes, and lightly breaded, sautéed veal.
Barbera is an historically under-appreciated grape variety that is now generating considerable excitement both in Italy and California. When vinified simply, it produces fruity, forward red wines. Richer, more robust and complex wines result when it is carefully grown and aged in small oak barrels. Though not commonly vinified as a rosé, it does produce fragrant, full-flavored, dry rosés.
Barbera is the most widely planted grape in Piemonte, where it is grown in two important Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCs): Barbera d’ Alba and Barbera d’ Asti, high-quality growing regions where varieties and yields are regulated by the government. Long considered subordinate to nebbiolo, Piemonte’s noblest red, barbera’s quality reputation is growing. Though fundamentally different in character from nebbiolo, the finest Piemontese barberas now rival the best wines of Barolo and Barberesco, Alba’s great nebbiolo appellations, in interest and quality.
Simple, inexpensive barberas offer bright berry, black cherry, and plum aromas and flavors with crisp acidity and soft tannins. More serious renditions offer a deeper purple hue with riper black fruit aromas and beefy, even decadent, aromas and flavors. Naturally high in acidity, but low in tannins, barbera marries well with new oak, which can impart rich toast and vanilla tones. Dry rosés exhibit aromas and flavors similar to the simpler reds, but are more vibrant, lighter in body, and crisper on the palate.
Barbera is a good candidate for cellaring: even the most modest examples will improve with two to three years’ bottle aging. The more complex wines can improve for five or more years, gaining charm and elegance as the acidity softens and the interplay of fruit and oak becomes more complex.
In California, where there are nearly 11,000 acres of barbera, its naturally high acidity makes it a desirable grape for hotter climates, where the variety is used primarily as a blender in ‘jug’ reds. However, microclimates boasting warm days and cool nights, such as the Sierra foothills, the Lodi region of the Sacramento/San Joaquin river delta, parts of Sonoma and Mendocino counties, and the Paso Robles area, generally produce the best fruit.
Barbera is a wonderful companion to simple, everyday fare: pizza, pastas, grilled meats (chicken, pork, or beef ), sausages, salamis, and other high-fat foods. More robust versions complement savory stews, roasted cuts of duck, beef and venison, grilled wild mushrooms, and aged sharp cheeses such as Parmiggiano and Asiago.
Considered Italy’s noblest red grape variety, nebbiolo is grown only in several small areas of Lombardia and in the choicest sites in Piemonte, where the best wines are named for their principal villages: Barolo, Barbaresco, Ghemme and Gattinara. (In the latter two, the grape is called Spanna.) Lesser wines, or those made outside the approved appellations, are labeled simply as Nebbiolo with a specific place name, such as Nebbiolo d’Alba or Nebbiolo delle’ Langhe.
Often deceptively pale in color given its full body and firm structure, nebbiolo has robust aromas of berries, red and black fruits, tar and leather. Nebbiolo is naturally high in both tannin and acidity, making it a challenge to produce wines that are both enjoyable in their youth and capable of refinement with extended aging.
No other red wine rewards patient cellaring more magnificently than a great Italian nebbiolo, which can develop into a wine of great beauty after decades in the bottle. Mature nebbiolo, which can rival great red Burgundy in complexity, displays a brick-red/garnet hue and offers an enticing bouquet of dried roses and violets. While young nebbiolo typically is bold and aggressive in style, it can also be made in a lighter vein, such as those produced in Gattinara and Ghemme, which are reminiscent of red burgundies from the Cotes du Beaune or pinot noirs from California’s Russian River Valley.
Much like the finicky pinot noir, nebbiolo is extremely site sensitive, has many clonal variations, is difficult to grow, and is temperamental in the cellar. It prefers cooler areas with a high degree of sunlight. Also like pinot noir, nebbiolo is not usually blended with other varieties, but boasts multiple clones that are often interplanted, thereby imparting complexity to the wine’s aroma, flavor and structure. While some quality California nebbiolos are being made today, the best sites are just now being discovered, and wines of Barolo and Barbaresco caliber are yet to come.
Nebbiolo is enjoyable with rich pastas, hearty meat dishes, stews, and wild game. It also is a wonderful match for aged hard cheeses like Grana Padano.
Sangiovese, which means “blood of Jove” in Italian, is the most widely planted grape in Italy. In its noblest incarnations, it is renowned for the production of Tuscany’s chianti, brunello di montalcino, vino nobile di montepulciano, and morellino di scansano wines. Sangiovese also grows in the neighboring central Italian regions of Umbria, Lazio, Marche, and Emilia-Romangna.
Sangiovese’s many clonal variations produce wines of widely varying styles and quality. In Tuscany, the seven regions of Chianti utilize the sangioveto clone, which is often blended with small amounts of the red grapes cannaiolo, ciliegiolo, colorino, mammolo and malvasia nera, and (now much less commonly) a very small percentages of the white trebbiano and malvasia bianca grapes.
Wines from Montalcino are made with 100% of the sangiovese grosso clone. In Montepulciano, it is called prugnolo gentile and a range of chianti red blenders are frequently employed. The so-called ‘Super-Tuscan’ wines of Chianti, a category created by certain winemakers’ defiance of DOCG varietal restrictions, generally incorporate varieties like cabernet sauvignon, merlot and/or syrah in the blend and are aged in small French oak barrels. Such wines are less Italianate and more international in style, quite expensive, and marketed with proprietary names such as Solaia, and Tignanello. It should be noted that Super-Tuscan wines from the coastal region of Bolgheri, such as Sassicaia and Ornellaia, are produced exclusively from bordeaux varieties.
Great care must be taken by vintners when blending sangiovese, as its expressive character can easily be overwhelmed by other varieties and/or by excessive oak extraction.
Medium-bodied sangiovese boasts bright aromas and flavors of raspberries and strawberries with typically racy acidity and medium tannins. In the darker, more robust and extracted versions, one detects wild berry and violet nuances and stronger tannins, which serve to provide additional complexity, length and longevity.
Lighter styles of sangiovese are best consumed within several years of their vintage. The bigger wines may improve for a decade or more as their aromas evolve into a complex bouquet of faded roses or violets, coffee, leather, and cedar. The wines soften and take on a velvety texture with a rich, multi-layered complexity echoing the nuances of the bouquet.
Sangiovese thrives in many of California’s wine regions. Yet, it is sensitive to individual ‘terroirs’ and can exhibit many different expressions of its core personality. As sangiovese is most often improved through blending, the skilled hand of an experienced winemaker is critical.
Chianti and spaghetti may be a classic pairing, but it’s not the best, as the
acidities of the wine and tomato sauce can clash. Sangiovese is best matched
with pastas with olive oil, cheeses, and cream sauces, red meats (especially
beef steaks), fowl, wild boar, and roasted or grilled vegetables lightly
seasoned with olive oil, herbs and garlic.