Getting to know a new grape: Arneis

I love tasting grapes I've never had before! Arneis is a white Italian grape which is not often seen outside of Italy. Even within Italy, it's not often seen as a varietal wine.  Seghesio Vineyards in Sonoma County, California specializes in Italian grape varieties and makes a varietal Arneis which I tasted recently. 

The Arneis grape, also called Bianchetta, comes from the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, and has been used historically as a blending partner to soften wines made from the red grape Nebbiolo. This is not as common today, but Arneis does appear in the white wines of the Roero and Langhe regions.

In the United States, Arneis is mainly found in Sonoma County, California and the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The Seghesio bottle says that Arneis translates to "little rascal," because it is challenging to grow. Seghesio currently has about 20 acres of Arneis in the Russian River Valley.

I tasted the 2012 vintage. It has aromas and flavors of lemon, herbs, and tart peach, along with strong minerality. I suspect, but cannot verify, that it gets a little oak aging. It is dry, with high acid and medium body, and an alcohol content of 13%. This Arneis is refreshing and tastes like an Old World wine, in that it's less fruit-forward and more earthy in its flavors. I'd recommend this wine for people who like old world Sauvignon Blancs and dry Rieslings. It's reasonably priced at $22 and is well worth it for the opportunity to try this rare grape. And it happens to taste good too.

I drank this Arneis with a vegetarian Thai green curry and it paired very well. The wine had enough flavor and body that the curry didn't overpower it, and the flavors complemented each other nicely. Many times you'll see a white wine with residual sugar recommended with spicy Asian food, but this dry white did a great job. I could see it pairing well with many dishes, anything from fish to a well-seasoned pork chop.

I'm not sure whether the Seghesio Arneis is available in the Houston area, since I ordered it from the web site. However, they do ship to Texas! Or if you want to find an example of Arneis locally, I believe Spec's carries a few options that come from Italy.