2009 Arneis

These grapes were planted in the early ’90s in the town of Paicines in San Benito County along with 29 other “experimental” Italian varieties. Of the original 30 varieties only 5 remain – Arneis amongst them. On a hillside vineyard grapes are planted in heavy, well-drained limestone soil much sought after for grape varieties like Pinot Noir. This Arneis is “deficit irrigated” which means irrigating below full crop-water requirements. This keeps the vine in a slight state of water stress early in its growth period leading to less wood, smaller berries and higher flavor concentration

The grapes were handpicked and de-stemmed without being crushed. The Arneis was immediately pumped to our tank press where the juice was gently squeezed from the berries. Pumped juice flowed to a stainless steel fermenting tank where the wine was chilled and settled for two days. The juice was then racked (decanted) off the grape solids and inoculated with a pure strain of wine yeast. Fermentation proceeded at a cool 50 degrees F to preserve the grape’s lovely fruit character.

Arneis is an ancient variety grown near Alba in Piemonte, Italy. Arneis has been referred to as “Barolo Bianco” and the name means “little rascal” in the regional dialect. The grape can be hard to grow as it is late in ripening and prone to rot. There are very few acres of this grape planted in California and even fewer wines produced as Arneis. The wine offers refreshing flavors of mandarin orange and lime.