Ascheri. Montalupa Viognier

Langhe DOCG
Grape: Viognier
The character has dialled back from the early years; with a mineral, rock-salt core holding piercing, intense grapefruit flavours; ripe herb and white flower aromas. 14%

Matteo Ascheri, Piemonte producer page

Matteo makes a very pure Viognier, one that has evolved with assurance since it was first released in 1997.  It is a wine that is genuinely only made in the best vintages, the Arneis benefits from lesser years.  The fruit is almost exclusively from Montalupa, a single terraced vineyard just outside Bra.  This is supplemented by a tiny North-facing slope on the clays of Serralunga where the vines ripen more slowly, so the grapes have more acidity: this balances the ripeness that the sand and limestone of Montalupa give the Viognier.  The use of oak changes each year, the objective is to make the best wine possible, not to ape a set style.
The grapes are hand-picked, the bunches are transported in small crates to the winery where they are crushed.  75% are fermented in temperature-controlled steel tanks using selected yeasts, the balance is fermented in small, used, French-oak barrels.  The assembled wine is aged in steel.