Le Marie. Arneis 'Sant Agostino'

Vino Bianco
Grape: Arneis

2022
Lemon, lime, yellow pepper and spiced pear.  A lovely textured, refreshing, delicate, dry white. 13.5%

Le Marie producer page

Arneis is rarely found outside of its stronghold, the Roero in the Langhe.  It is a sensitive grape, with below-average disease resistance, lowish yields and a small picking window. 

There is very little Arneis in the Pinerolese, and it is only made by Le Marie because they have a wonderful 30+ year old vineyard that gives extraordinary fruit.  But, it is a difficult wine for them to make and sadly, the 2023 may well be their last one.

The vineyard is tiny (1ha), faces southeast, has complex sand, silt and clay mixed-morainic soils that yielded 34 hl/ha of grapes in 2022.  After a hot, dry summer, healthy bunches were harvested on 7th September, 12 days earlier than usual.  They were pressed and fermented in temperature-controlled steel tanks at 17ºC for 10 days; malolactic conversion was blocked.  The wine was matured in steel tanks for 6 months before being bottled with a light filtration.