From: Piedmont, Italy
Grape: Arneis
Taste: This particular Arneis white wine is more textured and richer in flavor than other wines from the same varietal. That said, it’s wonderfully impressive in the glass, showing off classic white floral notes & stone fruits like white peach and nectarine. Citrus oil, chamomile and spice notes accent its fruit core wonderfully. Amidst all these rich flavors, the palate is well-structured and lends a mineral core to the wine. It finishes dry and racy, and is sure to be a favorite for anyone who loves Piedmontese white wines.
Pairing: Arneis wines play well with a number of dishes, creamy pastas, zucchini frittatas, burrata and salads, seafood pastas with garlc, fish dishes, less-spicy curries, and vegetable risotto. Today, we’re playing off the rich texture and spice notes in this particular wine with Mark Bittman’s Easy Chicken Curry.
Casina Bric or "perched farm" in the local Piedmontese dialect, is the highest property of the famous village of Barolo, more precisely in the hamlet of Vergne in Italy. It is in this unique microcosm, at 460 meters above sea level (hence the 460 mark), in the middle of a succession of wonderful hills with the Western Alps in the background, that we find the vineyards of Casina Bric.
460 Casina Bric is the dream of Gianluca Viberti, owner and winemaker like his father before him. In 2010, after more than twenty years devoted to the family vineyard, he found his courage and created his own project of 10 hectares of vines. His philosophy is to work the regional grapes in the most natural way possible, so he converted to sustainable organic farming practices. The combination of mainly clay and calcareous soils, densely planted vineyards, and Barolo's microclimate gives Nebbiolo, Barbera, Arneis and Favorita everything they need to thrive. He vinifies using native yeasts and sulfur is only used in small quantities at the bottling stage— a practice we cheer, as it stabilizes the wine for transport, thus ensuring that we can enjoy reliable, fresh wines here in Seattle.
