Arneis

Arneis is the white grape of Piedmont's Roero hills, across the Tanaro river from Alba, where it makes Roero Arneis and Langhe Arneis. Its name is Piedmontese for something like "little rascal" — a reference to how awkward the vine is to grow — and by the 1970s it had dwindled to two producers, Bruno Giacosa and Vietti, before an eighties revival brought it back. The wine is dry and rounder than most Italian whites: pear, white peach and apricot over chamomile and white flowers, low acidity, a supple texture and a dry, bitter-almond finish.