2019 Castello di Neive Montebertotto Langhe Arneis 750 ml

It’s exceptionally rare to find a genre-defining wine that’s affordable enough to drink on a causal Tuesday. That holds especially true when you’re talking about an area like Piedmont, a noble region where Barolo and Barbaresco set pricing expectations sky high. Yet Castello di Neive makes the defining wine from Arneis—the great white grape of the region—and asks for a pittance in return.

Castello di Neive, in Barbaresco, is the reason why Arneis ascended to such heights. Their bottling is a benchmark—a crisp, electric white that delights every time we taste it… and still comes in under $20 per bottle. That’s a remarkable feat and a tribute to the exceptional time and effort the winery’s spent with the variety.

Master of Wine Jancis Robinson, the queen of the British wine writers, declared that Castello di Neive has “built a reputation for producing exceptional wines” from less-heralded grapes like Arneis by “positioning them in exceptional vineyard locations and giving them the attention they deserve.” That’s especially true for their Arneis, a single-vineyard bottling from a site near the Barbaresco-haven of Neive they call home.

Bright straw-white in the glass, this is a classic mineral, Italian white. The nose is lively, full of scents of russeted pears, blanched almonds, dried sage, and delicate white flowers. That liveliness continues once the wine hits your tongue, with an electric acidity that practically begs for a wood-grilled branzino to go with its stone fruit and flinty-mineral flavors, which are by a touch of dried herb and chamomile flowers.

Although Arneis is rightfully considered to be one of the great white grapes of Italy today, it was practically extinct when Italo Stupino, the owner of the Castello di Neive, began to plant it in the Montebertotto vineyard in the mid-'70s. That same vineyard is the source of today’s wine—as well as the cuttings for over 80% of the Arneis planted in Piedmont today.

Since then, Castello di Neive has continued to set the bar for what Arneis can accomplish. Fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks to preserve brightness, fresh fruit, and delicate mineral tones, it’s a perfect partner for seafood of all stripes, along with salads made with peppery, bright greens like arugula. No matter what you drink it with, it’s priced to go down easy.