2020 Castello di Neive Arneis Montebertotto Langhe Piedmont 750 ml

It’s rare to find a category-defining wine that’s affordable enough to drink on a casual Tuesday.

And when you’re talking about an area like Piedmont, values are even harder to find. Yet Castello di Neive makes the definitive Arneis, the marquee white grape of the region, and asks for a mere pittance in return.

Castello di Neive is the reason why Arneis ascended to such heights, and this bottling is a benchmark. Bursting with mineral complexity, it’s a crisp, electric white that will delight fans of Albariño and all unoaked, aromatic whites.

Jancis Robinson MW, the queen of 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 the 2020 Montebertotto, a single-vineyard bottling from a site near the Barbaresco town of Neive, which the winery calls home.

Today, Arneis is rightfully considered to be one of the great white grapes of Italy, but it was practically extinct when Italo Stupino, the owner of Castello di Neive, began to plant it in the Montebertotto Vineyard in the mid-1970s. Today’s wine comes from the same vineyard—as do the cuttings for over 80% of the Arneis planted in Piedmont today.

For decades now, 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, the 2020 Montebertotto is the perfect partner for seafood of all stripes, as well as salads made with peppery, bright greens like arugula. Cheers!