A Little Rascal
Michael Larsen
ARNEIS (it rhymes with place) is an ancient, fragrant and vibrant white-grape variety known the world over as the “little rascal”. This endearing phrase is a direct translation of arneis in the dialectic Italian spoken in Piemonte in north-west Italy, the spot the wee chap calls home. Like many of the traditional Euro plantings, such as Tempranillo, Sangiovese and Viognier, Arneis has earned some air miles of late, being transplanted to Australian soils and, in fact, our own.
While plantings are not about to threaten New Zealand’s Chardonnay volumes, we figured that it’s always worth pursuing the unconventional and so held a small tasting of all the Arneis we could get our hands on. That amounted to a staggering seven bottles (local and imported), a collection of wines that were intriguing, exciting and very different from each other.
Juliette Lynch from Auckland importers A Touch of Italy has some Arneis from renowned producer Gancia arriving soon, scheduled to retail at around the $25 mark.
And the locals have been climbing in as well, a trend started, in suitable fashion, by an Italian. Enzo Bettio of Clevedon’s Vin Alto is a big Arneis fan. He imported cuttings from Turin and planted them in both his vineyard and the neighbouring Clevedon Hills from 1999 to 2000, producing his first Arneis-based wine (blended with Chardonnay) in 2002.
And now it seems he’s not alone. A roll-call of New Zealand wineries with vines under production, some using cuttings purchased from Enzo, includes Trinity Hill, Herzog and Forrest Estate. Pernod Ricard also has some Arneis in the ground in its Patutahi Vineyard in Gisborne and this year will see its first full crop.
We will thus be seeing a number of labels – and a range of styles – of this white peach and pear-scented grape variety over the next few vintages.
But back to the wines that have been bottled. First up, the panel tried Enzo’s Clevedon Hills Chiara 2004, 2005 and 2006.
The Chiara 2004 vintage was undoubtedly the most elegant of the three, an almost heady expression with fresh-as-a-daisy citric fruit and a zingy crispness that belied its age while the 2005 wine was a softer, broader affair, with typical Arneis almond characters punching through the palate.
The 2006 vintage was rascally, with vibrant pear characters, fresh flowers on the nose and a direct delivery of straightforward fruit flavours.
All these wines have been blended with varying proportions of Chardonnay “to give more mid-palate weight and complexity”, says Enzo and, as his Arneis vines age and develop, the proportion of Chardonnay in the final blend has reduced accordingly.
he panel was curious to see what the Australians could do with the grape, too. The First Drop Adelaide Hills Arneis 2005 proved to be a musky, uncomplicated wine. Some wag suggested it was a touch “industrial”, and it certainly had a strong minerality/flintiness about it. Overall, it was a little greener than the other wines in the tasting.
Of the two Piedmontese proffered, the Prunotto Roero Arneis 2005 showed as a slightly herbal, earthy, simple style while the four-star Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis 2004 delivered the strong lemony purity, laced with minerality, that is typical of both the variety and the region. And the 2005 vintage has since also arrived in the country.
US wine critic Robert Parker finds “for my taste, the brilliant Bruno Giacosa fashions the finest Arneis in Piedmont”.
Says winemaker Simon Nunns from Coopers Creek, “Well, Bruno is the Big Kahuna Burger of Arneis.” Despite the grape’s reputation for being fickle and a touch problematic, susceptible, as it is, to disease, Simon has been an Arneis fan ever since it first crossed his path and palate in London in 1991.
No surprises, then, that his passion and fascination has shown itself in the wine he has produced: the Coopers Creek Little Rascal Gisborne Arneis 2006 was awarded four stars in our New Releases tasting in Issue 1 
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