Description
Wine Details
The name “Arcese” is a whimsical mash-up of Arneis and Cortese, historically the main base of this field-blend white. Cortese and Arneis are classic Piemontese varieties, in Gavi and the Roero hills respectively; also native to Piemonte, Favorita flies under the radar and is generally used in blends for its bright, citric tang; Vermentino and Sauvignon Blanc are much less common here. The different varieties are mainly co-planted and thus co-fermented.
Alcohol Grade: 13%
Aging/ Vinification: The fruit is destemmed and gently pressed, then fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in concrete tank without sulfur. The wine goes through malolactic fermentation and ages on its lees for up to a year in concrete tank. It is bottled unfiltered with a tiny dab of sulfur and residual sugar, allowing for a final bit of fermentation in the bottle that gives just a slight spritz upon opening.
Best to have it: 6-10ºC
Size: 750 ml
The Winery: Bera Vittorio e Figli
In 1964, Vittorio Bera e Figli was the first family vineyard to start bottling and marketing its own Moscato d’Asti in Canelli, the most famous Moscato village in the Monferrato zone of Piemonte. But the estate’s history goes all the way back to 1785, when Giovanni Battista Bera purchased land from the Knights of Malta and when the area was already noted for its vineyards.
Today, Bera organically farms around ten hectares of vines, six of which are planted to Moscato averaging about 40 years old. Viewed in the context of the history of the sweet sparkling wine of the region, the work of Bera is clearly extraordinary.
Papa Vittorio has retired though can still be found in cellar and vineyard—mainly Bera is being carried forward by his children, Alessandra and Gianluigi. Gianluigi tends the vines and makes the wines, as Alessandra runs the business and travels to share Bera wines with the world. Working closely together, the siblings are nurturing and updating the artisanal family tradition.
