Valfaccenda Roero Arneis

A blend of two parcels of Arneis in the valley Luca calls home. The first comes from younger vines planted over soft sand, picked early and given a direct press straight to stainless steel vats. The latter is planted over more compact soils, picked a little later, and spends ten days in contact with the skins before being pressed off to old oak. They spend around nine months in these vessels before blending. The result is a wine of real balance, with fruit and flowers tempered by pleasant acidity and a textbook salty finish.  

Luca Faccenda grew up in the hills of Roero, where his family has been growing grapes in the Valle Faccenda, a small valley between Canale and Cisterna, for generations. Today he farms five hectares of Arneis and Nebbiolo spread out across several parcels, including a small holding in one of Roero’s great crus, Valmaggiore. Stylistically, he has no desire to emulate the blockbuster wines of his more famous neighbors in the nearby Langhe, well aware that the steep, sandy slopes here have little in common with the rolling hills south of the Tanaro. Roero produces wines of a different kind—pretty, perfumed, and full of charm.  

Luca is happiest working in the vines, one of the few in the area to farm organically. In the cantina, he works diligently and with great attention to detail to produce delicate, classic expressions of the part of Piedmont he calls home.