Malvirà Roero Arneis Vigna Renesio: 2007 – 2015

BY IAN D'AGATA | OCTOBER 9, 2018

Arneis is an Italian native white grape that can give remarkably charming wines with early appeal and juicy fruitiness. Malvirà’s outstanding Vigna Renesio bottling shows that Arneis can also produce layered, ageworthy wines.

The Roero is a beautiful part of Piedmont that lies on the left bank of the Tanaro river, across from the Langhe, the home of Barolo and Barbaresco. But the topography of Roero differs from that of the Langhe, with its vineyards planted on much steeper slopes and at slightly higher altitudes. The Roero also features a generally cooler mesoclimate than the Langhe. Its soils differ as well: they’re generally much sandier (especially in the western reaches of the denomination) than those of the Langhe. Last but not least, the Roero also boasts Arneis, an outstanding native white grape the likes of which the Langhe, at least until the recent rediscovery of Nascetta, has always lacked.

A view of the Arneis vineyards

The Malvirà Estate

Azienda Agricola Malvirà is one of the most respected estates in the Roero and in all of Piedmont. Among its 42 hectares are 7 different vineyards, some of which—such as San Michele, Renesio and Trinità—have gained considerable fame for the quality of their grapes and wines. Malvirà was founded by Giuseppe Damonte in the 1950s and is run today by his two sons, Massimo (who takes care of the vineyards) and Roberto (who is in charge of the winemaking). A new generation is now taking its first steps in the estate’s day-to-day operations: Roberto’s son Giacomo has completed his studies at the enology school at Alba and now works at the estate, while cousins Lucia, Francesco and Piero are still in school and hope to join him soon.

The estate’s name, Malvirà, is a reference in Piedmontese dialect to the fact that the original winery building faced north, and thus was saddled with a bad (mal, in Italian) exposure during much colder days before climate change had made its presence felt (malvirà derives from mal virata, meaning “turned in the bad direction”). In fact, that was probably the only thing that was ever wrong with the estate, because over the years Malvirà has created a solid reputation for very good to outstanding wines that speak of the grape varieties from which they are made and the place where they grow. Certainly, the estate ranks among the very best Arneis wine producers in Italy. The Damonte brothers produce no fewer than seven different Arneis bottlings.