2017 Matteo Correggia Arneis Roero DOCG 750 ml

This 2017, which boasts the liveliness of Sauvignon Blanc, with its effusive aromatics of lime peel, green apple, and honeydew tinged with tarragon and fennel, is one of the best they’ve ever produced. 

In a wine world where value in wine is often hard to come by, we have this dazzling white from one of the masters of the Arneis grape at the best price in the nation on cases. James Suckling recently wrote that Correggia “always” produces “a go-to Arneis.” Wine Advocate pointed out that, “even with the recent emergence of a number of growers in Roero, Correggia remains a reference-point winery.”

We’ve adored Matteo Correggia’s limited-production wines for years, but they rarely make it to store shelves, so this summer we went to the source. 

On our way to the winery, we stopped at a trattoria in Monforte d’Alba. Sitting outside, we were delighted to see all the locals were drinking the wine we had crossed the Atlantic to find. When the crisp white arrived in our own glasses it was like reconnecting with an old friend: We swooned over its absolutely electric notes of apples, melons, fresh-picked herbs, and subtle floral lift. 

The next morning, we made our way through the fog-shrouded hills to Roero, where the Matteo Correggia winery has become the leading light in the production of white wines in the Piedmont region. Their Arneis is grown on picture-perfect vineyards that are entirely hand-harvested, which guarantees that only the best berries make it to the winery. Most of the juice is pressed and then fermented directly in stainless steel tanks, which maintains its expressive fruit character. But 30% is macerated with the skin first, which lends each sip an unforgettably silky presence on the palate. 

When we sat down to that meal this past spring at the restaurant in Monforte d’Alba, we had no plans to re-discover Matteo Correggia’s masterful Arneis alongside classic Italian fare, but that’s exactly what happened. Sometimes, fate works in mysterious ways.