Italy · Roero

Giovanni Almondo

Roero Arneis specialist farming 15 hectares on the left bank of the Tanaro, with three parcel-specific bottlings vinified separately and released on extended lees.

The producer

Giovanni Almondo farms Arneis the way Burgundy farms Chardonnay: parcel by parcel, each plot harvested on its own schedule and vinified individually. The estate sits in Montà d'Alba, the central village of Roero Arneis production on the left bank of the Tanaro, and produces three distinct Roero Arneis DOCG bottlings from 12 hectares of estate-grown fruit. Domenico Almondo shaped the estate's quality direction from 1980. His son Federico trained at Nicolas Potel in Burgundy before returning to apply parcel-level discipline to a white grape that Piemonte once nearly abandoned.

The range runs from Bricco delle Ciliegie, with its chalk, lemon, and pear directness, through the multi-parcel Vigne Sparse, which opens onto stone fruit, herbs, and a savory oyster-and-salt finish, to Le Rive del Bricco, a single-parcel wine capped at roughly 1,000 bottles per vintage. Le Rive del Bricco ages 90 percent in stainless steel and 10 percent in non-toasted French oak for 10 months, landing as the densest and longest-finishing wine in the lineup. All three are kept on lees for as long as possible and released across 8 to 9 separate bottlings per year to preserve freshness at the point of release.

Known for

Roero Arneis DOCG, single-parcel vinification

Notable facts

The story

The Burgundy Return

Federico Almondo came back from Burgundy with a different set of questions about Arneis. He had spent time at Nicolas Potel's domaine in the Côte d'Or, where vineyards are divided by parcel, harvested by parcel, and vinified by parcel as a routine discipline applied to every white wine on the property. Back in Montà d'Alba, he looked at the Almondo Arneis plots and made the same move: each named parcel harvested on its own schedule, pressed separately, and vinified individually. The top wine from the Bricco delle Ciliegie parcel, Le Rive del Bricco, was held to a production ceiling of around 1,000 bottles and aged partly in non-toasted French oak, a level of attention that nobody in Roero was applying to a white grape the region had nearly let disappear two decades earlier.

From the atlas

Giovanni Almondo

At A Glance

Estate: Giovanni Almondo Village: Montà d'Alba, Roero, Piemonte Appellation: Roero Arneis DOCG Grapes: Arneis (12 ha), Nebbiolo (3 ha) Hectares: 15 (14 estate-owned, 1 leased) Annual production: 80,000 to 90,000 bottles of Arneis Key bottles: Bricco delle Ciliegie, Vigne Sparse, Le Rive del Bricco

The Producer

Giovanni Almondo farms Arneis the way Burgundy farms Chardonnay: parcel by parcel, vinification by vinification, lees ageing by lees ageing. The estate sits in Montà d'Alba, the central village of Roero Arneis production on the left bank of the Tanaro, and it produces three distinct Roero Arneis DOCG bottlings from 12 hectares of estate-grown Arneis. Domenico Almondo shaped the estate's quality direction from 1980. His son Federico trained at Nicolas Potel in Burgundy before returning to Roero, and the Burgundian formation is audible in every cellar decision the estate makes: separate harvesting from named parcels, individual vinification per cuvée, and a top bottling capped at roughly 1,000 bottles per vintage.

Arneis is a white grape that Piemonte once nearly abandoned, and Roero is the appellation that kept it. Almondo is among the clearest cases for what Arneis can do when treated as a serious single-vineyard white rather than a blended regional commodity.

Place

Roero sits across the Tanaro River from Langhe, the territory that produces Barolo and Barbaresco. Where Langhe rests on compact Tortonian marl and limestone, Roero sits on looser, sandier soils with a greater calcareous content, and the difference shows in its wines: lighter body, earlier aromatic expression, and a lifted mineral character rather than the tannic weight of the opposite bank.

Roero Arneis DOCG covers the white wines produced in this zone, and the appellation names the grape: Arneis, a white variety that must make up at least 95 percent of the blend. It is an aromatic grape, producing dry whites with stone fruit, herbs, and a savory mineral lift that the sandy calcareous soils of Montà d'Alba amplify.

Soil And Site

The Almondo parcels sit on the sandy calcareous soils characteristic of Roero. The sand drains quickly, stressing the vines moderately and concentrating aromatics. The calcareous content contributes the mineral and chalk-edged character that runs through all three Arneis bottlings. Specific soil profiles by individual parcel are not documented in the verified sources, but the Roero soil type is consistent across the estate's 15 hectares.

Story

The estate was founded in 1978. Domenico Almondo began redirecting it toward quality wine from 1980, separating the estate's Arneis parcels and focusing production on the Roero DOCG category. The decisive turn came with the next generation. Federico Almondo went to Burgundy, working at the Nicolas Potel domaine in the Côte d'Or, where Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are vinified parcel by parcel as a matter of course. He came back to Roero and applied that logic to Arneis.

The practical result is a production model unusual for the appellation: three separately harvested and individually vinified bottlings, each from a distinct parcel or parcel group, released not as a single annual wine but across 8 to 9 separate bottlings per vintage. The estate kept the Arneis on lees as long as possible before each release, prioritising freshness over a single bottling date. Le Rive del Bricco, the estate's top expression, is capped at approximately 1,000 bottles per vintage and sees 10 months of ageing with 90 percent in stainless steel and 10 percent in non-toasted French oak, adding flesh without oak flavour.

Vineyards And Cellar

Fourteen of the 15 hectares are estate-owned; one is leased. Arneis occupies 12 hectares; Nebbiolo covers 3. The family partnered with a research institution in Turin on an Arneis clonal selection project using heritage vines from across the Montà area.

In a normal vintage, the estate produces 80,000 to 90,000 bottles of Arneis, all from fruit grown on the estate.

Wines

Three Arneis bottlings form the range, moving from the parcel-specific entry level to the small-production single-parcel top.

Bricco delle Ciliegie (Roero Arneis DOCG) comes from the estate's Bricco delle Ciliegie parcel. It is the most direct expression in the range: chalk and lemon on the nose, a core of ripe pear, dry on the palate, with the savory mineral finish that Roero's sandy soils produce.

Vigne Sparse (Roero Arneis DOCG) draws from scattered estate plots, a multi-parcel blend whose name means "dispersed vines." It is pale straw with a faint green tinge and opens with pear, apple, acacia honey, apricot, and herbs. The palate moves into white peach, citrus, and a borderline tropical register before landing on oyster shells, wet stones, and salt on a lengthy savory finish. Dry, mineral, and bright through the back of the mouth.

Le Rive del Bricco (Roero Arneis DOCG) is the top expression: a single parcel, roughly 1,000 bottles per vintage, and the only wine in the range that sees any oak. It is denser and fleshier than the other two, with juicy peach, pear, and a faint almond note on the nose, and a palate of bright fruit, citrus peel, white pepper, crushed rock, and sage. The salinity and minerality run longer than in either of the other bottlings, and the finish carries a spiced undercurrent that the non-toasted oak partly accounts for.

In The Glass

Arneis in the Almondo style lifts early and stays dry through the finish. From Bricco delle Ciliegie, the first impression is chalk and lemon, clean and direct. Vigne Sparse opens wider, with stone fruit giving way to herbs, wet stones, and the oyster-and-salt mineral note that comes off Roero's calcareous sand. The mouth is juicy and mouthwatering, not weighty.

Le Rive del Bricco shifts the register. The nose is denser: peach, pear, a suggestion of almonds from the partial oak and extended lees. On the palate the acids are sizzling and precise, carrying flavours of citrus peel and white pepper across a fleshy mid-palate. Crushed rock and sage emerge on the back half, and the salinity note holds through a longer finish than either of the other two bottlings deliver. The partial non-toasted oak adds body without flavour; what comes across is more Arneis, not less.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Vigne Sparse. It is the mid-range bottling, widely distributed outside Italy, and it is kept on lees for as long as possible, showing the pale straw colour with its green tint, the layered nose of stone fruit, honey, herbs, and wet stones, and the distinctive savory finish with its oyster and salt notes. Le Rive del Bricco is worth seeking once the style is familiar; Vigne Sparse shows pear, apple, and acacia honey, with citrus and green hints on the nose.

Anecdote

Federico Almondo came back from Burgundy with a different set of questions about Arneis. He had spent time at Nicolas Potel's domaine in the Côte d'Or, where vineyards are divided by parcel, harvested by parcel, and vinified by parcel as a routine discipline applied to every white wine on the property. Back in Montà d'Alba, he looked at the Almondo Arneis parcels and made the same move: each named plot harvested on its own schedule, pressed separately, and vinified individually. The top wine from the Bricco delle Ciliegie parcel, Le Rive del Bricco, was held to a production ceiling of around 1,000 bottles and aged partly in non-toasted French oak, a level of care that nobody in Roero was applying to a white grape that the region had nearly let die out two decades earlier.

Final Word

Giovanni Almondo makes a case that Arneis is a white wine worth thinking about in the same terms as any serious parcel-specific white. The three bottlings give different answers to the same question: what does the Roero's sandy calcareous ground do to this grape when you take it seriously? Le Rive del Bricco is the clearest answer, but Vigne Sparse is where the argument starts.

Sources

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