Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis Sparse 2021

I first came across the inimitable wines of Giovanni Almondo following up on a tip from 100-point Barolo producer, Elio Grasso. I had just had some of the best red wines in all of Italy, and did I want a chance to taste the whites? Dumb question.

Since then, the wines have been a mainstay at Nicholas Wines, the restaurant and many of the top restaurants in the city. One taste and it’s pretty easy to see why it was the go to by-the-glass at Danny Meyer’s restaurants for so many years. Del Posto and Maera as well.

This is perhaps Giovanni Almondo’s purest expression of Arneis – as this sees zero oak. It’s nearly impossible to find a better mineral white wine with high toned aromatics, juicy stone fruits and an acidic backbone that can so perfectly hold its own with darn near anything on a plate. This is my swiss army knife of pairings.