Roero and Barolo grow the same grape on opposite banks of the Tanaro. What changes from one side to the other is mostly in the ground: sand runs through Roero's hills, and it leaves its mark on the wines as well as on the landscape.
It is easy to spend a week in the Langhe and never cross the river. Those who do find a lighter-framed Nebbiolo, a white grape that came close to disappearing in the 1960s, and sandy cliffs that leave the local geology in plain view.
Roero lies on the left bank of the Tanaro, north of Alba, in the province of Cuneo. Barolo and Barbaresco sit on the right bank, in the Langhe hills. The river marks the border between the two areas, and the soils on either side of it are not the same.
The official production rules list the soils allowed for Roero DOCG as clay, limestone and sand, and their combinations; it is the sand that sets the area apart. The president of the Roero consortium describes these soils as younger than the Langhe's, with sand alongside marl, something he calls unique in southern Piedmont and credits for the often mineral character of both Arneis and Nebbiolo.
Sand drains quickly and holds little water, which tends to limit the vine's vigor. On these soils Nebbiolo generally gives wines that are more perfumed and less massive than those from the clay and marl slopes across the river.
The zone covers the whole of Canale, Corneliano d'Alba, Piobesi d'Alba and Vezza d'Alba, and parts of fifteen other towns, among them Montà, Pocapaglia, Guarene and Santo Stefano Roero.
In the middle of Roero the rolling hills give way to sandy cliffs and deep gorges. Locals call them the rocche, and they run along a ridge through the heart of the area.
Erosion carved them, following a change in the river's own course: geologists tie the landscape to the so-called "capture" of the Tanaro, when the river shifted its bed. The Piedmont Region set up the Ecomuseo delle Rocche del Roero in 2003 to protect them, with its seat in Montà and a network of themed footpaths.
The rocche are worth the detour for more than the view. Where the slopes have given way, the cliff faces lay bare the sand the vineyards stand on, and the gullies cut into them show how little it takes for rainwater to move that sand. The soil named in the production rules can be seen here in section, without digging.
Roero was approved as a DOC in 1985 and promoted to DOCG by a decree of December 2004. The rules are short and worth knowing.
Roero (red) must be at least 95% Nebbiolo. It cannot leave the cellar until it has aged at least 20 months, 6 of them in wood, counted from November 1 of the harvest year. Roero Riserva needs 32 months, again with at least 6 in wood. Maximum yield is 8 metric tons of grapes per hectare (about 3.6 US tons per acre). North-facing slopes are excluded for the red.
The red keeps Nebbiolo's defining structure, high acidity and firm tannin, but grown on sand it tends to carry less weight than Barolo and to open up younger. Red cherry and dried rose are the aromas most often cited, and the tannin is usually fine-grained rather than heavy. The short minimum aging means it also reaches the market sooner.
Roero Arneis must be at least 95% Arneis. There is also a Riserva, which needs 16 months before release, and a sparkling version. Unlike the red, Arneis is not excluded from north-facing slopes: the restriction concerns Nebbiolo, a late-ripening grape that needs the warmer exposures.
The aromas usually associated with Arneis are pear and white flowers, sometimes with a light almond note on the finish, and acidity tends to be moderate. Next to Sauvignon Blanc, which is often sharper and more herbaceous, it is generally rounder and less intense on the nose. What makes it worth attention is texture and balance rather than aromatic power.
It came close to extinction. In 1967 Alfredo Currado of Vietti, a Barolo house, chose to bottle it on its own instead of letting it vanish into blends, and that bottling is usually cited as the start of the grape's revival.
One place name keeps coming back in the story of the grape: Renesio, near Canale. When the consortium mapped its named vineyard areas, Renesio was singled out as tied to the origin of Arneis, and three neighboring areas may add its name to their own. On a label, it points to the hillside the grape's history is traced back to; Malvirà's Vigna Renesio carries the name.
Malvirà, in Canale. The Damonte family, brothers Massimo and Roberto, farm 43 hectares at the heart of Roero and make some of the area's reference Arneis, including the Vigna Renesio, along with a Roero Riserva, Mombeltramo. The estate also runs Villa Tiboldi, a wine resort among the vines. Visits and tastings by appointment.
Vietti, in Castiglione Falletto. Strictly speaking, it is across the river, in Barolo country. But it is where modern Arneis began, and a Roero Arneis is still part of its range. Tasting Vietti's Barolo and its Arneis in the same visit puts the main grape of each bank on one table. Tastings by reservation.
Ceretto, near Alba. Its Arneis Blangé is labeled Langhe DOC, but the grapes come from Canale, Castellinaldo and Vezza d'Alba, all of them Roero towns. Ceretto's glass-walled tasting pavilion, The Berry, looks out over the vines. Visits by appointment.
Roero works best as a planned half-day within a Barolo trip, with appointments made in advance, rather than a stop fitted in at the end of the day. As on the other bank, most estates receive visitors by appointment only. The guide to winery reservations in Barolo and Barbaresco applies here too. For buyers, Decanter has described Roero as a renewed source of great-value Nebbiolo.
Autumn is the obvious season, with the harvest under way and the hills changing color. Spring is quieter and greener, a good time for the footpaths of the rocche.
Barolo and Barbaresco have shaped how the world sees this corner of Piedmont, and most visitors judge the rest of the area against them. Roero is better read on its own terms: Nebbiolo from younger, sandier soils, and a white grape that owes its survival to a single decision in 1967. The simplest way to see the difference is to open a Roero and a Barolo of the same vintage side by side, and to look for what the sand has changed.