Demarie & Roero

Paolo Demarie is a third generation winemaker for his family-owned Demarie wine company.  Their easy drinking Barbera d'Alba Superiore has been a staple here at the store for the last couple years.    Only recently have we learned how good their Langhe Nebbiolo is; first from our vendor and then from our customer base who tried it.  So rest assured, the Nebbiolo should be a fixture here for the foreseeable future.

Demarie owns twenty-nine hectares of vineyards in Vezza d'Alba in the Roero district of Piedmont, the finest wine region of Italy.  Only two grapes are allowed in Roero; Italy's great red, Nebbiolo, and Piedmont's great white, Arneis.  Plantings in Roero tend to favor Arneis three to one over Nebbiolo so since both the Demarie Barbera and Nebbiolo carry appellations other than Roero, it's safe to assume it's mostly Arneis growing in the estate vineyards.  Italian wine law is loose enough though to assume some of the Demarie estate Nebbiolo can find its way into both the Barbera and Nebbiolo.

The Roero wine appellation has a continental climate with steep hillside vineyards with sandy, calcareous clay.  It is located in south-central Piedmont which is in the upper western corner of Italy.  Both our Barbera d'Alba and Langhe Nebbiolo are sourced within a mile of Roero.  Langhe is adjacent to Roero to the southwest; d'Alba is due south.  Demarie also owns vineyards in Italy's two premier wine regions, Barolo and Barbaresco, which lie an equidistant three miles away to the southeast and southwest.  As should be obvious at this point, this is not a bad neighborhood to be in.

Demarie has a versatile food-friendly wine style that aims for elegance and finesse while basically complementing any meal on the dinner table.  This model for both the Barbera and Nebbiolo makes it a sure winner for most of our needs.  When you consider how tannic some of those gold standard Barolos and Barbarescos can be, the Demarie style is a pure delight.