Demarie Sabbia

Demarie is in Vezza d’Alba, in the heart of the ‘Roero’ just twenty minutes northwest of Barbaresco, it is a third-generation, family-owned and worked estate, where the terroir is not so different to its famed neighbours; Barolo and Barbaresco.

The soils are a little lighter and, even now, mixed farming is common, the main crops being hazelnuts, vines, cereals and dairy. The regions’ post-war history has seen enormous change with a dramatic decline in the hazelnut sector and a large rise in viticulture. These changes have been mirrored in the Demarie operation.

The farm has fourteen hectares of vineyards in Vezza, Castagnito, Castellinaldo and Guarene.
Arneis, Barbera and Nebbiolo are the most important grape varieties in the area; however, there is also Brachetto, Moscato and Dolcetto, the family is fully committed to all of the indigenous varieties.
Brothers, Paolo and Aldo are fortunate to have different skills; Aldo prefers the cellar and vineyards, Paolo likes the travel and the office. Both not only share a passion for wine but also for constant innovation, concentrating firmly on environmental issues and projects involving their local community.

The white Arneis grapes are crushed, and the juice is fermented in contact with seeds and skins for 20 days, without temperature control. After this, the wine undergoes slow post-fermentation maceration for 15-20 days to extract even more delicate perfume from the skins. Then, the wine is poured into small 225-litre French oak barriques to age for four months. Here, Sabbia develops its wonderful orange hue and a complex set of aromas and flavours. After that, Paolo Demarie performs another important step: he puts the oak-aged wine back into large stainless steel tanks for four months so the flavours can integrate and develop. After bottling, Paolo keeps the wine for at least four months in his cellar before releasing it to the market. Sabbia is produced in a very limited quantity of only 6,500 bottles per year – which is mostly sold in Italy. This is a rare orange wine which is hard to get.

In the glass, this wine has a translucent amber colour. It offers aromas of honeysuckle, green tea, marzipan, apricot stone and almonds. In the mouth, it’s medium-bodied with a visible texture, and a medium level of alcohol. It’s not too acidic, which is typical for Arneis. Each sip of Sabbia leaves a beautiful long finish of almonds and apricots in the mouth