Long before Arneis became a fashionable white, the Negro family was already farming the sandy ridges of Monteu Roero. A parchment from 1670 records Giovanni Domenico Negro owning land planted to vines here, and the family has not let go since.
Backstory
Negro records in Monteu Roero stretch back to the 1500s, with vineyard ownership documented from 1670. Angelo Negro, known locally as Angelin, began bottling under the family name in 1946. His descendant Giovanni Negro pushed the estate forward, producing one of the first dry Roero Arneis on record in 1971, at a time when the grape was mostly a blending afterthought. The first single-vineyard Perdaudin Arneis followed in 1983, and a Classic Method sparkling Arneis in 1985.
The Region
Roero sits on the left bank of the Tanaro river in Piedmont, opposite the better-known Langhe. Its hills are younger and sandier than those across the water, which gives reds a more perfumed, lifted character and makes the zone the spiritual home of Arneis. Negro later expanded across the river, adding a Barbaresco parcel at Neive in 2000 and a Barolo site at Serralunga d'Alba in 2012.
Vineyards & Farming
The family works around 70 hectares of vineyard around Monteu Roero, planted to the traditional varieties of the area: Arneis, Favorita, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Bonarda and Brachetto. The sites are classically Roero, sandy and fossil-laden, the kind of soils that give the zone's reds their perfume. Holdings include historic crus such as Perdaudin, Sudisfa, Prachiosso, Ciabot San Giorgio and Braida, plus the Basarin vineyard in Barbaresco. Perdaudin and Prachiosso were both planted in 1670 at the estate's founding, and the Prachiosso site is documented in church records going back more than a thousand years. The estate observes organic practices and is certified to the Equalitas sustainability standard.
Winemaking
The cellar covers the full Roero spectrum, from still and sparkling Arneis to Nebbiolo-based reds. Whites and many reds are fermented and aged in stainless steel to keep their fruit clean, while the more serious Nebbiolo, such as Barbaresco Basarin and Roero Prachiosso, sees large Slavonian oak casks of around 25 hectolitres. The Classic Method line, begun with the 1985 Arneis spumante and extended to a Nebbiolo rose in 2004, reflects a producer comfortable working across styles while staying rooted in native grapes.
The Wines
Arneis is the calling card, offered in several guises from an unfiltered version to the single-vineyard Perdaudin and Serra Lupini and the long-aged Sette Anni. Around it sit Nebbiolo bottlings including Angelin, the Prachiosso cru and the Roero Riserva Sudisfa, plus Barbaresco Basarin, Barbera and the local sweet red Brachetto. The range reads as a tour of the Roero hills in the hands of a family that helped define them.
