Bera Arcese
Piemonte 2007
$13.99, $9.99 this weekend

The Wine... I like the completeness of this wine. There are many pleasant one-note wines for $10: Bera's blend of Favorita with Arneis and Cortese (hence the clever name) has range of aroma and depth of flavor. It is a satisfyingly full white for a cool winter evening. Arcese is a white for pork, and /or an assortment of your favorite edible roots: roasted parsnips, orange beets, or turnips could go nicely. Or for the ambitious chef, try it with a porchetta, Parmesan, parsley, and onion panini.

Joe Dressner, a top importer of natural wines who portfolio is well-represented at 3CUPS, says, “All of the estate is cultivated in organic viticulture with an emphasis on creating an active, healthy ecosystem. All grapes are harvested by hand and their juice is fermented without yeast inoculations. All the winemaking is done by Alessandra’s brother, Gianluigi Bera.”  Joe also recently had an excellent and brief essay on how "[t]here is nothing more unnatural than trying to compress a vineyard and a year's work into a 750 milliliter container" published in The Diner Journal (vol. 13) - check it out.