Luca Faccenda grew up in the hills of Roero and his family has been making wines in Valfaccenda, a small valley between Canale and Cisterna in Piedmont for many years. He started "Valfaccenda" in the 2010 after getting "the vineyard of my family" back from a long rental contract.
He is proud of the area and knows it very well. He has no desire to emulate the wines of nearby Langhe which is a good thing for us since the wines he makes here in Roero are a beautiful representation of this beautiful area!
for more info & to get to know Luca a bit,
check out this video on YouTube
and a little about Arneis:
Arneis was once known as "Nebbiolo Bianco" (white Nebbiolo") and is an outstanding white wine capable of great age. Arzigh is a white wine that is wild and a bit reminiscent of a red wine. Perhaps due to the long maceration with skins or maybe because of the vineyards. The word Arzigh means “risk” (Piemontese dialect) & indeed making this wine is a risk. 100% Arneis is made from 60-year vines - the vineyards are in the commune of Santo Stefano Roero which higher in altitude than most others in the Roero. Soils are classic Roero, with a high percentage of sand.
Luca's winemaking is hands off - only indigenous yeast, whole bunch maceration, concrete vats & used barrels. His goal is to obtain wine that becomes the "liquid translation of our grapes, vineyards and vintages". He believes that Nebbiolo and Arneis are the best grapes able to "translate" in wine the terroir of Roero.
