Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

  • About

Roero, increasingly important vineyard area and docg on sandy hills on the left bank of the River Tanaro in the piemonte region of north-west Italy which takes its name from the villages of Montaldo Roero, Monteu Roero, and Santo Stefano Roero to the north west of Alba. Geographically as well as administratively it is not part of the langhe, from which it is separated by the River Tanaro, but it shares its most important red grape variety, nebbiolo, although the wines tend to be softer and earlier-maturing than those from barbaresco and barolo. In spite of ongoing marketing efforts, Roero’s expression of Nebbiolo deserves to be better known. This is perhaps why many Roero producers own vineyards in or buy grapes from the more famous Barbaresco. Significant quantities of red barbera and white arneis are also grown in Roero.