Italian Red
ArPePe Valtellina Superiore Grumello ‘Rocca di Piro’, Lombardy, Italy 2015
- 100% Nebbiolo
- Practicing Organic
- View winemaker fact sheet
Tucked in between the Orobic and Retic Alps just south of the Italian-Swiss border, you’ll find the terraced vineyards of ARPEPE. At the helm of this storied estate, located in the Grumello subzone of Valtellina in Lombardy, is the fifth generation of the Pelizzatti Perego family. The roots of this blue-chip estate go back to the 1860s, when the current generation’s great-great-grandfather Giovanni founded a successful winery in the area, then known only as “Pelizzatti.” Over 150 years of history have passed since then, including the dark days of the 1970s during which the current generation’s grandfather fell ill, and the family was forced to sell the Pelizzatti brand along with some of their vineyards. The more recent history of the estate is an almost deus-ex-machina turn of events: the family re-founded their company under the ARPEPE label in 1984, got back many of their proprietary vineyards from renters, and were able to reclaim their cellar in Grumello. Today, ARPEPE is widely recognized as the single best producer in the appellation. This 2015 Grumello Roca di Piro is a beautiful expression of Nebbiolo with bottle age that is absolutely singing. For lovers of Nebbiolo it's a hard to beat wine offering complexity by way of grippy tannins, dried fruits, rose petals and tobacco.