Tasting Notes
When, in spite of yourself, you are forced to step aside in order not to cause any harm, try at least to take with you the hope that one day you’ll see your dreams come true. When you find the strength to get back on your feet, you’ll see those distant targets approaching: the the right waiting time is what separates you from the goals you set yourself.
This is how we remember Arturo, when he stubbornly decided to create his Riserva right in the heart of Sassella. He completely renewed the vineyard at 400 metres above sea level, which he had inherited from his father, and decided to produce a wine that could be make only with Nebbiolo from the Alps grapes, which they simply called Chiavennasca in those days. The year was 1984.
Six years later, he decided the time had come to find a name for it and he and his wife Giovanna opted for Rocce Rosse. The colour of these “red rocks” was that of the passion that fired him to search for the bloody, iron-like flavour of the land of his ancestors, so indelibly impressed on his memory that no flash of modernity could ever have changed.
And indeed, in a glass of Valtellina Superiore Sassella Riserva Rocce Rosse DOCG you can relish the flavour of a root that challenge the granite with its elegance and sincerity, while a gentle breeze rises up from Lake Como and refreshes the valley. - Winemaker Note
The Valtellina Valley in Italy's northern region of Lombardy: famous for curing Bresaola and Chiavennasca. The latter is the local name for Nebbiolo, and grown here at the foothills of the mountainous border with Switzerland in an interesting microclimate where alpine influences meet the Mediterranean, it results in bright cherry-scented wines, all hand-harvested due to the perilously steep slopes that hinder access to any machine aid.
Valtellina producer, ArPePe was founded in 1984 by Arturo Pellizzatti Perego, but his family have been making Nebbiolo delle Alpi (of the Alps) for 5 generations. This expansive family history, not to mention the necessity to do everything a mano (by hand) has given rise to the family philosophy of patience. Il giusto tempo di attesa translates to "the right waiting time" and ArPePe use this in all they do, from the 1500 hours they clock to cultivate a single hectare, to the time spent aging the wines in old barrels, cherry casks and concrete: they say everything takes "as long as it takes".
So take il giusto tempo to look through the collection of graceful and charming alpine Nebbiolo from the Valtellina Superiore DOCG, with the family-owned patiently tended vineyards spread across Sassella, Grumello and Inferno and see what time will tell.
| Product Type | Wine Red Nebbiolo |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Lombardy |
| Sub Region | Valtellina |
| Winemaking Practices | Natural |
| Vineyard Practices | Organic/Biodynamic |