The “cult wine” category has largely been co-opted by Napa and Bordeaux producers making luxuriously oaked, extravagantly priced reds. Today's 19-year-old gem is none of those things, but it has a rabid cult following nonetheless: Working out of a cellar literally chiseled from rock in Northern Italy's Valtellina region, AR.PE.PE. has won every accolade imaginable by drawing on an impressive library of well-aged wines and re-defining the potential of Nebbiolo.
This is a long way from Barolo, literally and stylistically, but the wines of Valtellina share something important with their Piedmontese cousins: longevity. Remarkable finesse and ethereal perfume define this breathtaking 2002, which is even more breathtaking when you learn its exceedingly modest price. Like the Grand Crus of Burgundy or Champagne, a handful of top vineyards in the Valtellina have been elevated above the rest with a “Superiore” classification. One such site is Sassella, the source of today’s “Rocce Rosse” Riserva. This is AR.PE.PE.’s most prized old-vine parcel in the Sassella cru, totaling a mere four hectares, and they treat it with extreme deference/patience in the cellar. And yet, even after four years of slow evolution in large barrels and a dozen more in bottle, this reference-point red is just now entering its peak drinking window. Many more years of enjoyment lie ahead for this wine, but the same cannot be said for acquiring it. If you’re keen on savoring mature, contemporary cult classics, it’s now or never—what an incredible deal!
Running along Italy’s border with Switzerland, the vineyards of Valtellina are a series of impossible-looking terraces planted mostly to Nebbiolo, which is known locally as Chiavennasca. At AR.PE.PE., Isabella Pelizzatti Pérego and her brothers, Emanuele and Guido, oversee 13 hectares of prime Valtellina vineyards, including parcels within the “Sassella,” “Grumello” and “Inferno” crus. (AR.PE.PE. is short for Arturo Pelizzatti Pérego, Isabella’s father, who sold his family brand back in the early 1980s, only to decide to re-enter the wine business, on a smaller scale, a few years later; the acronym was created to avoid confusion). Their sleek, modern winery is dug into the Grumello hillside, underneath a vineyard, which necessitated working around the occasional immovable boulder. It is one of the most striking wine regions in the world, sharing a lot in common with Côte-Rôtie in terms of its steep pitches and reliance on hand-built stone terraces to hold everything in place. The vineyards within these terraces contain a highly variable and extremely rocky mix of alluvial gravel, sand, granite, and limestone since a lot of the material used to construct the terraces in the first place was hauled up from the banks of the Adda River below. Because the Adda follows an East-West path, vineyards are planted only on its northern bank, giving them full-south, all-day sun exposures in a climate that might otherwise be too cool to ripen grapes—especially the late-ripening Nebbiolo. Just to the north are the snow-capped peaks of the Swiss Alps.
For a wine to be called Valtellina Superiore, it must be comprised of at least 90% Nebbiolo from one of the five elevated sub-zones (Sassella, Grumello, Inferno, Maroggia, Valgella) and age a total of two years, one of which must be in wood barrels. A “Riserva” must age a full three years. However, ARPEPE’s “Rocce Rosse” Riserva far exceeds those minimums: Hand-harvested Nebbiolo ferments in 50-hectoliter oak vats known as tini, then ages in similarly large, used oak vats for four years. Afterward, it rests in cement vats for a time and then ages further in bottle until it is deemed ready for release. For this 2002, a full 11 years passed before its original debut, and even then, it’s only been rolled out in small, successive waves.
For me, ARPEPE’s wines are deeply Italian and an ode to traditional, mountain Nebbiolo. I put my nose in the glass and there’s nothing else it could be—but it’s worlds away from the Barolos and Barbarescos parading on retail shelves and wine lists. They’re not big, brawny, or tannic but rather soft, nuanced, tremendously fresh, and extraordinarily perfumed. In the glass, this sublime 2002 reveals a dusty ruby red core moving out to a translucent brick orange rim. With about 60 minutes of air, an aromatic swirl of dried red plum, dried red cherry, wild strawberry, orange peel, leather, resin, mushroom, rose petals, black tea, tobacco leaf, and finely crushed stone slowly unfurl. Compared to a Barolo or Barbaresco, it is considerably less tannic and a good degree less alcoholic, with a very fine-grained quality. Although lithe and weightless, it’s brimming with slow-building flavors of dried red berries, crushed earth, and wild mountain-herb savor. As I’ve said many times: A wine need not be heavy to be both powerful and persistent. There’s still another 7-10 years of broadening and deepening in store for this fascinating Nebbiolo, so do yourself a favor and hang on to at least a few bottles for revisiting later!
