ARPEPE
Sassella Riserva Ultimi Raggi 2018
Lombardy, Italy
From a parcel in the very highest part of Sassella, around six hundred metres above sea level. The grapes were harvested late, in the middle of November, allowing the grapes to dry on the plant. The wine spent three months on skins in tini and four years in huge old chestnut casks. The result is an impossibly deep, layered and complex wine that is heady with mature fruit, herbs and spice.
Nebbiolo
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
The Perego family has been growing grapes on the granite terraces of Valtellina since 1860.
They work only with Nebbiolo, or Chiavennasca as it is called in these parts, growing the grapes up to seven hundred metres above sea level on sheer, south-facing, sunlit vines that dig straight into rock. The vines are so far north into the alps they are practically in Switzerland and the resulting fruit is intensely mineral.
Production is very much of the old-school and labour is intense, the hills making it very difficult to reach the fruit at all. Everything across their thirteen hectares of vines is done by hand and in the cantina the family exercises a soft touch with famous patience. Favouring long, gentle macerations, the wines are left to rest in large, old chestnut casks until they are deemed ready for release.
The transparency of the grape, the singular landscape and the Peregos’ gentle hand in the cantina make for wines that are up there with Italy’s greats.