Lombardy, Italy

Arpepe

Il Pettirosso 2017

£33

ARPEPE
Il Pettirosso 2017
Lombardy, Italy

Named after the birds which fly above the terraced vineyards in Valtellina, this is an assemblage of wines from Sassella, Grumello and Inferno. The grapes were macerated for four months on the skins and aged in old botti for one year, producing a complex yet open wine that bears the hallmarks of each cru. A wine with an uncanny sense of place.

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.