2007 Ar.Pe.Pe Sassella Riserva Rocce Rosse Valtellina Superiore Lombardy 750 ml

Ar.Pe.Pe: Tre Bicchieri and #1 Red in Italy

The 2007 Ar.Pe.Pe Sassella Riserva is a knockout red: “Intoxicating scents of smoke, flint, dried mountain herb and woodland berry are just some of the multifaceted aromas you'll find on this dazzling Nebbiolo,” raved Wine Enthusiast with a near-perfect 98-point score. “Some may find this almost too ethereal while lovers of finesse, complexity and balance will be enchanted.” This is hands-down the greatest single bottling of old-school mountain Nebbiolo from Valtellina, produced only in the best vintages and released after a lengthy aging and maturation process. As a result, “the super-traditional style will leave lovers of translucent Nebbiolo weak at the knees,” says Vinous’s Antonio Galloni, who has lavished praise on the winery and this cuvée. 

Take a glance around the stubby slopes of Valtellina, pushed up against the vertigo-inducing cliffs of the Alps, and you’ll see stretches of abandoned vineyards, gradually succumbing to brush. Why? Because making wine in this region is backbreaking work. It’s lonely at the top here on the Swiss border. On average every 2.5-acre plot of vines requires roughly 1,500 hours of labor for cultivating—more than triple what it usually takes in Piedmont or Tuscany. Arpepe’s vineyards, standing at up to 1,970 feet in altitude, are so steep they can only be tended by hand (and careful footing), the grapes carted down by cable cars. But the reward, as this bottle’s “Red of the Year” title from Gambero Rosso makes clear, can be extraordinary. The Nebbiolo off these slopes—distinctly alpine, mineral, savory, and bright—tastes like nothing else in the world.

Arpepe was created in 1984 by Arturto Pelizzati Perego, who had a vision for wines that would be intensely expressive of Valtellina’s singular terroir, and that would require patient maturation over years. After producing his first vintage, he waited for six harvests to pass before releasing it. It’s a strategy—continued today with library releases like this one—that won over Vinous’ Antonio Galloni, who wrote that the wines “are terrific choices for readers looking for Nebbiolo with the nuances that can only develop over time.”

Today, Arturo’s three children carry out his old-school approach with undiminished diligence. Macerations last between 50 and 70 days; wines age for three or four years in chestnut casks, traditional for the region, lending the Nebbiolo a harmonious structure. Of the three Valtellina subzones where the family tends vineyards, the Sassella, with red rocks and clay, is best known for producing wines of brooding power and feminine elegance. In its report handing out the award, Gambero called it “exhilarating”—indeed, you can almost taste that rarefied Alpine air in this stunning release, aged to perfection.