Having been big fans of juice from Valtellina for a long time, for amongst many reasons, the degree of manual endeavour required and the cultivation of Nebbiolo, it would be remiss for us not to include a producer from one of our favoured red wine regions. Step forward the Perego family, owners of ARPEPE winery.
Regarded as a pioneer in the region, the family has been growing grapes on the dramatic terraces of Valtellina since 1860. No mean feat when you consider the tools to play with. They work only with Nebbiolo, which is locally known as Chiavennasca, growing the grapes up to seven hundred metres above sea level on sheer, south-facing, sunlit vines that dig straight into rock.
The vineyards are spread across 13 hectares, located in Sassella, Grumello and Inferno, in the heart of the Valtellina Superiore DOCG area. Production is very much old-school, albeit benefitting from small examples of innovation, and labour is proper intense. The terrace formations make it very difficult to reach the vines at all, which means everything is done by hand. It's said that it can take up to 1,500 hours to cultivate just a single hectare (that’s two and a half acres) of vineyard. Woah, mind-blowing stuff!
In the winery, a refurbished family cellar built into the bedrock beneath Grumello’s terraced slope, the family exercises minimal touch and a high degree of patience. For production, they favour long, gentle macerations, with the wines left to rest in large, old chestnut casks, steel or cement tanks, until they are deemed ready for release.
The ARPEPE range of wines is extensive at 11 wines, particularly when you consider they only work with Nebbiolo, but on the evidence of several group tastings, all the better for it. They make staunchly traditional expressions, but these are still fruit-forward, pretty and perfumed. A perfect introduction to alpine Nebbiolo from Lombardy!
