AR.PE.PE Valtellina Superiore Il Pettirosso 2022

AR.PE.PE. Valtellina Superiore 'Il Pettirosso' is a fragrant, mountain-grown expression of 100% Nebbiolo (locally known as Chiavennasca) from the steep, terraced vineyards of Lombardy’s Alpine valley. 

The name has a genuinely charming origin: a robin flew into the ArPePe cellar and landed on an old acacia barrel. Days later, while tasting from that barrel, Isabella Pelizzatti Perego noticed it was leaking slightly — the wine was ready but the barrel needed replacing, and there wasn't enough left in it to justify a full new label, so she and her brother Emanuele bottled it separately and named it after their unexpected visitor.

• Antonio Galloni of Vinous has called Ar.Pe.Pe.'s wines some of the most impressive he's tasted anywhere, describing the estate's super-traditional style as showing just how pedigreed Valtellina wine can be.

• Soil: friable, granitic mountain soils typical of Valtellina's steep, terraced slopes — free-draining and mineral-driven, forcing the 50-year-old vines to dig deep for nutrients.

• Vinification: a lengthy 116-day maceration in 50-hectolitre untoasted oak casks, followed by 24 months' rest in bottle before release — already a serious traditional regime for an entry-level Superiore.