• Alan Tardi, Decanter - The 2010 Italy issue, January 2010
  

NEW-FOUND NEBBIOLO

[...]

ArPePe is one of the region’s oldest wineries – and also one of the youngest. Founded in 1860 by Arturo Pelizzatti, it grew into one of Valtellina’s most important firms until a family division in 1973 led to the sale of the winery to a multinational company. Arturo, grandson of the founder, found himself in the awkward position of having to work for a new owner which did not share his family’s high standards.
Needless to say, he did not last long. The new owner wanted out by 1984 and Pelizzatti was able to regain some prize wineyards and the winery; he was not, however, able to get back the original name, so he invented the unusual amalgam (Arturo Pelizzatti Perego).

Pelizzatti was convinced Valtellina could produce superior wines, so he severely reduced the yields, vinified grapes from different vineyards separately and let the wine age fo extended periods in large chestnut casks. Before long, ArPePe gained a reputation both for its unique winers and its unorthodox founder.

Tragically, Pelizzatti died prematurely in 2004 but fortunately daughter Isabella and son Emanuele were keen to follow in his footsteps. Emanuele scoffs when I ask if he went to wine school: “Absolutely not! As a kid I watched what my father went through, and wanted no part of it. Then, something happened...The combination of the Nebbiolo grape and our microclimate can create something really special”, he explains. “It’s not about structure or concentration: it’s about minerality and finesse. Our is a patrimony of elegance”.

As I prepare to return to Piedmont, Emanuele’s words echo in my head. His story seems emblematic of the Valtellina region as a whole: a long history, an arduous journey; the need to reinvent oneself; huge potential and an obsession with a unique, demanding terroir. [...]

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