Tradition

Born in 1860. Reborn in 1984. Brought up in 2004.

These are the three great milestones in our history, which began at the time of the Unification of Italy. This can be seen in contemporary documents, such as those that tell of the long, unbroken business relationship with a loyal customer who, as the generations went by, continued for over a century to stock up at the winery, then known simply as “Pelizzatti”.

In 1973, after many trials and tribulations, both the trademark and the actual business were sold. But this was no more than a setback, because already in 1984 our father, Arturo Pelizzatti Perego, decided to make a comeback, using his own acronym – ArPePe – and making it his declared aim to bring out the full potential of Nebbiolo from the Alps in the unique terroir of the Valtellina.

Arturo regained possession of his part of the vineyards and of the premises used for ageing at Buon Consiglio. Here, with the experience built up by the historic family business, he began to write the pages of its renaissance, adopting the principle of "the right waiting time” and paving the way for the fifth generation.

In 2004, we combined all our forces on this path, continuing his commitment to achieving his goal, which many considered as visionary.

Today, as then, the quality of our wines continues to be the exquisite outcome of years of slow evolution: in some cases, it may take far longer for them to reach maturity than any handbook might suggest. We wait patiently, and only when the right moment comes do we proceed with bottling the wine, always strictly respecting the phases of the moon. Then, back it goes to rest. This time in bottles.

And that’s the only way it could be, for the traditional ageing of Nebbiolo at ARPEPE has to be done in a certain way: a gradual maturing and the exaltation of individual vineyards, with the nuances and colours of the various vintages.