1997 AR.PE.PE. Valtellina Superiore Sassella Rocce Rosse Riserva

AR.PE.PE. is named for Arturo Pelizzatti Perego, the founder of the winery, who in 1984 started making wine in Sondrio, Valtellina, in the far north above Milan near the Swiss border. Arturo Pelizzatti Perego came from a family steeped in winemaking history, and his great grandfather had been making wine in the mid-19th century in Lombardy. But Perego acquired 28 acres to start his own label and today the estate is run by his three children, Guido, Isabella and Emanuele. The estate makes numerous Nebbiolos that win awards in Italy and elsewhere. Gambero Rosso, Italy’s leading wine journal, has noted that Arturo Pelizzatti Perego’s “style is utterly distinctive and the cellar’s vision focuses totally on promoting the vineyards and territory.” About 32,500 bottles are produced annually.

Lombardy is in the north, just under Switzerland, and it is home to Milan and Italy’s major business centers. Lombardy (Lombardia, in Italian) is also the center for what some consider Italy’s best sparkling wines. Though the Veneto has long been known for its prosecco, the Franciacorta DOCG, one of two DOCGs in Lombardy, is famous for its sturdier, elegant, Champagne-style sparkling wines, which are made by metodo classico, the traditional French Champagne-making process requiring two separate fermentations, among other steps. The sparkling wine industry here is relatively young, having started only in the 1960s. But money for Lombardy wineries has come from wealthy regional industrialists, and it has grown quickly. There are nearly 70,000 vineyard acres in Lombardy and it ranks eleventh in terms of production among Italy’s wine regions. There are thirteen DOCs making red and white wines. Chardonnay is the dominant white grape and it is used in many sparkling wines. Red wines are made from Barbera, Bonarda, Lambrusco and Chiavennasca, which is a regional variation of Nebbiolo. Bellavista in Franciacorta is the most famous producer in Lombardy, although the DOC Oltrepo Pavese is also considered to have an excellent terroir. Valtellina, which has a DOCG and DOC, in the far north makes Chiavennasca, which is Nebbiolo.

This red grape is most often associated with Piedmont, where it becomes DOCG Barolo and Barbaresco, among others. Its name comes from Italian for “fog,” which descends over the region at harvest. The fruit also gains a foggy white veil when mature.