Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Ar. Pe. Pe.—short for Arturo Pelizzatti Perego, who relaunched the fam- ily winery in 1984—harvests chiavennasca (a local name for nebbiolo) from the upper reaches of Valtellina’s Sassella subzone. In 2010, its rocky soils and cooling breezes gave a red-fruited wine with a chiseled min- eral spine. Floral scents and a white-pepper spice lift the wine’s rich flavors of maraschino cherry and blood orange, its cool precision evoking the wine’s Alpine origins.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
Containing an exciting mix of wine producing subregions, Lombardy is Italy’s largest in size and population. Good quality Pinot noir, Bonarda and Barbera have elevated the reputation of the plains of Oltrepò Pavese. To its northeast in the Alps, Valtellina is the source of Italy’s best Nebbiolo wines outside of Piedmont. Often missed in the shadow of Prosecco, Franciacorta produces collectively Italy’s best Champagne style wines, and for the fun and less serious bubbly, find Lambrusco Mantovano around the city of Mantua. Lugana, a dry white with a devoted following, is produced to the southwest of Lake Garda.