WINE ENTHUSIAST 95 POINTS - "You'll find aromas of ripe berry, exotic spice, scorched earth, violet and balsamic notes on this generous fragrant red. The structured savory palate delivers crushed raspberry, succulent red cherry, star anise and tobacco alongside decisive but refined tannins. It's balanced, with fresh acidity." — Kerin O’Keefe
This is a special bottling for ArPePe, only made in vintages where they can allow the grapes to gently dry on the vine. Then it's aged for 5 years in large chestnut vats and concrete before bottling. Read on!...
"This wine, born in 1999 from an idea of Arturo's, plays on the slightly drying of the grapes in the vineyards, up to 600 meters above sea level, at the highest point of Sassella, in the zone called "Ere".
Waiting for the right degree of phenolic ripening of the grapes can take some weeks later than in the vineyards below. The variations in temperature between day and night during the harvest add strength to the skins and concentrate the sugars. The fruit slowly dries in the wind, while still attached to the vine, as it prepares for its winter rest. Just before the snow comes, between the middle and end of November, the grapes are picked, gently crushed and pressed in a wooden vat. At the first racking, it is completely dry and acidity levels are quite pronounced. The super-ripeness mitigates the nervous tannins of Valtellina Superiore Sassella Riserva Ultimi Raggi DOCG and ageing in large barrels smoothens out its rich texture.
The 'sweetness' of the ripe fruit thus lingers in the fragrance, without any cloying sweetness on the palate.
After ageing in the bottle, Ultimi Raggi becomes the wine with the highest alcohol content of our production, while losing none of the freshness and mouthfeel of Nebbiolo from the Alps." - WINERY NOTES
This is a special bottling for ArPePe, only made in vintages where they can allow the grapes to gently dry on the vine. Then it's aged for 5 years in large chestnut vats and concrete before bottling. Read on!...
"This wine, born in 1999 from an idea of Arturo's, plays on the slightly drying of the grapes in the vineyards, up to 600 meters above sea level, at the highest point of Sassella, in the zone called "Ere".
Waiting for the right degree of phenolic ripening of the grapes can take some weeks later than in the vineyards below. The variations in temperature between day and night during the harvest add strength to the skins and concentrate the sugars. The fruit slowly dries in the wind, while still attached to the vine, as it prepares for its winter rest. Just before the snow comes, between the middle and end of November, the grapes are picked, gently crushed and pressed in a wooden vat. At the first racking, it is completely dry and acidity levels are quite pronounced. The super-ripeness mitigates the nervous tannins of Valtellina Superiore Sassella Riserva Ultimi Raggi DOCG and ageing in large barrels smoothens out its rich texture.
The 'sweetness' of the ripe fruit thus lingers in the fragrance, without any cloying sweetness on the palate.
After ageing in the bottle, Ultimi Raggi becomes the wine with the highest alcohol content of our production, while losing none of the freshness and mouthfeel of Nebbiolo from the Alps." - WINERY NOTES
