2005 AR.PE.PE. Valtellina Superiore - Sassella Riserva Rocce Rosse

Community Tasting Notes (17) Avg Score: 92.2 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Brutnature1999's profile
  • Report Issue

  8/6/2023 - Brutnature1999 Likes this wine: 97 Points

  Absolutely stunning wine. Nose is ethereal with subdued red fruit aromas, leather, alpine herbs, black tea, and soil. On the palette it’s very savory with silky tannins and screaming acidity even after almost 20 years in bottle. The fruit is pretty secondary at this point but to me that only added to the complexity of the wine. Drank it over two days and on the second day it was pretty dead I would recommend drinking it all in one night if you are going to pull the cork. Wish I had more.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View forceberry's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/22/2023 - forceberry wrote: 91 Points

  100% Nebbiolo harvested on October 22nd, 2005 from the old (average vineyard age is 50 years) 4-hectare Rocce Rosse vineyard - named after the red rocks in the soil - found in the rocky Valtellina subzone of Sassella. Following a few days of cold-soak, the wine is fermented spontaneously and macerated with the skins for 35 days in old 5000-liter casks made of oak, acacia and chestnut. Typically aged for 4 years in old, untoasted 5500-liter botti casks made of oak, acacia and chestnut and a year in concrete tanks. Made only in exceptional vintages - in other vintages the fruit gets declassified to the 2nd wine, Valtellina Superiore or Rosso di Valtellina. Total production 10616 bottles, 960 magnums and 92 double magnums. 13% alcohol. Double-decanted approximately two hours prior to tasting the wine.
  
  Luminous, pale-to-medium-deep garnet color with a slightly evolved brick-red hue. The nose feels quite fragrant but also rather savory and non-fruity with aromas of game and loose tobacco, some sour cherry tones, a little bit of crunchy cranberry and rowanberry, light pine tar nuances, a hint of brambly raspberry, an autumnal touch of damp leaves and a whiff of turmeric. The wine feels crunchy, quite angular and rather lean on the palate with a light-to-medium body and somewhat evolved yet relatively bitter flavors of wizened sour cherries and lingonberry juice, some raisiny tones, a little bit of tart cranberry, light stony mineral notes, a hint of wizened figs and a touch of ripe red plum. The noticeably high acidity lends great intensity to the flavors, but also seems to accentuate the bitterness in the sour cherry and lingonberry tones. The tannins don't feel particularly ample, but they are still somewhat grippy and gritty. The finish is long, dry and somewhat grippy with a savory aftertaste of tart lingonberries and quite pronounced sour cherry bitterness, some crunchy cranberry, a little bit of tar, light sweeter nuances of wizened figs, a hint of earth and a touch of rowanberry.
  
  It's remarkable how very similar this wine was with the 2009 vintage that we tasted at the same time. I'd say this wine showed a bit more evolution with the slightly sweeter dried-fruit flavors, but at the same time the overall feel was even slightly leaner and more austere - and the 2009 vintage was pretty lean to begin with - so any sense of resolution from the aging was basically nullified with the somewhat angular and quite bitter overall character. I was honestly quite surprised how little evolution this wine showed - it came across as still surprisingly youthful and almost backward despite its almost 18 years of age! These Arpepe single-vineyard bottlings seem to call for 20 to 25 years of aging, minimum, before they really start to open up and become approachable. This was a lovely yet also very lean wine that is - still - more about aging potential rather than immediate accessibility. Great stuff - especially if you're willing to wait for longer! Expect the score to go up as the wine ages more.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View AlphaMikeFoxtrot's profile
  • Report Issue

  12/10/2022 - AlphaMikeFoxtrot Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Pours a medium garnet. Rose petals, tarragon, older leather, oregano, anise cooked red cherries, cooked strawberries on the nose. The palate is VERY herbal - thyme, parsley and the tarragon note from the nose, as well as roses, wet stone, anise, fennel seed and black pepper. Pretty fruit backward, at least on the palate - just some subtle red fruit notes.
  
  Medium body, medium tannin with a long (1 minute +) subtle finish. Elegant. Drinking very nicely right now; but can age another five years at least.
  
  Great pairing with pizzocheri alla valtellinese

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • View GhengisTron's profile
  • Report Issue

  12/10/2022 - GhengisTron Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Dark garnet color
  Aroma is herbal, terragon, cooked black fruit, rose
  Taste black cherry, strawberry, tarragon, anis, spicy black pepper, rose
  High acid
  Med plus tannins

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View SeaSea's profile
  • Report Issue

  8/26/2021 - SeaSea Likes this wine:

  Quick double decant before restaurant. Not much sediment. Delightful and elegant, Burgundian Nebbiolo, Many years ahead.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

View all 17 Community Tasting Notes

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.