Narrow fruit range, a mineral styled Nebbiolo – a little dusty and not sure if 2007 was a heralded vintage but the wine was still pretty fresh.

(92 Points)

This is how we remember Arturo, when he stubbornly decided to create his Riserva right in the heart of Sassella. He completely renewed the vineyard at 400 metres above sea level, which he had inherited from his father, and decided to produce a wine that could be make only with Nebbiolo from the Alps grapes, which they simply called Chiavennasca in those days. The year was 1984.

Six years later, he decided the time had come to find a name for it and he and his wife Giovanna opted for Rocce Rosse. The colour of these “red rocks” was that of the passion that fired him to search for the bloody, iron-like flavour of the land of his ancestors, so indelibly impressed on his memory that no flash of modernity could ever have changed.

And indeed, in a glass of Valtellina Superiore Sassella Riserva Rocce Rosse DOCG you can relish the flavour of a root that challenge the granite with its elegance and sincerity, while a gentle breeze rises up from Lake Como and refreshes the valley.