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WTN: Ar.Pe.Pe. Grumello Buonconsiglio 1995 (Valtellina)

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Agostino Berti

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WTN: Ar.Pe.Pe. Grumello Buonconsiglio 1995 (Valtellina)

by Agostino Berti » Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:36 pm

100% Nebbiolo. Miraculously found a bottle of this amongst some boxes in a Siberian hotel room. (ha) Wow, I've never had the '95 Buonconsiglio by the late legend, master, and zen winemaker....Arturo Pelizzati Perego. He brought wine making in Valtellina to a level that hath yet to be scaled in the area. Mr. Perego did not worry so much about money. He released his masterpiece, the Sassella Vigna Regina '95 sometime in 2003 or so. The cost was Euro 13 in Sondrio. The guy KNEW well made nebbiolo needed time and he released his wines at the beginning of their magical evolution - for our benefit without thinking of his monetary benefit - that's passion! Ask the guy who makes Screaming Eagle how much passion goes into making his $2,000 per bottle wine - he'll tell you all kinds of things, but remember hype is cheap, facts are real.

This wine reminds me of that St. Augustine quote: "Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering."

Nose starts out with none. The color is ridiculously, wonderfully textbook aged Valtellina nebbiolo....Orange, brown, yellow, cherry red, brick, very transparent but seems quite alive in its camouflage of oldness. After a while some slight Tar emerges. Best to let this baby chill a while and breathe, relax, invigorate.

Now, with some Speck on cracker. This thing is still breathing and reawakening, but I will take a sip....coming along.
.....
The wine has beautiful proportion and zen quality. Fleeting, ephemeral subtlety which is yet powerful with its Tar waftings, telling you this wine knows Judo.

An aside about the label. Undiscernible style, bizarre yet normal.

Nose is coming along with cinnamon and subtle menthol type action which comes and goes. Some good earthiness as well. Earthiness, drinkeability, mysterious evolutions, palate cleansing acidity, worthy tannins all make up this package. A very fine expression of Nebbiolo by a winemaker whom I consider one of my Legends - representing what a creative mind and passion can bring forth in a harsh wine area that was left for dead in the 80's.
Last edited by Agostino Berti on Sat Aug 03, 2013 6:12 pm, edited 3 times in total.
“Seekers of gold dig up much earth and find little.”
― Heraclitus
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TomHill

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Yup....

by TomHill » Fri Aug 02, 2013 8:16 am

Agostino Berti wrote:100% Nebbiolo. Miraculously found a bottle of this amongst some boxes in a Siberian hotel room. (ha) Wow, I've never had the '95 Buonconglio by the late legend, master, and zen winemaker....Arturo Pelizzati Perego. He brought wine making in Valtellina to a level that hath yet to be scaled in the area. Mr. Perego did not worry so much about money. He released his masterpiece, the Sassella Vigna Regina '95 sometime in 2003 or so. The cost was Euro 13 in Sondrio.
This wine reminds me of that St. Augustine quote: "Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering."
Nose starts out with none. The color is ridiculously, wonderfully textbook aged Valtellina nebbiolo....Orange, brown, yellow, cherry red, brick, very transparent but seems quite alive in its camouflage of oldness. After a while some slight Tar emerges. Best to let this baby chill a while and breathe, relax, invigorate.
Now, with some Speck on cracker. This thing is still breathing and reawakening, but I will take a sip....coming along.
.....
The wine has beautiful proportion and zen quality. Fleeting, ephemeral subtlety which is yet powerful with its Tar waftings, telling you this wine knows Judo.
An aside about the label. Undiscernible style, bizarre yet normal.
Nose is coming along with cinnamon and subtle menthol type action which comes and goes. Some good earthiness as well. Earthiness, drinkeability, mysterious evolutions, palate cleansing acidity, worthy tannins all make up this package. A very fine expression of Nebbiolo by a winemaker whom I consider one of my Legends - representing what a creative mind and passion can bring forth in a harsh wine area that was left for dead in the 80's.


Yup....the Ar.Pe.Pe. wines are amazingly good, Agostino. Totally agree. We had their Sassella '01 Wed night (TN's to follow) and it was spectacular...easily the best Valtelline Nebb that I've ever
tasted. Very elegant/delicate/perfumed like a great Pinot.....exactly what Nebbiolo does best at.
As you mention...the labels are rather strange...very old-timey & elaborate...much like some German labels.
I first started trying those wines back around '73...when they were imported as AturoPellizatti. They were amazingly good (and cheap...they're not so cheap anymore).
They were what made me fall in love w/ Valtelline Nebb...the greatest expression of Nebbiolo in the World...IMHO.
Tom
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Re: Ar.Pe.Pe. Grumello Buonconsiglio 1995 (Valtellina)

by Agostino Berti » Fri Aug 02, 2013 8:53 am

Right on Tom. The question is can the son, who was never that interested in winemaking from what I know, and Arturo's daughter, Isabella, keep it going. I think they can, why not, maybe he left them the secret formula... However, I especially cherish these old bottles that have the weirder labels and are simply classic - I know they are limited. After Arturo died (word is he is consulting oenologist for Jesus now) they changed the labels a bit and hiked up the prices.

I've got to say I am celebrating cause yesterday in a box I found two Sassella Rocce Rosse '95 - one '91 and then three '95 Grumello Buonconsiglio as well as a '91. Score!

A word about nebbiolo (Barolo, Barbaresco) from Piemonte: I did have a '99 Giuseppe Rinaldi Brunate-Le Coste on my 40th birthday recently that was a Zen experience. The wine was utterly still and calm and let itself be drunk very pleasantly. Great balance and poise without Barolo's usual fractiousness.
“Seekers of gold dig up much earth and find little.”
― Heraclitus

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