100% Nebbiolo (Chiavennasca)

Food pairings: The regional cooking of Lombardy and Valtellina, such as bresaola, venison carpaccio and mushroom risotto, as well as tagliatelle with white ragù, roasts and other meat dishes, truffle dishes and aged cheeses.

Winemaking: The 2022 grapes were picked by hand on October 2nd. The wine macerated on its skins for 108 days in 50-hectoliter wooden vats, then aged for 12 months in large 50-hectoliter barrels before resting in concrete and in bottle. In years when the tannins are softer, the family gives Rocca de Piro a shorter stay in large barrels, so the wine is surprisingly quick to become ready to drink, while still having the balance to age in the cellar. Serve at about 15°C (59°F) in a Nebbiolo glass.

Vineyards and terroir: Rocca de Piro is made from the family's own two vineyards in the Grumello subzone of Valtellina Superiore, Buon Consiglio and Sant'Antonio, in the municipalities of Sondrio and Montagna in Valtellina. They face south at 350 to 500 meters on the terraced slope beneath Castel Grumello, right above the family's cellar, which is dug into the hillside at Buon Consiglio. The soil is a very sandy loam with fragments of rock and high acidity. Grumello is usually the first zone to be harvested and gives expressive wines that can be enjoyed young. As everywhere in Valtellina, the terraces are held up by dry-stone walls and face the sun on the Rhaetian side of the valley. The vineyards are kept under grass cover and are worked entirely by hand, since the steep slopes allow no tractors.

The name: Castel Grumello, which belonged to the De Piro family in the 14th century, is a twin fortress of two separate complexes once joined by walls, looking down over Nebbiolo vineyards. The wine takes its name from this "rocca", which is drawn on the label.

Family and history: The Pelizzatti Perego family has grown Nebbiolo in Valtellina since 1860, when the winery was known simply as "Pelizzatti". The brand and business were sold in 1973, but in 1984 Arturo Pelizzatti Perego started again under his own acronym, ARPEPE (ARturo PElizzatti PErego), regaining his share of the vineyards and the ageing cellars at Buon Consiglio. After Arturo fell ill, the fifth generation, his children Emanuele, Isabella and Guido, took over at the end of 2004 and continue his traditional, patient approach to Valtellina Nebbiolo.

In the pictures: Terraced Nebbiolo vineyards in the Grumello zone below the ruins of Castel Grumello, looking out over the valley (photo: Jumk18, 2026, CC BY-SA 4.0). Castel Grumello on its hill in a woodcut by Giuseppe Barberis, published in 1896 (public domain).