Stella Retica Sassella Valtellina Superiore Nebbiolo

2015 | Nebbiolo
Cantina AR.PE.PE; Stella Retica, Valtellina Superiore
Lombardy; Valtellina, Sassella, Italy
(92-94; Drink 2025-35)

Outrageous showing. Better than my last bottle. Stunning. So floral and delicate. Unreal sweetness and tannins.

Gorgeous. Needs only 30 then slamming.

Another fine vintage here. Arpepe really leaned into the 2017 style and made really pretty wines that could not be more different than the dense. powerful and structured 16’s. I can’t think of 2 more contrasting back to back vintages right now. Maybe 02/03 German Riesling.

Anyway nose is mysterious smokey spices and some faint mid asian cherry but dominated now by spice and florals that are picking up by the second. Palate is generous, forward and has a sense of restrained richness. Tannins are ripe but mineral driven and the fruit stain on the backend is wonderful and the backend is so long. Really compelling stuff in a notorious vintage for Langhe Nebbiolo and not the best in Valtellina. Arpepe is truly a great winery more for wines like this than wines in obviously great vintages like 16/13 and 2010.

Popped and poured into hotel room glasses. Pours a very light ruby color with a transparent core; medium viscosity. On the nose, this is quite expressive with dark cherry, bruised strawberry, roses, some tar…a touch of VA. On the palate, equally impressive with pure, ripe red fruit, alpine herbs, earth and a rocky minerality. Stiff tannin and medium+ acid. Long finish. A wine with loads of character. Fantastic.

I love this wine and the way it evolve is is just so wonderful. This 2015 Stella Retica always starts aromatically shy. But a few flowers, some berry fruits and faint minerals are there but they are not very loud at the moment of pop and pour. The volume gets turned up very very slowly over the first 30-40 minutes and it’s very cool to follow it. The florality is just stunning and the clarity of the cherry fruit is really something. There’s a sweet mint minerality. This stuff is really like it Giacosa made Valtellina. Epic. Palate is also a young stallion right now. It’s all there but this stallion wants to be left alone in the barn. Beautiful tannins and smack down of a finish. Super concentrated. Powerful. This needs maybe 50+ minutes for the palate to catch up to the nose. But it will. I’ll be back. 9.4 now. A 9.6 nose and a 9.3 palate currently.

This got really good overnight. Deep cherry on the nose. Minerals. Wool. So vivid. Still 9.6 nose but much better and more wide. Palate is juicy and deep with luscious dark and red cherry fruit and luscious deep and ripe tannins. Pure and balanced. Wow. 9.5. Now.

Not a Riserva

Lovely alpine Nebbiolo from a terrific producer. This is a different animal than your Langhe Nebbiolo... there’s some additional ripeness, minerality, and rusticity, an expression of place and perhaps this local derivative of Nebbiolo: Chiavennasca

Nose is cherry flower and dried rose petal.

Palate is really Chicoy cherries. Savory finish.

Bought from fass selections

Dinner with a fellow Chevalier after waiting out the full regime of vaccinations...notes possibly, scores honestly.