Rare Riserva Nebbiolo

Sure, you can pick up a great Nebbiolo to “lay down” for a few years. But what if you could find one that's ready right now? 

That’s what you get with Dirupi Valtellina Riserva Nebbiolo 2014. 

I just popped open a bottle and holy smokes! This Tre Bicchieri winner is singing now--it's a rare chance to experience some of the best of Valtellina without having to wait (and it's got easily another 8-10 years for the patient collector). 

If you follow Valtellina, you may know Dirupi as the exciting young winery established 20 years ago by two native sons, with modest means and great ambitions. 

By dint of winemaking savvy, earnestness and charm, they cobbled together a patchwork of vineyard plots on the steep mountain slopes, and built a winery inside an old church on the side of the mountain. 

Soon, the buzz about Dirupi echoed across Piemonte, and everyone wanted to know what these young hotshots were up to. So they might have expected praise when Barolo legend Domenico Clerico came and tasted their wines, but instead he slapped them on the side of the head with work gloves for not making a Riserva. 

That may have been the last year that Dirupi didn’t make a Riserva, perhaps it was 2007. 

Once Dirupi's Riserva debuted, it took off like a shot, earning Tre Bicchieri in 7 out of 11 vintages (2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019).

The praise is well deserved. Even after 10 years, the wine is still youthful, ruby in color and translucent. Reflecting its high elevation perch the wine has an alpine feel -- it floats on the palate, in charming, elegant, gentle but powerful style (13.5 alcohol). The wine opens with rose petal, ripe strawberry, cherry licorice, and sun baked rocks; the tannins are firm but fine grained, resolved and smooth.

So my friends, if you love Nebbiolo at its best, just hit reply to place an order.