Dirupi, Valtellina Superiore Grumello "Gèss" DOCG (2019) – Lombardia

One vineyard, one hillside above Sondrio, and a wine that rewards patience.

Gèss is where Dirupi stops blending and starts pointing. It's a single-vineyard selection from Grumello, and it comes across more contained and more serious than the Superiore. Decant it and let it get into its stride.

THE GRAPE
100% Chiavennasca from the Gèss vineyard in Grumello, at 455–550 metres, with low yields around 30 hl/ha. Concentration comes from the site, not from forcing it.

THE WINE
A 25-day maceration extracts fine tannins, then two years in French barriques and 500-litre demi-muids softens the edges without dulling anything. Expect spice, citrus, plum and a hint of tobacco, with a savoury, tannic structure and a clean, fresh finish that keeps unfolding as it warms up. An hour or two in the decanter helps a lot, and a few years in the cellar helps more.

FOOD PAIRING
Roast duck with figs and chestnuts, veal with chanterelles, a well-roasted chicken.

THE WINEMAKER 
Davide Fasolini (Aka Faso) and Pierpaolo Di Franco (Aka Birba) played basketball together as kids, studied oenology in Milan, and founded Dirupi in 2004 with a first vintage of 1,600 bottles. They make wine in a 16th-century palazzo in Ponte in Valtellina, from around 7 hectares split into small plots across more than 20 subzones. The vines sit on dry-stone terraces between 400 and 600 metres, some at gradients up to 70%, worked entirely by hand and organically. Everything is done by hand and organically. Every parcel is vinified on its own, with long macerations, then the two of them decide what each one wants to be.