Dirupi New Arrivals 2025
Our top wine, Dirupi, was on the richer side of the spectrum, yet it showed great finesse and individuality, as opposed to some of the other plush wines in the tasting, which seemed more generic. This wine showed a classic Valtellina flavor profile as well, with notes of herbs and flowers, along with the typical tar and mineral character of nebbiolo. ERIC ASIMOV, newyorktimes.com
This atypical lateral mountain valley is carved out by the Adda River, where it changes its course to flow due west. Shielding the area from inclement weather are the towering Rhaetian Alps to the north and the less imposing Bergamo range to the south.
Summers are remarkably hot, and autumn tends to be dry and sunny with significant differences between day and night-time temperatures. On the steep northern banks vineyards pile on top of each other, rising from 300 metres to well over 700 metres above sea level. MICHAELA MORRIS, MW
What is it that makes nebbiolo from Valtellina so special?
Dirpui’s Davide Fasolino puts it best: the wines must give you freshness and elegance and a sense that the wines have an Alpine identity.
That is 100% true.
When you drink Nebbiolo from Valtellina (known as Chiavennasca up here) you see much more finely etched and detailed versions of the variety. You get fragrance (flowers and mountain herb) that really takes flight and, in my opinion, opens the door on a greater mineral component that underpins them. They are not Barolo or Barbaresco in structure either; tannins are melted into the background of the wines, making them feel altogether more filigree and easier to consume.
It’s for this reason we’ve been banging a drum for the wines from Valtellina for years now (not just Dirupi). It’s a labour of love and sometimes you feel like you drink more than you sell but we’ve always thought the nebbiolo expression is so unique and so beautiful that eventually people will jump aboard. Finally, they are and you should.
The region itself is a forgotten postage stamp in a “Shangri-La – type” valley, which is pretty much the last espresso stop before Italy passes into Switzerland. The eastern side of the valley is wine nirvana – small drystone-walled plots are stacked across and up the steep valley walls. It’s breath-takingly beautiful but to farm here is extreme and labour intensive; clambering between plots on connecting stone steps to prune and pick and tend, not to mention maintenance on the stone walls, and all of it can only be done by hand. That’s part of the reason the region slipped off the radar of wine many years ago – post war generations left for the cities not willing to endure the hard work involved in keeping a 2000 year tradition rolling.
Fast-forward to the last 20-30 years and a renaissance has been taking place. Buoyed by the world appetite for unique expressions - especially for varieties like nebbiolo - old and new producers have set about renovating walls and replanting plots, coupling that with better winemaking and, hey presto you’ve got some of the most invigorating and beautiful nebbiolo on the planet.
Dirupi is one of those producers and one that has joined the circle of the region's elite since they first looked up from their valley floor homes in 2003 and decided to indulge their passion and start making wine. The two friends - Davide Fasolini and Pierpoalo di Franco, were wine tragics before they were winemakers. Open-minded, they naively took on the herculean task of renovating a couple of plots. They paid nothing for the privilege, just 10 euro in rent a year to the owners so they could satisfy the provincial edict that the stone walls had to be maintained. Two young guys willing to do that was worth the discount on the rent.
As I said it’s back breaking work. No machines, just hard work and optimism for tools. The best areas are the evocatively sub-zones - Inferno, Sassella, Maroggia, Grumello and Valgella (they sound like something Dante might of dreamed up). Ranging between 300 and 700 metres, and the source of the Valtellina Superiore, the best expression.
They make all the “flavours”:
Rosso di Valtellino - easy, fragrant, Nebbiolo joy in a glass.
Valtellina Superiore – this is main designation and typically fruit comes off the mid-section of the hill with fruit from across all 17 plots and across all the main communes. Here, the wine retains the inherent high tone fragrance but the depth and density of fruit is ramped up on the palate.
Valtellina Superiore Riserva – Dirupi make a few and mostly these are off a single plot or a couple of choice plots and these will be a single commune wine. The wines have a little more of everything – fragrance, depth and also some extra oak treatment that will buttress the wine for longer ageing. Grumello is the one they believe is their best riserva. We get a thimble full each year. Don’t miss it.
Sforzat – A dried grape wine meaning a wine has deeper and richer and sweeter, not dissimilar to Amarone but not as high octane and retaining some of the lightness of the genre. None available for this offer.
The new shipment we’ve just laned incudes some great vintages – 2023 (Ole), 2021 (Superiore) and 2018 (Grumello) so it’s a great time to dip a toe in the water if you haven’t ever tried Valtellina or to load up if you already know how great these wines can be.
Reviews are lagging behind on most of these wines so I’ve found what I can and included my own where there aren’t any yet.
Cheers
Michael McNamara
This atypical lateral mountain valley is carved out by the Adda River, where it changes its course to flow due west. Shielding the area from inclement weather are the towering Rhaetian Alps to the north and the less imposing Bergamo range to the south.
Summers are remarkably hot, and autumn tends to be dry and sunny with significant differences between day and night-time temperatures. On the steep northern banks vineyards pile on top of each other, rising from 300 metres to well over 700 metres above sea level. MICHAELA MORRIS, MW
What is it that makes nebbiolo from Valtellina so special?
Dirpui’s Davide Fasolino puts it best: the wines must give you freshness and elegance and a sense that the wines have an Alpine identity.
That is 100% true.
When you drink Nebbiolo from Valtellina (known as Chiavennasca up here) you see much more finely etched and detailed versions of the variety. You get fragrance (flowers and mountain herb) that really takes flight and, in my opinion, opens the door on a greater mineral component that underpins them. They are not Barolo or Barbaresco in structure either; tannins are melted into the background of the wines, making them feel altogether more filigree and easier to consume.
It’s for this reason we’ve been banging a drum for the wines from Valtellina for years now (not just Dirupi). It’s a labour of love and sometimes you feel like you drink more than you sell but we’ve always thought the nebbiolo expression is so unique and so beautiful that eventually people will jump aboard. Finally, they are and you should.
The region itself is a forgotten postage stamp in a “Shangri-La – type” valley, which is pretty much the last espresso stop before Italy passes into Switzerland. The eastern side of the valley is wine nirvana – small drystone-walled plots are stacked across and up the steep valley walls. It’s breath-takingly beautiful but to farm here is extreme and labour intensive; clambering between plots on connecting stone steps to prune and pick and tend, not to mention maintenance on the stone walls, and all of it can only be done by hand. That’s part of the reason the region slipped off the radar of wine many years ago – post war generations left for the cities not willing to endure the hard work involved in keeping a 2000 year tradition rolling.
Fast-forward to the last 20-30 years and a renaissance has been taking place. Buoyed by the world appetite for unique expressions - especially for varieties like nebbiolo - old and new producers have set about renovating walls and replanting plots, coupling that with better winemaking and, hey presto you’ve got some of the most invigorating and beautiful nebbiolo on the planet.
Dirupi is one of those producers and one that has joined the circle of the region's elite since they first looked up from their valley floor homes in 2003 and decided to indulge their passion and start making wine. The two friends - Davide Fasolini and Pierpoalo di Franco, were wine tragics before they were winemakers. Open-minded, they naively took on the herculean task of renovating a couple of plots. They paid nothing for the privilege, just 10 euro in rent a year to the owners so they could satisfy the provincial edict that the stone walls had to be maintained. Two young guys willing to do that was worth the discount on the rent.
As I said it’s back breaking work. No machines, just hard work and optimism for tools. The best areas are the evocatively sub-zones - Inferno, Sassella, Maroggia, Grumello and Valgella (they sound like something Dante might of dreamed up). Ranging between 300 and 700 metres, and the source of the Valtellina Superiore, the best expression.
They make all the “flavours”:
Rosso di Valtellino - easy, fragrant, Nebbiolo joy in a glass.
Valtellina Superiore – this is main designation and typically fruit comes off the mid-section of the hill with fruit from across all 17 plots and across all the main communes. Here, the wine retains the inherent high tone fragrance but the depth and density of fruit is ramped up on the palate.
Valtellina Superiore Riserva – Dirupi make a few and mostly these are off a single plot or a couple of choice plots and these will be a single commune wine. The wines have a little more of everything – fragrance, depth and also some extra oak treatment that will buttress the wine for longer ageing. Grumello is the one they believe is their best riserva. We get a thimble full each year. Don’t miss it.
Sforzat – A dried grape wine meaning a wine has deeper and richer and sweeter, not dissimilar to Amarone but not as high octane and retaining some of the lightness of the genre. None available for this offer.
The new shipment we’ve just laned incudes some great vintages – 2023 (Ole), 2021 (Superiore) and 2018 (Grumello) so it’s a great time to dip a toe in the water if you haven’t ever tried Valtellina or to load up if you already know how great these wines can be.
Reviews are lagging behind on most of these wines so I’ve found what I can and included my own where there aren’t any yet.
Cheers
Michael McNamara
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Dirupi Valtellina Superiore Riserva Cru Dossi Salati (Grumello) 2018The Dirupi 2018 Valtellina Superiore Riserva Grumello Vigna Dossi Salati offers a special view into the Nebbiolo grape, with cassis, wild berry, crushed stone and wet slate. There is a note of wild sage and bramble that turns to bright fruit and sweetness on the mid-palate. This wine has more tannic structure that works well across the 14.5% alcohol content for a bigger overall approach and good aging potential. Only 2,942 bottles were made. MONICA LARNER2018NebbioloItaly498$190.00 As low as $171.00 -
Dirupi Rosso di Valtellina Ole 2023Strawberry, mint leaf, a bit of a steely ozone thing too. It’s light to medium-bodied, strawberry dusted with pepper, crisp cranberry acidity, a light white pepper tannin grip, finishing lively with spiced red fruit and a twist of orange peel. Easy to like. A versatile wine that would be great with food. I’d likely pick it as Pelaverga blind. That sort of thing. Yum. GARY WALSH, www.winefront.com.au
Seduction in the glass, in a way that can only be found in the Italian Alps: pure, supple and slippery. 100% Nebbiolo, yet a wine that more closely mirrors the elegance of Bourgogne rather than the intensity of Barolo. Lifted aromatics of wild strawberries, with minerality and a long finish without aggressiveness or anything rustic. PWS
100% Nebbiolo sourced from vineyards across the communes of Sondrio and Montagna in Valtellina, which range in elevation from 400-450m. 10-12 days on skins, aged 6 months in oak. DIRUPI2023NebbioloItaly498Special Price $55.00 Regular Price $65.00 -
Dirupi Valtellina Superiore 2021Cherry, strawberry, dried flowe rs, some liquorice and mint. It’s medium-bodied, has sweetness and succulence, but offers that cool alpine breeze that freshens and gives the acidity crispness and vibrancy, the tannin is fine-grained, and kind of volcanic and dusty, and the finish is long and lively. It’s an excellent wine. Delightful. Such a good drink.GARY WALSH, www.winefront.com.au
What a beautiful rendition of this wine. The aromatics that drift out of the glass are delicate but insistent - wild flowers, bruised strawberry and plum, dried herbs and liquorice. Ethereal nebbiolo, so pure. The palate delivers on the promise of the aromas with a wrap around of red fruits and dried savoury alpine herbs and a subtle blast of quartz minerality. Nebbiolo tannins grab your attention and keep add in a level of seriousness. As always it's a lovely Valtellina, so true to type - pure and expressive ut with an underlying seriousness. Delicious. MICHAEL MCNAMARA2021NebbioloItaly498Special Price $80.00 Regular Price $95.00 -
Dirupi Valtellina Superiore Gess Grumello DOCG 2021Forest floor, hazelnut, hay and red berry aromas mingle with oak-driven spice. Aged for two years in tonneaux, it's rather austere, with flavors of sour red cherry, pomegranate, bitter orange and star anise. Taut, tightly wound tannins leave a grippy finish. KERIN O'KEEFE2019NebbioloItaly498$150.00 As low as $135.00