Valtellina is the Adda valley in the province of Sondrio, in the north of Lombardy. On the south-facing side, vines grow on terraces held up by dry-stone walls, in a spectacular wine landscape. Here Nebbiolo, which in the valley is called Chiavennasca, gives Valtellina Superiore: DOC since 1968, DOCG since 1998. The area includes the vineyards of the municipalities of Ardenno, Berbenno, Bianzone, Buglio in Monte, Castione Andevenno, Chiuro, Montagna in Valtellina, Poggiridenti, Ponte in Valtellina, Postalesio, Sondrio, Teglio, Tirano, Tresivio and Villa di Tirano. Vineyards cover about 300 hectares, with an output of 13,350 hectolitres.
Five subzones
Valtellina Superiore may carry on its label one of the five historic subzones, from west to east: Maroggia, Sassella, Grumello, Inferno and Valgella. Each has different exposures, soils and altitudes, and gives wines with their own character. There is also the term Stagafassli, which is not a subzone: it indicates Valtellina wine bottled across the border in Switzerland, and it may carry neither the subzone nor the Riserva mention.
The rules
The regulations require at least 90% Nebbiolo. Minimum alcohol is 12%. The wine ages for at least two years, 12 months of it in cask, and cannot be released before 1 December of the second year after the harvest; the Riserva ages for at least three years.
In the glass it is garnet red, with aromas of rose, violet, small red fruits, mountain herbs, spice and a mineral note; the tannins are fine, the acidity lively. It is a lighter, more linear Nebbiolo than that of the Langhe, but capable of long ageing.
A European history
Celts, Romans and Lombards grew vines in the valley; the Roman era intensified viticulture, and in the tenth and eleventh centuries the master builders of Como and Benedictine monks revived it. The monastery of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan owned vineyards in the valley. From 1550 to 1797 Valtellina was under the Grey League, later the canton of Graubünden, which boosted viticulture and exports to the courts of central and northern Europe. At the table it goes with pizzoccheri, bresaola, game and alpine cheeses such as Bitto; the valley's wines outside the DOCG fall under the Alpi Retiche IGT.
