About Valtellina Wine at Sparkling Stemware
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Unless you are a skier you probably have not heard too much about the Valtellina wine zone located within the Lombardy region in Northwest Italy. This region has seen its vines cultivated by the ancient Ligurians and Etruscans since Pre Roman times and its wines were even spoke of by Pliny the Elder, who was actually born in Lake Como, the region's ultra-famous resort lake. The well known Piedmont area fetches much attention when it comes to Nebbiolo with stalwarts like Barolo and Barbaresco, but lovers of the Nebbiolo grape are beginning to discover the underappreciated appellation of Valtellina Superiore, one of only two DOCG appellations in the Lombardy region.
While Barolo and Barbaresco are typically the more muscular and tannic versions of the Nebbiolo grape, Valtellina Superiore shows us a wine with more charm, focusing more on the earthy and rustic style of this alpine Nebbiolo. It is this altitude that gives nervous Nebbiolo grape some higher acidity making it a candidate for moderate aging, ten to twelve years in some vintages. The wines of this appellation have four subzones Grumello, Inferno, Sassella and Valgella and are barrel aged 24-36 months, the latter being the Riserva. All of the great things Nebbiolo has to offer are here in this wine, flavors of plum, cherry, walnuts and hints of smoky lavender and tobacco.
Look for the famous "Sforzato" version of Valtellina Superiore which can age for tens of years. This wine is made in the "passito" style, meaning that the grapes are laid to dry on mats in order to reduce their water content and concentrate the sugars, the same style employed in the making of Amarone. This shriveling process produces a wine much more deep in flavor, higher in alcohol and with more residual sugar, a truly tempting wine.
Best current vintages include 1996, 1997 and 2000. Look for any of the above subzones on the label and be sure to realize that wine referred to as simply "Valtellina" are lower in quality than the "Superiore" classification. Look for these top producers as well: Ca' Rizzieri and Nino Negri.
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