NEBBIOLO WITH ALTITUDE

Nebbiolo, the noble grape behind Barolo and Barbaresco, is currently Italy’s hottest red variety. But if you think only Piedmont can turn out world-class, ageworthy wines from Nebbiolo, it’s time to discover Valtellina, where Nebbiolo soars in rocky, Alpine vineyards in Lombardy. Of the area’s two most famous wines, Valtellina Superiore is racier and more graceful than its Piedmont cousins but equally fascinating and ageworthy, while Sforzato di Valtellina possesses concentration, structure and velvety texture.

The Growing Zone

Cradled among soaring Alpine peaks near the town of Sondrio, Valtellina’s steep mountain vineyards have been turning out notable wines for millennia. Ancient Roman chroniclers Virgil and Pliny praised the area’s wines, as did Leonardo da Vinci in his 16th-century Codex Atlanticus, where he observed, “Valtellina, surrounded by high and terrible mountains, makes very potent wines.”

Nebbiolo has the starring role on vertiginous slopes and currently accounts for 90% of Valtellina’s 2,026 acres under vine. Planted predominantly in terraced, dry stone-wall vineyards, Nebbiolo thrives in the