Valtellinas Are No Longer Hiding in the Hills

Way up in the foothills of the Alps, about as far north as you can go in the Lombardy region of Italy without hitting Switzerland, a series of terraced vineyards hug the hillsides overlooking the river Adda. With the majestic snowcapped massif to the north, the narrow river valley to the south and centuries-old castles crowning hilltops for good measure, this wine zone, Valtellina, is strikingly beautiful.

For years, the wines, made almost entirely of the nebbiolo grape, were little known in the United States and, indeed, in the rest of Italy. Most of the production went to Switzerland, which naturally has a taste for good Alpine wine.
Perhaps this was as it should have been. Production of the wine was necessarily small, and the wines presented a different, leaner, tauter face of nebbiolo. The steep terraced vineyards, source of the best grapes, had to be tended almost entirely by hand. Their labor-intensive nature, along with the rapid industrialization of Lombardy, led some growers to abandon the terraces in the mid-20th century. The colossal effort required to farm wasn’t worth the return.

As in other wine regions with precipitous hillside vineyards, like Cornas, stalwart growers persevered even as much of the rest of the world ignored them. I remember back in the 1990s, a few Valtellina wines would occasionally show up on shelves in New York. But the prevailing attitude was that these wines were too austere, too acidic, to appeal to many Americans.

So much has changed since those dark old days. Even by the 1990s, growers and winemakers, sensing more demand for distinctive wines and a greater potential return, were reclaiming Valtellina vineyards. Production hasn’t expanded much, but new producers have brought great energy to the region.

At the same time, many Americans in recent years have learned to embrace wines like Valtellina that are defined as much by acidity as by easygoing fruit flavors. And perhaps climate change has made that evolution easier, as Valtellina wines have become naturally richer in texture and deeper in flavor.

Demand and appreciation for nebbiolo has skyrocketed as well. As prices have risen for the best Barolos and Barbarescos, the most famous nebbiolo wines, consumers have sought other, less-expensive sources.

The choices are few. Nebbiolo, unlike many other grapes, has not prospered outside its home territory, northwestern Italy. But alpine regions in Piedmont, like Carema, Ghemme and Gattinara, as well as Valtellina in Lombardy offer less-expensive alternatives to Barolo and Barbaresco.