We love Tuscan wine, it’s home. But some of the most moving vineyards in Italy are on a mountainside in Lombardy, where the Alps meet the sun.
In Valtellina, vines grow on narrow terraces held up by kilometres of dry-stone walls, built by hand over centuries. Machines can’t get up there, so everything, from pruning to harvest, is still done by people. Locals call it heroic viticulture, and once you’ve climbed a row, you’ll understand why.
“Every bottle here was carried up a mountain.”
The grape is Nebbiolo, here called Chiavennasca. Taste it young, then try a Sforzato, made from grapes dried for months: mountain air in a glass.
