Italy has more than its share of extreme wine locales. There’s Sicily’s Etna volcano, still capable of burying the vineyards below in lava; there’s Morgex et la Salle, in the Valle d’Aosta, where vines in the shadow of Mont Blanc climb to some of the highest elevations in Europe; and then there are the terraces of Cinque Terre, which seem so inhospitable to viticulture you wonder why anyone bothers. Sometimes (as in Cinque Terre), the drama of the setting isn’t really matched by the quality of the wine. But when the product does justice to the place (as in Etna), wine doesn’t get any better.
Today’s wine from Mamete Prevostini is a beautiful evocation of another extreme terroir—the steep, rocky terraces of the Valtellina, an Alpine valley in northern-most Lombardy that hugs Italy’s border with Switzerland. In this unbelievable place, vintners take one of Italy’s noblest and most regionally specific red grapes—Nebbiolo—and make it their own. Mamete Prevostini’s 2014 “Botonero” is the perfect introduction to Valtellina Nebbiolo: un-oaked and supremely affordable, it captures the aromatic complexity of the variety without the forceful tannins or alcohol. If you love Barolo but wouldn’t mind dialing back its intensity (and price) now and again, you will flip for this wine.
The Valtellina is about two hours north of Milan, and arriving there is half the fun: you drive the length of Lake Como, after which you’re deposited into the Adda River Valley, walled in on either side by mountains. The most unique feature of the valley, which is centered on the sleepy city of Sondrio, is that the Adda runs along an almost perfect East-to-West path. Because the valley is so deeply carved, all of the Valtellina’s vineyards are planted on the north bank of the river, enabling them to take all-day sun in a climate that might otherwise be too cool to ripen grapes—especially the late-ripening Nebbiolo. It is an amazing sight to look up from the valley floor to the vineyards above, many of their stone terraces emblazoned with the names of some of the region’s big wine names (a la Côte-Rôtie in the Rhône). These terraces were thought to have been built by the same Ligurians who terraced the Cinque Terre, and without these terraces, viticulture would be impossible—even with them, there’ still the occasional mudslide, and it goes without saying that mechanized vineyard work is utterly impossible.
So this is yet another instance in which you are drinking a $20-ish bottle of wine whose journey to your glass is wildly disproportionate to its price. Valtellina vineyards are rooted in a mix of sand, silt, and stone, much of it hauled up from the valley floor to construct the terraces. The stones and larger rocks help with heat retention, as does the altitude and aspect of the vineyards—they tilt toward the sun like one of those shiny metallic sun-catchers Paulie Walnuts used in “The Sopranos.”
Nevertheless, Valtellina’s is the ultimate “mountain” Nebbiolo, typically harvested in November and every inch a “cool climate” red: lithe, mineral, and fragrant as opposed to jammy and rich. Historically, most Valtellina wine was sold in Switzerland, but, as with some of the Alpine Nebbioli of Northern Piedmont (‘alto Piemonte’ appellations such as Gattinara and Lessona), the wines have become go-to Barolo/Barbaresco alternatives—not least because they offer a gentler take on Nebbiolo. The typical Valtellina wine usually has a good degree-and-a-half less alcohol and considerably less tannin than Barolo/Barbaresco, yet still offers the complex, heady perfume people love in the variety.
“Botonero” is the entry-level red from the family-run Mamete Prevostini winery, and it carries the tongue-twisting ‘Terrazze Retiche di Sondrio’ geographic indication (‘Retiche’ referring to the Rhaetic Alps). As is typical of Valtellina wines, it is a medium crimson in the glass, with slight orange reflections at the rim. The nose is textbook Nebbiolo: leather, roses, dried cherry, red currant, red apple, cigar wrapper, and a leafy, Earl Grey tea-like note. Unlike a young Barolo, the tannins here are rather soft, the wine completely drinkable now and brimming with bright acidity. For a medium-to-light-bodied wine, it has considerable palate persistence, finishing with a Pinot Noir-like aromatic flourish. It is delicious and utterly unique, faintly reminiscent of an old school Bourgogne Rouge but with a woodsier personality still. We think it’s ready to pop and pour into Burgundy balloons, which will highlight its ethereal aromatics, and a cooler temperature (say 60 degrees) will soften its acidity and heighten the fruit component. To really get into the spirit of this wine, you might consider pairing it with a little
cheese fondue. Regardless, don’t miss this wine: if there’s ever a time to exit your comfort zone, this is it!
