Just the sight of the forebodingly steep vineyards of Valtellina in northern Lombardy are enough to induce vertigo. Matteo and Luca Balgera brave these schist and quartz terraces and do everything by hand. They do it only for love of their winegrowing patrimony.

Their family has been crafting wines here since 1885—five generations of backbreaking vineyard work. Sleepless nights at harvest time. Decades of wine sold in demijohns to restaurants out of the back of a cart. Today the wine they make from their “Quigna” vineyard in the easternmost part of the Valgella subzone produces Nebbiolo (locally called Chiavennasca) of exceptional character. You’ll find it almost nowhere else in America.

Why You'll Love It:

• Flabbergasting value for perfectly aged, almost 12 year old Nebbiolo; it's half the price of top-class Barolo or Barbaresco. Aged 1 year in cement, 5 years in oak, and another 5 years in its bottle, this wine follows perfect gastronomic reasoning but makes zero financial sense. 

• Traditional craft: made just as it was a century ago, with labor-intensive hand-farming on steep terraces and patient, irrationally-extended aging. Compare to Ar.Pe.Pe. wines at $100 and up.
  

• A special-occasion bottle ready to drink now with notes of blood orange, cocoa, amarena cherry, and earth, supported by soft, sweet tannins, vibrant alpine acidity, and a distinctive core of minerals. This is a UNESCO kind of wine.

How to Serve it:

• Carpe vinum: this wine has been perfectly kept for you, but will continue to develop beautifully for another 5-10 years.

• Serve in Barolo or Burgundy stems at 60°F.

• Pair with risotto alla milanese with porcini, osso buco, or aged alpine cheeses like La Tur.