The broader wine world is now hip to the ethereal pleasures of Nebbiolo from Valtellina. Luckily, however, despite the relative scarcity of these mountain-grown gems, the pricing has yet to really catch up. When you can pack this much authentic character into a $30-ish bottle of wine—and I’m talking about real aromatic complexity and terroir expression, not just gobs of over-extracted fruit—it’s something to be celebrated. So, kudos to the team at DiRupi for putting an exclamation point on this gorgeous little Rosso di Valtellina: If you hadn’t done it, I would have! It’s a nimble, unoaked Nebbiolo that needs to be lightly chilled and then put on repeat for the remainder of the summer and beyond. And we're making it very easy to do so, if you order 6 or more bottles you'll get 10% off what is already a fantastic price. Get some in your glass a.s.a.p.!
The inimitable combination of finesse and persistence is what sets Valtellina Nebbiolo apart from its cousins in neighboring Piedmont. Normally, we think of Nebbiolo wines as powerful, heady, even ferocious at times, but as expressed in the Valtellina, the grape takes on a kind of weightlessness without losing its full dynamic range of aromas. While the wines are considerably lighter than Barolo or Barbaresco wines (and particularly so in this case) they’re no less evocative. The aromas and flavors linger long after you’ve taken a sip.
They call Nebbiolo “Chiavennasca” up in the Valtellina, which is centered around the city of Sondrio, in the northernmost reaches of Italy’s Lombardy region. It is part of a deeply carved valley traversed by the Adda River, which follows an almost perfect East-West path; vineyards are planted only on the north bank of the Adda, giving them full-south, all-day sun exposures in a climate that might otherwise be too cool to ripen grapes—especially the late-ripening Nebbiolo. The steep pitches of the hillsides require the vineyards to be terraced, and they’re held in place by a network of hand-laid stone terraces that were originally thought to be the work of ancient Ligurians, who had built similar terraces in the Cinque Terre near the Mediterranean. All vineyard work here, as is plain to see, must be done by hand.
The DiRupi winery was founded in 2004 by a pair of local boys made good, Pierpaolo DiFranco and Davide Falsoni. Both men grew up in Sondrio and ended up studying enology at the University of Milan, after which they cobbled together some vineyards in their home region and began producing wines under their own label. In all, they have access to 4.5 hectares of vines across 18 small parcels, scattered throughout the towns of Montagna, Poggiridenti, Grumello, and Inferno.
“Olé!” is sourced primarily from organically farmed sites within the “cru” vineyards of Grumello and Inferno (well known to seasoned Valtellina drinkers). The grapes are destemmed and fermented with ambient yeasts in stainless steel, with skin maceration lasting roughly two weeks. Aging lasts eight months in stainless steel, followed by three months in bottle before release.
Today’s 2020, unadorned by oak, is a wonderfully “transparent” wine that oozes Nebbiolo character. In the glass, it’s a medium garnet red with hints of pink and orange at the rim, with the kind of aromatic profile that has you swirling and sniffing for minutes before you take your first sip: perfumed scents of cranberry, raspberry, orange peel, dried flowers, tobacco, sandalwood, and a hint of black pepper. It is medium-bodied, with a bright, racy quality that makes it a nice foil for meats and cheeses; Valtellina is known for a mountain-pastured cow’s milk cheese called Bitto, and this wine will cut through that like a pair of skis through fresh powder. Give it a rough decant and serve it at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems and imagine yourself at a rifugio in the Swiss-Italian Alps, red-cheeked and hungry after a morning of skiing. Try it with the attached pasta recipe, which is the signature dish of the region. You will be hooked forever after. Enjoy!
