Some wine labels require more decoding than others, and this is one of them. So, let’s break it down immediately, because the wine in the bottle is way too good to pass by. Sommarovina is the name of single vineyard parcel farmed by the Mamete Prevostini winery in the Valtellina region of Lombardy, Italy.
But wait, there’s more: The Sommarovina parcel is within the Sassella vineyard, a site the French would call a “cru”—a vineyard that has been officially recognized as producing superior, or superiore, wines. Just many different owners farm individual pieces of a single cru in Burgundy, so does Mamete Prevostini farms his parcel alongside a bunch of his neighbors doing the same—all of them inclined to feature the Sassella name as prominently as their own. In wine, the place is the brand: where it comes from is as important as who made it, maybe more so. The magnificent terraces of Valtellina, held in place by hand-laid stone walls, produce the world’s most elegant and brightly perfumed expressions of the Nebbiolo grape, with wines from the rock-strewn Sassella vineyard the most sought-after of them all. We’re not talking just “cru,” but Grand Cru: a best-of-the best vineyard, showcased by an all-time great local producer. Is this 2016 as good as it sounds? I can confirm that it is!
Rarely is 'place-as-brand' as powerful expressed as in Valtellina, which hugs Italy’s border with Switzerland, in Northern Lombardy. It is about two hours’ north of Milan, reached by driving the length of Lake Como then hanging a right into the cavernous Adda River Valley. Viewed from the valley floor, the vineyards look like a patchwork quilt hung over the side of a stone wall, with rows of stakes as the stitching. The Adda follows a near-perfect East-to-West path, so vineyards are planted on its north bank, facilitating all-day sun exposure in a climate that might otherwise be too cool to ripen grapes—especially the late-ripening Nebbiolo. Valtellina’s terraces, which strongly resemble those of Côte-Rôtie in France were thought to have been built by Ligurians from the Cinque Terre; much of the sand, silt, and rock in these sites (the name “Sassella” comes from the Italian sasso, for “stone”) was hauled up from the riverbed below and held in place by stone walls.
These vineyards produce the ultimate “mountain” Nebbiolo, typically harvested in November and every inch a “cool climate” red: lithe, mineral, and floral as opposed to jammy, tannic, and rich. Historically, most Valtellina wine was sold in Switzerland, but now it’s the go-to Barolo/Barbaresco alternative among savvy Italian wine lovers. Among the many charms of Valtellina Nebbiolo is its lighter, brighter personality relative to the brooding, powerful wines of Barolo and Barbaresco.
That said, if there’s ever a Valtellina wine that can take on the proportions of a Barolo, it’s Sassella, and in 2016 Mamete Prevostini produced a structured example that promises to keep improving with more bottle age. Prevostini’s grandfather, also named Mamete, was an innkeeper in the little hamlet of Mese who produced wine to serve to his guests, which eventually led more commercial-scale production. The family still has a restaurant, Crotasc, in the same building, and has grown its vineyard holdings and wine production along the way. The “Sommarovina” vineyard, acquired in 1996, is an amphitheater-like site situated at 400 meters’ elevation and facing perfectly south. The soils are dominated by sand mixed with silt, some clay, and lots of granitic rock—shards of which collect warmth during the day and radiate warmth into the evening.
Today’s 2016 was subjected to a 15-day maceration on its skins during fermentation and aged in French oak barrels for a year. It then spent another 10 months resting in bottle before its initial release, but further still before coming to us, so as you might expect, the wine is really starting to sing. Although it finds that high-pitched “upper register” that distinguishes Valtellina Nebbiolo, there are some structural bass notes as well. It’s not as powerful as a Barolo, but it’s not far off: In the glass, it’s a medium garnet/crimson color with some bricking at the rim, which is appropriate given its age. The aromas are textbook Nebbiolo and incredibly complex: leather, roses, dried cherry, red currant, red apple, cigar wrapper, and a leafy, Earl Grey tea-like note. The tannins are firm but fine, lending the wine more easy drinkability than a Barolo of the same age, but it’s still a wine to decant a good 45 minutes before serving at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems. Sommarovina is just that—Burgundian—with a woodsy, red-fruited personality that wouldn’t be out of place in Volnay. Given its brisk acidity and fine tannins, you’ll want a dish with a little fat it can sink its teeth into. For me, I’d have to lean toward something local and comforting, like a traditional fonduta Valdostana. Throw in some sautéed mushrooms, or shave some white truffles, and you’ve achieved Peak Wine. Don’t miss this!
