Perched high up & steeply behind the città of Sondrio, capitale of the Valtellina, is found the comune di Montagna in Valtellina. The village is famous for its impressive, 120ha cru Grumello, which faces pure South on broad terraces of granite & morenic, stony soils. The Gianatti family farm a prime, 100 year old, 2ha parcel, vigneto Sassina, & have been doing so for almeno due hundred years. The vines are planted with Chiavennasca, plus 5% Rossola & Pignola (both relatives of Nebbiolo/Chiavennasca). Irrigation is only used in emergency.
Giorgio is the latest in a long line of Gianatti, following in the footsteps of his bisnonno Giorgio, nonno Giuseppe, & papa Silvio, joining the family farm in 1978. Indeed it was Giorgio (nato ’62) who initiated the first bottlings in 1983. Alongside him are his wife Cristina, & figlia Cecilia.
Giorgio makes classic Valtellina Superiore Grumello vigneto Sassina (labeled as such since 2017) – broad & emphatic, with fine tannins – plus a Rosso di Valtellina too. The wines are traditionally made, using stainless-steel & botte grande ageing, for circa 18 mths in the case of the Valtellina Superiore. Despite completing a new bottle store in the centre of the village, Giorgio does not release each vintage, but only the ones he likes! He prefers to offer older vintages to the market; ones that have benefited from time in bottle.
Giorgio is a proud member of FIVI (Federazione ItalianaVignaoli Indipendenti).
Class of 1970, Alessio Magi wasn’t actually born in the Valtellina but in Milano, moving to Lombardia with his parents at the age of ten; his madre being Swiss. Initially he worked for Coldiretti until 2000, then joined the Fondazione Fojanini where he helped small vignaioli get off the ground, both in the vigna & cantina, at a time when small artisan producers were just emerging in the valley. In 2004 he headed off to New Zealand, working for a large Marlborough producer for a couple of years, before moving back to the northern hemisphere, to the Bordeaux satellite of Castillon de la Bataille. Between 2008 & 2010 he worked closer to home, at a local Swiss producer of biodynamic wine. In 2010 he took the step of building a new cantina in Teglio, in the heart of the Valgella cru/zone, & began hunting round for some vines to ‘rent’, which he did without having to pay a penny – la sistema ‘accommodato‘! His first vintage of Valtellina Superiore was in 2011, all 2.6k bts.
He looks after c. 1.5ha of vines in the Valgella zone, located in two complementary plots: one facing South in the frazione of Ravoledo at c.400m as, & the other just round the corner/ridge facing East above in the fraz. of Spina at 550m asl. The vineyards are up to 90 years in age, although plants are replaced as they die, so some are as new as three years old. They are comprised of Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo), as well as some 10% of Pignola & Rossola, both of which are prized for their good acidity. Alessio likens the profile of the Valgella vineyard to that of Grumello, insofar that there’s quite good depth of soil on the steep terraces. Situated furthest from the warming influence of lago di Lecco/Como, the cru/zone of Valgella sits at the eastern, coolest end of the Valtellina; Valgella derives from the latin ‘vallicellum’ or small valley, probably due to the tapering of the valley.
In his cave under the family agriturismo, hewn out of the rock, Alessio makes classic Valtellina Superiore: following a mid to late October harvest, spontaneous fermentations & macerations – including whole bunch – of up to a month in stainless steel along with MLF idealmente, & then affinamento for c.24 mths in 10HL slavonian oak botte bought in 2011 & 2018; pressed wine is generally added back in, so as to fill the botti!
Vintage 2019 was bottled during the first week of November 2022: 13.65% abv, 5.46 g/L Total Acidity, 0.74 g/L Volatile Acidity, 0.6 RS, 3.49 pH, 26mg/L Total Sulphur.
Mattia Franzina’s tiny cantina is tucked away in the village of Buglio-in-Monte which, approaching from il lago di Como (the west), is one of the first settlements on the left as you come into the Valtellina. The family have been farming there for over fifty years, originally livestock & selling grapes, before selling the ‘bué’ & focusing on the fruit. Indeed their 0.8ha includes more than 100 year old plants, mostly Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo), but also Rossola, a paler, more productive, higher acid, & Pignola native varietal; plus some Merlina dotted around the terraces, which is an ancient varietal. Mattia’s a talented agronomist, graduating in 2009, & when not tending his own vines, consults for many for the small producers of the Valtellina.
The soil on these first slopes of the Valtellina is composed of schistous rock terraces & ‘giss’, a compact morainic soil. The terraces are at 350m asl, facing SSW, & the influence of the lake, 25km away, is felt by the gentle breeze that constantly fans the vines.
In 2014 his family took the step of building a new cantina in the village, & celebrated the vintage with 1500 bts of Rosso di Valtellina! Their first Valtellina Superiore, from the terraces above the village, came in 2015, again producing 1500 bts.
Vinification is traditional: the Rosso comes from declassified Valtellina Superiore fruit from three Buglio vineyards, fermented in stainless-steel, with 20% of the wine ageing briefly in tonneaux. The Valtellina Superiore invece is aged for 12 months in a single 10HL Veneta Botte bought in 2014. Total sulphur at bottling is circa 40mg/litro.
Lying adjacent to his vines, but way up above is perched Valtellina’s smallest vineyard: Maroggia, all 25ha of it. His dream is to rent the top plot on this knoll, & to produce the region’s first Valtellina Superiore Maroggia!
Organic, uncertified.
Go Mattia!
Located in the heart of the Valtellina region in the village of Castione Andevenno, on the western end of the Sassella zone historically known as ‘Grisoni’ behind the family cantina, Alfio Mozzi is the third generation contadino to work his family’s schist terraces, along with his nephew Alessandro. Nonno Domenico was already making wine from 1.5ha of vines during the 1940s & ’50s, selling it in bulk to the local cooperative, Enologica Valtellina in Sondrio, & they in turn to the neighbouring Swiss market. Alfio’s father Ezio (nato ’35) tended the vines at the weekend, along with his wife Bambina, but earned a living from transporting feed in the valley; he now helps his son in the vineyards, aided by their dog ‘Giubi’.
Born in 1972, Alfio grew up among the vines, although he became a ‘fabbro’ (ironmonger) first for ten years, before returning to the family estate in 1998. In 2009 he made the step-change from fruit grower to bottler, restoring the family’s old cantina. In 2010, he was joined by Alessandro, a passionate agronomist who studied at the Agraria Institute of Sondrio. The estate now stands at 3.5ha of Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo), all within the prized Sassella zone/vineyard, on friable, rocky, free-draining schist terraces at between 350 – 550m asl, facing SE for the Valtellina Superiore plots of ‘Ronchi’ & ‘Uratori’, & SW for the old vineyard of Mossino at 550m asl. They also grow some Rossola in the highest (550m asl) vineyard of Mossino. Some of their vines are 100 years old, especially in Mossino, while new plantings use a variety of Chiavennasca clones, such as CR34, 269, 275, 274.
They are in the process of converting to certified organic. Since 2010 Alfio & Alessandro have stopped applying fertiliser or calc to their terraced vineyards. And since 2012 they stopped using herbicides. Indeed, as a result Alfio has noticed three benefits: bunches have become looser & smaller; the grapes now have a distinctly richer bloom; & the fermenting wine throws less ‘fecce’, i.e. is cleaner.
In 2019 Alfio added a new vinification room to the family cantina, along with a new destemmer & pneumatic press. Spontaneous fermentation takes place in stainless-steel & fibre-glass, with pumping over of the Chiavennasca must taking place over c.20 days using spontaneous yeast. Unforced malolactic takes place in the spring following the harvest, in Garbellotto (French light toast) 32HL & 22HL botti grande that the family have been buying since 2010. Affinamento in botte is for c.20 mths for the Valtellina Superiore & c.32 mths for the Riserva. The wines are bottled with c.60mg of total sulphur. Production is limited at c.8k bottles of Valtellina Superiore & 2.5k bottles of VS Riserva
They produce three wines: Sassella Valtellina Superiore; Sassella Valtellina Superiore Riserva (in good years); & Sforzato di Valtellina (a partial passito wine).
The labels show the Opuntia Fico d’India, a wild variety that thrives among their schist rocky terraces.
Alfio is supported by his wife Monia, & children Sofia & Matteo.