In 1991 a delegation of growers from Valtellina, an Alpine valley
just south of St Moritz and the Swiss frontier, came to London. They
presented their wines, which struck me as very good, then went home
and were never seen again.
This is a shame, since the wines of Valtellina have a unique and very
attractive personality. They are planted on south- and east-facing
slopes along the 45km width of a valley formed by the exuberant River
Adda as it flows towards Lake Como. Orchards line the valley floor,
chestnut groves blanket the higher inclines, and vines cover the slopes
between 350 and 700m. summers are hot and the growing season is prolonged,
with many growers not harvesting their finest grapes until November
or even December.
Italian bureaucrats have endeavoured to complicate matters, but there
are essentially three groups of wines: basic Valtellina, with a maximum
yield of 65 hl/ha (hectolitres per hectare); Valtellina Superiore,
from better sites with lower yields; and four sub-zones, widely agreed
to produce the best wines - Sassella, Inferno, Grumello and Valgella.
Arturo Pelizzatti Perego believes that Sassella is the best
of the lot, but opinions vary. All four are steep, rugged sites with
excellent exposure to the sun and Sassella, in particular, resembles
a quilt that has been unpicked and reassembled.
[…] Elegance is certainly the hallmark of the Valtellina wines.
Many of the vineyards are around 60 years old, so yields are low,
between 30 and 40hl/ha for the top wines, and the wines concentrated.
They have the fairly high acidity of many Italian reds and this helps
them age easily, although they can also give pleasure in thei youth.
Moreover, that natural acidity gives them freshness, making them an
ideal partner for the rich local food. A great Barolo can overwhelm,
even at the table, but Valtellina never fatigues the palate, even
though in the best vintages alcohol levels can be quite high. The
wines also wear their tannins lightly.
Despite their relative isolation, Valtellina growers are no oenological
sluggards.
[…] These wines, with their fragrance of cherries, roses and
almonds, and their silky textures and sleek flavours , are well worth
seeking out, especially since all vintages since 1997 have been very
good to excellent. Tasting a delicious 1991
Grumello from Arturo Pelizzatti Perego, I scribbled:
"Smells remarkably like Pinot Noir". The head of the growers'
association turned to me as I was doing so and murmured, "Is
like Burgundy, no?" I showed him the note I had just made and
he whooped, for we all know there are few higher compliments than
"Burgundian".
