Having published my first book, I can report that the most frequently asked question I get is “what’s your next book going to be about?” Whoa, whoa, whoa, I say. Settle down. Books are hard, taxing and take forever. I’m just enjoying the ride. But of course my head swirls with ideas. And one of them is so niche that it will likely have to be a 9th book once I’ve built up a sufficient enough fan base to make whatever the hell I want. It would be an in-depth guide to Valtellina.
What those spectators will see as their train whizzes by is one of the world’s most impressive viticultural landscapes, hopefully under a veil of winter white.
This very long, east-west valley in the Alps north of Milan will soon serve as a transit corridor for people attending the XXV Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo. What those spectators will see as their train whizzes by is one of the world’s most impressive viticultural landscapes, hopefully under a veil of winter white. I repeat these two facts often whenever I tell people about Valtellina’s vineyards: (1) some 1,500 miles of dry-stone walls hold the slope up, compartmentalizing the terroir into postage-stamp vineyards, and (2) each hectare of vineyard requires between 1,000 and 1,500 labor hours per year to tend (the national average in Italy is around 250 labor hours per hectare).
Most of the vineyards are planted with Chiavennasca, the local name for Nebbiolo, and the finesse and grace of the Valtellina Superiore wines in particular are enough to make me come crawling back for more time and time again.
Cà Bianche is a Valtellina producer I’ve been keeping track of, but have yet to formally write about. Established in 2007 by Davide Bana, the winery is higher in elevation than any other in the zone. From this perch in the Valgella subzone, he and his family make a Rosso, a Superiore and a Sforzato (Valtellina’s cousin to Amarone). Their production is tiny: only 12,000 bottles made per year.
“La Tèna” comes from a single vineyard with 80-year-old vines. The wine is made with 30 to 40 days of maceration, and an élevage of 24 months in large Slavonian oak casks. The resulting wine has incredible elegance, freshness and persistence, offering fruit tones riding the line between cherries and raspberries, with whispers of minerality on both the nose and palate. With time in the glass, a beautiful, earthy thread of black truffle emerges from underneath that crystalline focus of red fruit. It is the kind of wine that makes Valtellina stand alone in the world of Italian wine.
2021 Cà Bianche “La Tèna” Valtellina Superiore
Valtellina Superiore DOCG (Lombardy )
Grapes: Chiavennasca (aka Nebbiolo) 100%
Alcohol: 13.5%
Food-friendliness: Impeccable
Value: Exceptional
A beginner might like … drawing comparisons to other Nebbiolo wines. Valtellina Superiore like “La Tèna” can seem like a world away from the powerful wines of Barolo with their lilting elegance. But they’re certainly more complex than Langhe Nebbiolo. Don’t think of these comparisons as a two-dimensional line, but rather a Cartesian plane for elegance and power, complexity and simplicity.
A wine obsessive might like … comparing “La Tèna” to other benchmark Valtellina Superiore wines such as Nino Negri’s “Quadrio,” ARPEPE’s “Stella Retica” or Sandro Fay’s “Carteria.”
Note: This wine was provided as a sample by the winery’s importer. Learn more about our editorial and sample policy.
