Solano Cellars
Friday, October 4th
5-8pm
5 wines for $25 ($15 club)
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Nebbiolo: it's been worshipped as one of the world's greatest grapes, worthy of reflection and genuflection both, for centuries upon centuries.
In the last 50 years, somehow, somewhere, someone got the idea that two towns called Barolo and Barbaresco represented the pinnacle of Nebbiolo. Let's be clear: Barolo's called “the wine of kings, and the king of wines” for a reason. But does Italy's best Nebbiolo always come from one of the two capital "B" regions? Valtellina would like a say in that.
About 300km northeast of Barolo, along Italy's northern border with Switzerland, Valtellina is home to ski centers, hot springs, and some of the most nuanced and finessed Nebbiolo you can find. The valley snakes through the Alpine range, and most significantly, around Monte Disgrazia in the north, making this one of Italy's most dramatic wine landscapes and a perfect setting for quintessential mountain wine: mineral rich mountain run-off flowing into granite soils, extreme diurnal shifts in the east-west ranging valley providing spice, bramble, and structure in equal measure, and a light body that belies the tremendous concentration these hardworking vines offer.
Since 1982, the Nera family of Azienda Agricola Caven has been acquiring vineyards along the steep terraces of Valtellina with a focus on sustainability and preservation of old vines, and producing wines that highlight this special terroir. The family makes wines from the major subzones of Valtellina - Sassella, Inferno, Grumello - all centered on Chiavennasca, the local variety of Nebbiolo. On Friday, we'll have the Caven folks behind the bar to explore the nuances of those subzones, taste their fresh, high-toned Valtellina Rosso, and the utterly singular Rezio Bianco (a blend of Nebbiolo pressed off the skins and treated as a white Chardonnay, and Incrocio Manzoni).