Ascesa Rosso di Valtellina

Wine Production in Valtellina is always small due to the tremendous labor involved.  The extreme slope of narrow terraces have to be worked by hand and replanting is very expensive and difficult, so many of the older vineyards remain.  Soil washes down and has to be brought back up on mule or small trucks.  Vines need to be picked in three or four passes as they become ripe.  Grapes are then loaded onto backpack baskets and heroically carried down the hill.  This wine is a blend of a high altitude vineyard and one about halfway up.  Some vines are as old as 70 years.
 
The resulting wine is a ghostly northern echo of Nebbiolo full of terroir.  The color is palest garnet with a fair degree of transparency.  It still has the classic Nebbiolo orange rim.  The nose is a beautiful combination of herbal (sage and marjoram) and ripely red fruit.  The mouthfeel is heavier than one would expect from a wine with 12.5% alcohol.  On one hand it is is clean, bright and cheery, but it also has a tense, wound up side of it.  Almost feels like a Pinot noir in weight and flavor, but the finish reminds you that it is Nebbiolo with higher acid and tannin.  Even with no oak, the Nebbiolo grape brings enough tannin to stand up magnificently to grilled meats.