Valtellina Valley – vines and wines
October 2, 2020
Why did we chose the Valtellina valley? Â It may have become obvious from previous posts, but we like our food and also the pleasure of a glass of wine.
 When we first visited the Northern end of Lake Como we came across an Italian red wine from the Valtellina region.  Being reasonably priced in the supermarkets, it seemed our duty to sample the local beverage.  It is made from the Nebbiolo grape, the very same one that Piemonte uses in Barolo wines, only in Valtellina the grapes are grown at high altitude giving a lighter wine,
We learnt more about the wine when we visited the town of Morbegno (we think of this as the gateway to the Valtellina valley) which holds a 3 week wine festival in September to celebrate the producers and showcase the wines from Valtellina. This is where our education and interest was really piqued (we have attended on three occasions now with different friends). There really was only one thing for it….a trip into the valley to see where it’s made and what it’s all about.
Fast forward 3 years (shame on us) and we booked a two-night stay in Agriturismo ‘Il Vecchio Torchino’ (which means ‘old wine press’ – very apt). So what is so special in the region?Â
The Valtellina Valley
A bit of geography – The Valtellina valley runs east to west in northern Lombardy, following the river Adda until it enters the northern end of Lake Como. It borders Switzerland on its north side with the mountainous Bernina pass (some 4000m high).  There is a scenic railway, the Bernina Express, which goes from Tirano to St. Moritz; something we are planning for another year (post the need for face masks).
The length of the Valtellina valley is dotted with hillside towns. Â The river Adda follows the valley floor, the road and train track along the bottom connecting the main towns of the region, and everywhere from the valley floor to 800m high there are vines.Â
Where to go in the Valtellina Valley
Morbegno
One of our favourite places to visit and somewhere we go often. A beautiful hillside town at the start of the Valtellina valley. Great buildings, narrow streets, pokey shops, amazing restuarants and the best cheese shop we’ve been to in Italy (so far).  So good in fact it had a hefty mention in our “A week of things to do on Lake Como” post.
Teglio
Teglio is definitely a popular spot in the Valtellina valley, and the one thing I would recommend is booking a restaurant for lunch (this is the home of pizzocheri after all – see food section below)…..we had to try three before we found one with space. However, this small hilltop town is filled with beautiful and very old buildings and is worth a wonder around…camera in hand.
Sondrio and Grumello Castle
The town of Sondrio, on the valley floor is in the centre of Valtellina. Â Although a small town, it would be easy to spend a whole day here to see its many piazzas, palaces and Masegra castle, all within the very walkable historic centre. Â Not far from the centre is Grumello castle, on top of a hill in the middle of vineyards. Â Worth a walk up to for the amazing views.
Translation – the route of the terraces. This is a bike and pedestrian route along the whole length of the Valtellina Valley, with various other walking routes up into the mountains. Honestly, I think you could spend a couple of weeks in the valley and never be short of places to visit.  We followed the route from our agriturismo to Teglio, going right through the middle of the vineyards.
The wine of Valtellina
This is a place where “traditional methods” are still in practice, where vineyards are handed down from father to son and where vine maintenance and harvests are still done by hand. Â Valtellina wines are mostly from small-scale producers, where time has stood still; partly due to the vines growing on steep terraces unsuitable for machinery. Â Â We did visit a producer who is going against the grain, La Perla, more to follow on that.
From the Nebbiolo grape several DOC, ICG and DOCG wines are produced, for example the Valtellina Superiore and Sforzato styles with labels such as Sassella, Grumello, Inferno, Valgella, Maroggia. Red wines you will not forget and the main product here.
Now I have a confession. I knew that the wines were produced at high altitude so in my mind I pictured vines up steep mountiain slopes, high up from the valley floor and pretty inaccessible, But in fact the they start at the valley floor (300m above sea level) and vines are only grown to 800m; Â pretty high but not the precarious vines I had imagined. Â I did feel a little foolish, and maybe even a little disappointed, as my visions were certainly more dramatic.
La Perla
We made an appointment to visit this particular vineyard as it was a young innovative winery, who not only grow Nebbiolo grapes, but also Pignola valtellinese, an indigenous red-skinned variety, processed to produce a sparkling white wine, (in the “traditional method” which basically means like Champagne. Â Why did we only buy two bottles!….duh).
They are Innovative because they are the first vineyard in Valtellina to adopt the girapoggio planting pattern, in which all the vines in each row are on the same level, parallel to the hillside (everyone else grows their vines in rows going up the hill).  It enables partial mechanisation of the vineyard’s various phases.. A further innovative solution is the use of “new posts in the shape of a treble clef”, meaning the bottom of the vine is pushed out to allow it to receive more sunshine, therefore better quality grapes and wine.
The food of Valtellina
Pizzoccheri
We’re somewhat familiar with Valtellina food as it is often what we eat around the north end of Lake Como. Pizzoccheri is definitely one of my favourite pasta dishes. So to hear the town of Teglio in Valtellina is the home of Pizzocheri, well we just had to visit.
What is pizzoccheri? a buck-wheat pasta cooked with cheese, cabbage, potatoes and lots of garlic.  Absolutely delicious and in the restaurant we went to in Teglio it was bottomless (literally they come around and serve more as often as you want, I was so full).
Â
Apperitivo - Valtellina style
Bresaola – an amazing, low fat charcuterie made from the best ox leg cuts.  It’s a deep red/purple finely sliced meat, often served as an apperitivo.  It’s really delicate in taste, completely different from the more smokey italian salami and pepperoni.
The cheese – Bitto and Casera cheeses are both DOP cheeses, which protects their origin (why oh why didn’t we do that with cheddar?). Both strong hard cheeses (actually not a million miles from a mature cheddar – less creamy though – ok cheddar is just better).
Chischioli
We had never heard of this before (anyone?) but were curious when we saw it on the menu at our agriturismo. Apparently a specialty of the area, it’s a buckwheat flour and cheese pancake (they like their buckwheat), served hot and crunchy. Not exactly what I’d call a pancake, but what’s not to like.
Apples and kiwis
The surprise for us was apples. We drove through the valley expecting to see every hillside filled with grape vines, but on driving up some hillside roads, we discovered apples…..hundreds and hundreds of apple trees. And I’ve never seen such a variety of colours. Did we buy some? er.yes. €3 for a huge bag (5kg), we were very popular with our neighborurs on our return (there’s only so many apples we can eat and these were way too good for the horse). Best apples ever – and went particularly well with cheese and honey.
And finally –  What does a kiwi grow on? Not a joke, but as we discovered, it’s a vine plant. You learn something new every day.
Where next?
We’re still exploring our end of Lake Como, hiking the mountains and visiting the lake side towns. Â We can’t believe how much there is to discover, including this beautiful park in Tremezzo.
