Marino Lanzini Rosso di Valtellina DOC (2021) – Lombardia, Valtellina

Mountain Nebbiolo with the handbrake off: light on its feet, fresh, and ready now.

THE GRAPE
Nebbiolo, called Chiavennasca up here. Same grape as Barolo, very different mood: grown on steep terraces above the Adda river, it keeps its tannin light and its fruit bright. Alpine Nebbiolo, if you like — cooler, leaner, easier to love young.

THE WINE
The entry point to Marino's range and the one that ends up on our own table most often. 2022 was a hot, dry summer even in the mountains, so this is the riper of the two Rossos we have: red cherry, a touch of raspberry, a little alpine herb, tannins that behave. Short ageing in oak, no fuss. Serve it slightly cool.

FOOD PAIRING
Pizzoccheri, the buckwheat pasta of Valtellina with cabbage, potato and far too much butter. Also, bresaola, salami, a mushroom risotto, or a weeknight roast chicken. It is a wine for the table, not the cellar.

THE WINEMAKER
Marino Lanzini took over his family's vineyards and cellar in Ponte in Valtellina in 2015 and started by doing the hard thing: rebuilding his grandfather's terraces in Valgella by hand, one stone at a time. He is a quiet man who makes a small amount of wine and does not rush it — oak, a little chestnut, and time. His wines taste of the family and the mountain, in that order. Nebbiolo from the Alps, farmed by someone who still climbs it.