Marco Ferrari, Valtellina Superiore Inferno DOCG (2023) – Lombardia

Named for the heat of its slopes, and the most complete wine Ferrari has made so far.

THE GRAPE
100% Chiavennasca from 1.3 hectares in Inferno, the hottest and most sheltered of Valtellina's crus, on vines averaging over 80 years old.

THE WINE
Inferno gives the deepest wine in Ferrari's range, and the 2023 is unusually polished. Aromas are lifted and perfumed, with dark red fruit, menthol, blood orange and cinnamon, and the tannins are silky rather than severe. It spends about 18 months in old tonneaux, so the fruit and the stony finish stay in front. Drink it over the next decade, or hold it.

FOOD PAIRING
Braised beef, wild game, aged Parmigiano, lamb with rosemary.

THE WINEMAKER 
Marco Ferrari grew up in Franciacorta, then spent several years in the northern Rhône with Franck Balthazar, learning from Thierry Allemand and the Gonon family, before a year at ArPePe in Valtellina. He launched his own estate in 2019 on steep, hand-built stone terraces above the Adda. No artificial fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides, everything picked by hand, spontaneous fermentations, whole bunches when the stems are ripe, and nothing fined or filtered.