Why it matters
The producer
The terraces above Chiuro are among the most demanding vineyard landscapes in Italy. Narrow dry-stone walls retain shallow, loamy soil on slopes where no machine can work, and the vines that grow there are Nebbiolo, called Chiavennasca in this corner of Lombardy. Nino Negri is the house that turned this difficulty into a range: 33 owned hectares across the valley's finest zones, fruit sourced from more than 200 local growing families, and a cellar in Chiuro that has been operating since 1897.
The estate is built around alpine Nebbiolo interpreted across Valtellina's five subzones and in the dried-grape Sfursat style, where harvested Chiavennasca is dried in cool mountain air before pressing. Danilo Drocco now heads the winery, following a long period under oenologist Casimiro Maule.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Valtellina runs east to west through Lombardy's Alps, with the vineyards facing south across the Adda river valley. The valley walls create the exposure that allows Nebbiolo to ripen at altitude, while the alpine air provides the cool conditions that preserve acidity in a grape that ripens late and needs warmth. Chiuro sits in the heart of the valley, close to the Sassella, Grumello and Inferno subzones that give the Valtellina Superiore DOCG its internal geography.
The five subzones, Sassella, Grumello, Inferno, Maroggia and Valgella, differ in soil, microclimate and slope orientation, and those differences carry through into the wines. Nino Negri holds parcels in Grumello, Inferno and Fracia, and draws fruit from families spread across all five.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The 33 owned hectares spread across Grumello, Inferno and Fracia, with additional purchased fruit from the broader grower network. All harvesting is done by hand, a necessity on terraces where machinery cannot operate. The Fracia parcel uses Guyot training and carries vines of at least 25 years.
For the Sfursat wines, thick-skinned, robust Chiavennasca grapes are harvested and then dried in cool alpine air, concentrating the sugars, tannins and aromatics before fermentation. For the Giùen Rosso di Valtellina, the winery selects large, thick-skinned Nebbiolo grapes specifically suited to whole-berry fermentation, a technique that softens extraction and keeps the tannins approachable. The Riserva receives prolonged cellar ageing, which rounds the tannin frame and builds aromatic depth over time.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range opens with Giùen Rosso di Valtellina DOC: a Nebbiolo designed around whole-berry fermentation, with a softer tannin profile and immediate fruit. Wild berry, cherry, sweet spice and violet on the nose give way to a smooth palate and a finish that moves from fresh fruit into a more mineral, persistent close.
Le Tense Sassella Valtellina Superiore DOCG places the same Chiavennasca inside a single subzone. Sassella gives the wine a tighter aromatic register: raspberry, rose and violet, with orange peel and candied fruit, and a fuller body with ripe, evident tannins and a long red-berry finish. The Riserva Nino Negri Valtellina Superiore DOCG adds significant cellar time, building the integration and depth that the younger releases are still developing.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Le Tense Sassella Valtellina Superiore DOCG. It is Chiavennasca grown inside a single named subzone, putting the grape, the valley and the terrace-farming tradition on the same label. The nose leads with raspberry, rose, violet and orange peel; the palate is full-bodied, with ripe tannins and a long finish of red berries and sweet spice. Where Giùen shows what whole-berry fermentation does to Chiavennasca at the softer end, Le Tense shows the grape in its natural Valtellina Superiore frame: more grip, more subzone character, and the mineral persistence that comes from shallow alpine soil and vine roots pressed into granite.