Italy · Valtellina

Nino Negri

Nino Negri farms terraced alpine Nebbiolo in Valtellina from its Chiuro base, ranging from Rosso di Valtellina to dried-grape Sfursat.

The producer

Nino Negri has been working Valtellina's terraced alpine slopes from Chiuro since 1897. The estate owns 33 hectares across Grumello, Inferno and Fracia and draws additional fruit from more than 200 local growing families. The grape is Nebbiolo, called Chiavennasca in this valley, and the range moves from the approachable whole-berry Giùen Rosso di Valtellina through single-subzone Superiore wines to the dried-grape Sfursat, where harvested Chiavennasca is concentrated in cool alpine air before pressing. All harvesting is done by hand on terraces where no machinery can operate.

Known for

Terraced alpine Nebbiolo and Sfursat, Valtellina

Notable facts

The story

The Hotelier Who Chose Wine

Nino Negri had trained for hospitality, not viticulture. His parents ran a hotel in Aprica and he had completed studies at a school in St. Moritz with the expectation of entering the family business. Marriage to Amelia Galli changed course. He moved to Chiuro in 1897 and established a wine operation instead, formally registering the company with the Sondrio Chamber of Commerce. Two years later his son Carluccio joined him, and it was Carluccio who would expand the winery from a small family concern into the valley-wide operation whose grower network eventually stretched to more than 200 local families.

From the atlas

Nino Negri

Valtellina's alpine Nebbiolo specialist, farming terraced granite slopes above Chiuro since 1897, with a range built around Chiavennasca and dried-grape Sfursat.

At A Glance

RegionLombardy
AppellationValtellina Superiore DOCG / Sfursat di Valtellina DOCG
VillageChiuro, Sondrio
Main grapeNebbiolo (Chiavennasca)
Signature wineLe Tense Sassella Valtellina Superiore DOCG
Defining featureTerraced alpine vineyards requiring entirely manual work, with 33 hectares owned across Grumello, Inferno and Fracia, and grower relationships with more than 200 local families

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

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.

Soil And Site

The vineyard soils are shallow and sandy-loamy, prone to drying out, and workable only to depths of between 40 and 120 centimetres. Below that, the vine roots push into parent rock, pulling mineral character into the fruit. The terracing is what makes this farming possible, and also what makes it slow: entirely manual work, estimated at around 400 hours per acre, with no mechanical access on the steeper walls.

At the Fracia vineyard, Guyot-trained vines of at least 25 years add another layer of concentration to fruit already pushed by shallow soil and steep drainage. The dry-stone terracing is the defining infrastructure of the whole appellation, and Nino Negri's owned land sits inside the zones where those walls are oldest and most densely stacked.

Story

Carluccio Negri, son of the founder, drove the estate's early growth and shaped it into a commercial winery rather than a family holding. As Italy rebuilt after the Second World War, the Chiuro operation expanded significantly, with the workforce growing from a handful of pre-war employees to more than thirty, with additional seasonal labour brought in for harvest. That scale gave the estate the reach to formalize grower relationships across the valley, building the network of more than 200 local families that still supplies fruit today.

The critical period for the modern wine range came under oenologist Casimiro Maule, who worked at the estate until 2017 and was named Italian Oenologist of the Year in 2007. Maule's tenure coincided with the consolidation of Nino Negri's position as a Sfursat specialist, a demanding category where the decision to dry harvested Chiavennasca in cool alpine air before pressing adds concentration and changes the tannin profile substantially. That focus on appassimento technique, applied to a grape that already demands difficult terrace farming, defined the upper tier of the range. Danilo Drocco now leads the winery.

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

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.

Ca' Brione Alpi Retiche IGT stands apart: a white wine from Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Incrocio Manzoni and white-vinified Nebbiolo, fermented together to give a floral, stone-fruit-driven alpine white that sits outside the Valtellina DOCG framework. Sfursat di Valtellina DOCG sits at the concentrated end of the range, with dried Chiavennasca producing a wine closer in weight to Amarone than to the lighter Rosso di Valtellina.

In The Glass

The red wines share Chiavennasca's aromatic signature of red berry, violet and spice, shifting in body and grip as the range moves up. Giùen is the lightest, with cherry and wild berry kept fresh by whole-berry fermentation and tannins that feel smooth rather than assertive. Le Tense Sassella is fuller, with riper tannins that are present and structured rather than punishing, and a finish where red berry and sweet spice extend for some length. The Riserva adds years of bottle development to the same grape and place: the tannins knit further, the fruit deepens toward dried-cherry and spiced-plum territory, and the finish gains length without losing the valley's mineral thread.

Ca' Brione runs in a completely different register. Elder flower, robinia, peach, ripe pear and Mediterranean herbs open on the nose; the palate is full, with balancing acidity and a mineral finish that traces back to the same alpine soils that shape the reds.

A Bottle To Understand It

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.

Anecdote

Nino Negri had trained for the hotel business. His parents ran a property in Aprica, and he had studied at a hospitality school in St. Moritz in preparation for joining the family trade. Marriage changed the plan entirely. After wedding Amelia Galli, he moved to Chiuro and set up a wine-producing business in 1897, walking away from the career he had prepared for. The company was formally registered with the Sondrio Chamber of Commerce, and two years later his son Carluccio joined it, the same Carluccio who would become the engine behind the winery's growth into a substantial valley-wide operation.

Final Word

Nino Negri is Valtellina Nebbiolo worked at scale across terraces that allow no shortcut: 33 owned hectares, more than 200 grower relationships, entirely manual harvesting, and a range that moves from approachable Rosso di Valtellina through single-subzone Superiore to the concentrated dried-grape Sfursat that defines the upper end of what Chiavennasca can do in the Alps.

Sources

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