At A Glance
Producer: Società Agricola Fay di Fay Marco & C. s.n.c. Region: Lombardy, Valtellina Superiore DOCG, Valgella subzone Village: San Giacomo di Teglio, province of Sondrio Grape: Nebbiolo (Chiavennasca) Estate size: 15 hectares Founded: 1973
The Producer
Fay is a family estate in Valgella, one of five named subzones within the Valtellina Superiore DOCG, in the Alpine province of Sondrio in northern Lombardy. The Nebbiolo grape grows here on steep terraced slopes above the Adda river valley, at elevations where the mountains slow ripening and hold acidity into the harvest. Almost all of Fay's 15 hectares sit within Valgella, and that commitment to a single subzone runs through the whole range.
Sandro Fay built the estate in 1973 from a small family wine operation. His children Marco and Elena joined him in 1998. The family does not simply grow in Valgella; they have organised their bottles around it, from the lowest accessible parcels to the highest fruit selected for the dried-grape Sforzato.
Place
Valtellina runs east to west along the Adda valley in the shadow of the Rhaetian Alps. The valley walls face south, so vines planted on the terraces receive direct sun in a climate that would otherwise be too cold for Nebbiolo to ripen fully. Valgella is the westernmost of the five Valtellina Superiore subzones, centred around the village of Teglio. The Valtellina Superiore DOCG requires a minimum of 90 percent Nebbiolo, locally called Chiavennasca, with the remainder from permitted local varieties.
Altitude is the shaping force in Valgella. Lower parcels produce lighter, earlier-drinking wines. As elevation rises toward 550 metres, the growing season lengthens and fruit concentrates more slowly, giving wines more weight and a longer acid line. At the highest parcels around 750 metres, only the most intense fruit is selected, and that fruit is dried before fermentation.
Soil And Site
The slopes above the Adda are granite and gneiss, old metamorphic rock that drains freely and retains little water. Vines on these soils develop deep roots and small berries, and the resulting wines carry a mineral, slightly stony quality alongside their red fruit. The Cà Moréi parcel sits at 550 metres in the municipality of Teglio, within the upper reaches of the Valgella altitude band.
Story
The land that carries the Fay name has a longer history than the estate. Mansueto Morelli farmed what is now the Cà Moréi vineyard in the early twentieth century. His daughter Emma married Pietro Fay in 1947, and the parcel passed through that marriage into the Fay family. The vineyard's dialect name, Cà Moréi, is a contraction of Casa Morelli, the old term for the Morelli property.
Sandro Fay, Pietro's son, formalised the agricultural business in 1973, deciding to expand the small-scale wine production the family had always kept. He registered the estate, developed the vineyards, and began building the range that now carries his name. When Marco and Elena joined in 1998, the second generation brought new thinking about vineyard management without altering the estate's Valgella focus. Marco has moved toward pheromone-based pest control while stepping back from copper-heavy approaches, a position of minimal intervention arrived at by choice rather than certification.
Vineyards And Cellar
Fay farms 15 hectares concentrated in Valgella. The altitude band determines which parcels supply which wine: Costa Bassa from the lower slopes, Cà Moréi from the 450 to 550 metre band, Carterìa Riserva from a separate parcel at similar elevation with a longer bottle maturation before release, and Sforzato from fruit selected around 750 metres.
Marco Fay uses pheromone diffusers placed through the vines to disrupt the mating cycles of pests rather than spraying. This cuts insecticide use and avoids the copper applications that certified organic viticulture often requires. The intent is minimally invasive management, preserving the soil biology while controlling vineyard health. For Sforzato, the grapes are dried for approximately two months after harvest, concentrating sugars, tannin, and extract before fermentation begins.
Wines
All Fay wines are built on Nebbiolo, the grape the valley calls Chiavennasca. The range rises by altitude within Valgella.
Costa Bassa comes from lower parcels and is the lightest, most immediate expression. The nose is delicate: raspberry, mint, and rose petal. It drinks without much coaxing.
Cà Moréi is the named-vineyard wine, from 2.5 hectares at 550 metres in Teglio. The nose is more intense than Costa Bassa, leading with red fruit, rose, and violet, with mint and a chocolate note underneath. In the mouth the wine is fuller and more assertive, with a firm tannic frame and a balsamic, savoury finish. It is a wine with grip and warmth that asks for time.
Carterìa Riserva comes from a different parcel at a similar elevation to Cà Moréi and receives longer bottle maturation before release, giving it more resolved tannin and additional complexity on the nose.
Sforzato di Valtellina DOCG is the dried-grape wine at the top of the range. Grapes from the highest parcels around 750 metres are dried for two months, concentrating everything, before fermentation produces a wine of greater body, alcohol, and depth than any of the Valtellina Superiore bottlings.
In The Glass
Fay's wines open with red fruit at the core: raspberry and cherry in the lighter bottles, deepening toward plum and dried fruit in Sforzato. Violet and rose appear across the range, a characteristic of Nebbiolo on high-altitude granite. A mint note runs through almost every bottle, cool and slightly herbal, likely reflecting the elevation and the long growing season. Acidity is firm throughout, the product of a valley where morning cold regularly slows ripening. Tannins in Cà Moréi are decisive and chewy at a young age, framing a warm mid-palate, with a balsamic, savoury quality on the finish that adds length. Costa Bassa is lighter and less demanding: the fruit is fresh and the tannins are softer, built for drinking sooner. Sforzato carries more alcohol and weight, with dried fruit replacing the fresh red notes, and a richer, denser mouthfeel.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with Cà Moréi. It is the named-vineyard wine from 2.5 hectares at 550 metres in Teglio, and it draws together everything that defines the estate: the Valgella subzone, the altitude that drives concentration, the family land tied to the Morelli name, and Nebbiolo grown where the season is long enough to give tannin and acidity without sacrificing warmth. On the nose, red fruit, rose, violet, and a cool mint note. In the mouth, a firm tannic frame, a warm mid-palate, and a balsamic, savoury finish. It is not a quick drink. It rewards cellaring, and it tells you exactly what Chiavennasca at elevation can become.
Anecdote
Mansueto Morelli worked the parcel above Teglio in the early twentieth century. He and his family lived in the farmhouse the locals called Cà Moréi, a contraction of Casa Morelli. When Mansueto died, the land passed to his children, and in 1947 his daughter Emma married Pietro Fay. The Morelli parcel became Fay land through that marriage. Sandro Fay, Pietro's son, founded the formal estate in 1973 and eventually bottled a named wine from the 2.5 hectares at 550 metres. He called it Cà Moréi, the old dialect name for the house where the Morelli family had lived, and that name is on every bottle the estate produces from the vineyard today.
Final Word
Fay is an estate organised around one subzone and one logic: altitude within Valgella shapes the range, and the family has committed to that principle since 1973. Cà Moréi is where the commitment is clearest, a named parcel with a name that goes back further than the estate itself.