Winemaker Notes
Sforzato di Valtellina Vino Sbagliato offers a full range of aromas that spans from dried cherry to tar to smoke to sweet tobacco. This wine opens to a dark appearance with evident concentration that is achieved thanks to grapes that are air-dried (or appassimento in Italian) before they are fermented and pressed. That process allows for the increased intensity you taste here. There is a hint of candied cherry sweetness as well.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Savory notes of dried dill and green olive accent the sweet plumped cherry and red licorice flavors in this lightly mouthwatering, medium- to full-bodied red. Focused and fresh, with densely-knit tannins that emerge on the tarry finish.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
Containing an exciting mix of wine producing subregions, Lombardy is Italy’s largest in size and population. Good quality Pinot noir, Bonarda and Barbera have elevated the reputation of the plains of Oltrepò Pavese. To its northeast in the Alps, Valtellina is the source of Italy’s best Nebbiolo wines outside of Piedmont. Often missed in the shadow of Prosecco, Franciacorta produces collectively Italy’s best Champagne style wines, and for the fun and less serious bubbly, find Lambrusco Mantovano around the city of Mantua. Lugana, a dry white with a devoted following, is produced to the southwest of Lake Garda.