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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Decanter
Unsatisfied with their first Sforzato attempt, the Dirupi duo referred to the wine as ‘sbagliato’, or mistaken. Subsequent efforts have been much more successful but they have kept the original nickname - drawing a line through sbagliato to emphasize that they are now on the right track! The nose is redolent of baked black currants, sundried tomato and chocolate. Accents of vanilla, tobacco and rosemary weave through the palate, which is full, firm and brawny. Those dry, compact tannins and palpable wood notes need time to integrate.
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.