A Valtellina Superiore DOC red wine made from Nebbiolo grapes (locally known as Chiavennasca) from the Valtellina Valley in Lombardy. The wine is said to be named from the stifling heat of the valley in summer. The wine is deep garnet-coloured, intense, herbal and cherry-flavoured but slightly leaner than Piedmont Nebbiolo wines. The Valtellina vineyards are said to be dying out because of the many difficulties in working steeply sloped Alpine vines, held up by a precarious terracing of stone walls.
