Nino Negri, Sassella, Le Tense 2008

Italy

Availability: In stock.

Winemaking

The producer is Nino Negri, who is based in Valterllina, a valley North East of Lake Como, at the swiss border. It is a country of steep mountains. Valtellina Superiore is a D.O.C. with small cur-like sub denominations as Sassella and Inferno. Negri owns 8 hectares in Sassella. The grape used in Valterllina is Chiavennasca which is the local dialectal name for Nebbiolo (of Barolo fame). Le Tense is a micro-vinification of one of the best vineyards amongst those owned by Negri in Sassella. The climate in Valtellina creates specific problems in vinification terms: the temperature in the cellar at time of picking is ca. 12° so the must macerates with the skins, but do not start fermenting! It has to be heated to 32° to start fermenting and this is done with special vinifiers. Before fermentation end, part of the must is transferred into American and French oak barriques where fermentation ends. It will stay 8 months in the American barriques and 11 months in the French one. This vinification process is not traditional and is the fruit of experiments conducted since the 1992 vintage.