"Voltolina Valley surrounding area of high and terrible mountains, wine is very powerful," wrote Leonardo da Vinci in his Atlantic Codex. Valtellina, the valley of the Adda river, is one of the most important wine-growing areas of Lombardy. E 'a mountainous area that has the distinction of being oriented from east to west, while all other alpine river valleys develop from north to south, bordered by high mountains and steep slopes with vines now intensely expensive earthworks that resulted the construction of dry stone walls to make the first arable land inhospitable. It is a work that has involved many generations that, without technological support, have carried arms or on a mule from the valley upstream tons of earth.
Whether the exposure to the moderate rainfall spread evenly throughout the year the area is particularly suited to viticulture.
The fortunate exposure can, in fact, the formation of local microclimates very favorable: the solar radiation has an amount of calories equal to that of regions located further south, the Alps Rhaetian protect the valley from the cold north winds and Orobie with 'Adamello act as a screen to southern, rounds off the short, coming from the lake breeze that blows from late spring through the summer channeling a stream of warm air that favors the pollination and dry soil and plants making them more resistant the cryptogams.
The grapes that grow there chiavennesca is called, the local name for the Nebbiolo, arrived in Valtellina, according to some authors in the Middle Ages, according to others in the late eighteenth century during the Napoleonic conquest. The grape varieties are called fussy, Rossola, sloe, but are of minor importance as marginal crops used, as well as Merlot and pinot noir, to complete the blend.
The terraces, which are inaccessible to farm machinery, still forced to work the vineyard by hand. In time of harvest the grapes are brought back in to "draw", or in baskets, and transferred by cart along steep paths and stairs, only lines of communication between the various plots.
The Valtellina Superiore DOCG includes sub Sassella, Grumello, Inferno, Valgella, Maroggia.
The unique name "Hell" is probably derived from very high temperatures in summer can be reached in small terraced vineyards sites in rocky gorges, temperatures that allow the grapes to ripen fully despite the fact that they are also a few rows over 800 meters high. From this we deduced that this is one of the most difficult in the sense of impervious areas of the Valtellina Superiore. Hell, just east of Grumello, with its 68 hectares is the smallest of the four sub Valtellina Superiore, includes a dozen municipalities in the valley and is the stretch of the valley bordered by the towns of Treviso and Poggiridenti, east of Sondrio .
Grumello is produced in the north-east of Sondrio and takes its name from Grumello Castle, a fortress of the thirteenth century. overlooking the valley.
Sassella born in the area directly west of Sondrio (from Castione Andevenno to the capital) and about 150 hectares is the second largest of the four sub-DOCG Valtellina Superiore. The name comes from the church of Sassella (from rock, cliff) located at the foot of the headland in an area of the most inaccessible, but also among the most sunny coast Rhaetian.
The Valgella (Latin vallicula, "Vallicella") is the largest among the sub-DOCG Valtellina Superiore: 162 hectares Teglio to Tirano, north-east of Sondrio. His name is not widely known in Italy as, for historical tradition, this wine was mainly intended for export to nearby Switzerland.
Maroggia is the smallest sub-area with 25 ha.
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