Valtellina - the enchanting alpine territory in the province of Sondrio, in the northern part of Lombardy - is a land considered heroic for many aspects. The morphology of the territory - made of steep slopes in which are built terraces - does not certainly offer easy conditions for the many human activities. Despite the truly hard conditions offered by the mountain nature of this territory, Valtellina is a land capable of giving generous fruits and tasty foods, last but not the least, excellent wine. This is the land from which come the renowned Bitto, Casera and Scimudin cheeses, as well as excellent apples and precious honey, it is here bresaola is being produced and in this land were born the tasty pizzoccheri, a local type of pasta traditionally seasoned with savoy cabbage, potatoes, butter, garlic, pepper and abundant Casera cheese.

A view of vineyards in Valtellina

 Valtellina also means wine, a historical bond based on the local Chiavennasca grape (derived from the local dialect term ciù-enanz, higher) name with which is called in this area the noble Nebbiolo grape. The wines of this land - a production essentially about red wines - benefit from the Nebbiolo's elegance and qualities, including the most renowned and precious wine of the whole Valtellina: Sforzato. This particular wine, produced in limited quantities because of the strict selection of grapes, is made with the best Chiavennasca grapes allowed to dry for three-four months and then vinified during January and February. Besides Sforzato, wines of the area are distinguished for Valtellina Superiore DOCG - produced with Chiavennasca grape - in which are defined some subareas and precisely Grumello, Sassella, Valgella, Inferno and Maroggia.

 Exactly in this suggestive territory was established in the beginning of 1940's Pietro Nera Winery, founded by Guido Nera, father of the present proprietor Pietro. At the end of 1950's, Pietro Nera, succeeded to his father Guido, by tenaciously continuing the wine business of the family, finally united all the family estates - about 38 hectares (about 94 acres) - located in the classic production areas of Valtellina: Sassella, Inferno, Grumello and Valgella. Today are Pietro Nera's sons - Stefano and Simone - to be in charge for the managerial activity of the winery. Stefano is the wine maker responsible for the production of wines, whereas Simone is in charge for managing the commercial activity. The efforts of Nera family has always been committed to the reconversion of vineyards, both located in traditional terraces, as well as traditional “a gradoni” or “girapoggio” vineyards, allowing mechanized operations while improving the photosynthetic activity of leaves.

 Clonal selection and the meticulous care in vineyards, allow to obtain the best grapes in order to make wines whose quality is now famous worldwide. All the wine making and wine aging operations are done inside the cellars of the winery, equipped with steel tanks and oak casks of many sizes. Vineyards are all of property and cover an acreage of about 35 hectares (about 87 acres) providing grapes for a total production of 30,000 hectoliters of wine (about 800,000 gallons) of which 5,000 aged in oak casks and barriques. Despite Pietro Nera winery is mainly oriented to the production of red wine, Chiavennasca grape is also used for the production of white wines with interesting qualities.

 In Teglio - few kilometers east from Chiuro, city in which is located Pietro Nera winery - there is Caven Camuna winery, a farm business owned by the family. Wines produced by Caven Camuna are distinguished for their quality and for the fact of being produced with grapes coming from small vineyards and located in particular subareas. Caven Camuna's wines convince for their quality and for their character, certainly of higher class and exclusive. Caven Camuna's production is pretty limited and it is to be considered as the top quality production of Pietro Nera's wines, in particular Sforzato Messere, rich and full bodied, a worth representative of its category. Caven Camuna's range of products is completed by Valtellina Superiore wines produced in the Inferno and Sassella subareas, as well as Giupa, produced with late harvested grapes.

 The production of Pietro Nera winery is pretty rich and interesting, and besides the classic Valtellina wines, are also produced particular wines in which Chiavennasca is blended with other grapes. The main production is about Valtellina Superiore DOCG wines coming from the subareas Grumello, Sassella and Inferno including Sforzato. Among red reserve wines a particular mention goes to Valtellina Superiore Signorie, produced in limited quantities with Chiavennasca grape and a small part of Pignola, Rossola and Brugnola, three typical grapes from Valtellina. Among red wines are also produced Sorèl - an interesting blend of Chiavennasca and Cabernet Sauvignon - and Rosso di Valtellina Tellino. The production of Pietro Nera winery is completed by two white wines and a classic method sparkling wine. White wines are both produced with Chiavennasca grape vinified in white, of which “La Novella” is produced with 100% Chiavennasca and “Rezio” blended with Chardonnay. The classic method sparkling wine “Caven” is produced with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes.

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