Angelo, Matteo and Luca Sega grow alpine Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo) high up on the terraced granite and slate slopes of Valtellina. At these perilous heights everything is done painstakingly by hand and Barbacàn follow this up with a hands off approach in the cellar, fermenting with indigenous yeasts and bottling without filtration or sulphur.

This elegant and complex Valtelina Superiore is Chiavennasca (alpine Nebbiolo) from a mixture of old and young vines planted at around 500m above sea level. Grapes are fermented on skins for 3 months before being transferred to a mixture of chestnut and acacia barrels for 1 year, after which it is transferred back to concrete to settle again for 9 months. Brimming with aromas of raspberry, prune, bitter orange, flowers and spice, it’s energetic and fresh with an earthy note and rustic tannic backbone.