Nino Negri

This estate was founded 100 years ago and has managed to combine considerable determination and targetted insight from generation to generation , two characteristics that enable our wines to express their full greatness.

Valtellina wine-grower and producer Nino Negri is a perfect combination of tradition and technology. To ensure top-quality results, we must invest continuously and significantly in our vineyards and cellar. Today, the cellar houses 1500 new barriques of French and American oak and we have substituted the big old barrels with over 100 smaller barrels to permit a greater selection of the wines. The stainless steel vats and fermentation vessels have also been replaced recently and allow us to implement new wine-making systems. We have made major investments in our vineyards, where 11 of the estate’s 31 hectares have been replanted with new clonal selections of Nebbiolo according to new contour planting systems.

Originally from Trento, Casimiro Maule moved to Valtellina for professional reasons and has weathered over 40 harvests in the vineyards, in direct contact with nature and the scents and moods of the land. He has fond memories of the people who have had an important influence on his life, not least of all Carluccio Negri whom he met in ’71 and who was instrumental in helping him to achieve all that he has done today. Despite all the major awards he has received from around the world, most recently Oenologist of 2007 from Gambero Rosso, he never forgets the earth and how challenging it is to work with.

Valtellina lies north of Lake Como in the province of Sondrio. It is sheltered from the cold northern winds by the magnificent mountain chain of the Rhaetian Alps. The Valley, which runs 40 kms from east to west, is exposed to the sun all day. It is divided into four sub-zones that give their names to the different types of wine produced here: Grumello, Sassella, Inferno and Valgella. The territory has two DOCGs, the more widespread Valtellina Superiore and the Sforzato di Valtellina.

Our vineyards are located in a unique environment that offers much but in return demands hard work, sacrifice and passion. Here the vines grow in exceptional terrains on the mountain slopes, protected from the cold northern winds and bathed in sun from morning to night.

Nino Negri owns 31 hectares in the most prestigious zones in the heart of this very important wine-growing and producing area:

- SASSELLA: 2 hectares in this sub-zone named after the little local church.
- GRUMELLO: 11 hectares of land particularly well-adapted for the production of high-quality grapes facing south at the perfect altitude of 450 m.
- INFERNO: 11 hectares situated in the narrowest of the four sub-zones of Upper Valtellina, whose name reflects the steep gradient of the land and the high summer temperatures.
- FRACIA: 7 hectares in the centre of the Valgella sub-zone.