2022 Sandro Fay Ronco del Picchio Sforzato di Valtellina Nebbiolo

Since 1973, Sandro Fay has farmed some of the most dramatic vineyard land in Italy — terraced Nebbiolo sites climbing between 350 and 900 meters on Valtellina's granite-veined slopes in Lombardy. His children, Marco and Elena, now run the estate. Marco trained in Barolo before returning home to make single-vineyard wines that prove Nebbiolo isn't exclusive to Piedmont.

Ronco del Picchio is the family's top wine — a 2-hectare site at 700 meters in Teglio village, planted to vines up to 50 years old. Annual production sits at just 7,000 bottles. This is Sforzato di Valtellina, the appassimento style that dries Nebbiolo clusters in small boxes until mid-December, concentrating the fruit before fermentation. It's the region's answer to Amarone — rich, bold, meditative — but with Nebbiolo's structure and nerve.

The 2022 fermented in stainless steel, then spent two years in 30-hectoliter Slavonian and French botti. No filtration, no stabilization agents, sulfites under 90 ppm. Organic, indigenous yeasts. What you get is pure mountain Nebbiolo, compressed and opened wide at the same time.

In the glass: deep cherry, roses, licorice, faint cinnamon and leather — classic Nebbiola aromatics, unadulterated by oak. The palate is warm, soft, robust, and persistent. It's powerful without losing elegance, the kind of wine that earns 96 Suckling and 94 Vinous because the vineyard and the technique deserve them. Pull the cork tonight or cellar it a decade — it's built to do both.