Marco isn't from a winemaking family, nor is he from Valtellina, but after tasting the wine, you'd swear he has deep ancestral roots in the valley and a long lineage of vignerons with decades of... Read More

Marco isn't from a winemaking family, nor is he from Valtellina, but after tasting the wine, you'd swear he has deep ancestral roots in the valley and a long lineage of vignerons with decades of wisdom to draw from. But nope, that couldn't be further from the truth.

He worked for Northern Rhône icon Frank Balthazar in Cornas, where he learned organic farming, low-intervention winemaking, and how to work on treacherously steep, difficult-to-farm slopes like Chaillot — an opportunity that would serve him well in his future endeavors.

He knew he wanted to work with Nebbiolo, but Barolo and Barbaresco were out of the question. The land was just too expensive, especially for a young winemaker just setting out. So he wound up in Valtellina, working for another iconic estate, Ar. Pe. Pe.

In his downtime, Marco hunted for his own vineyards, settling on 2ha of old vines in the crus of Sassella and Inferno. These steep slopes must be worked by hand, as it's impossible to introduce any kind of machinery. He also farms organically. Work in the cellar is equally hands-off, fermenting with native yeasts and aging in old, well-used barrels.

The wines are pure and luminous, teeming with crunchy red fruit and inimitable alpine minerality. There is also an air of sophistication and maturity to the wines, one that is rare for someone's second vintage and almost certainly due to his time in the Northern Rhone and with Ar. Pe. Pe.

Now is the time to get to know Marco Ferrari. The wines are simply too good to remain under-the-radar for long.