Valtellina
— terraces holding the sun above the river.
Not only on a wall.
“An east-west alpine valley in Lombardy along the upper Adda River, between Lake Como and the Stelvio Pass. The south-facing slopes carry roughly twenty-five hundred kilometres of dry-stone-walled terraces, planted to Nebbiolo since at least the eleventh century. The valley closes north toward the Swiss canton of Graubunden; Bormio's thermal baths sit at the head. Pizzoccheri, bresaola, and Sforzato wines are the food of the place.
Valtellina, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Valtellina runs east from Colico on Lake Como to Bormio at the foot of the Stelvio Pass, about one hundred and twenty kilometres along the upper Adda River in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy. The valley floor sits around three hundred metres in the lower stretches and climbs to twelve hundred metres at Bormio. It opens to the south through the Bernina range into Swiss Graubunden at the Forcola di Livigno. The main centres are Morbegno, Sondrio, Tirano (terminus of the Bernina Express), and Bormio.
The south-facing slopes carry roughly twenty-five hundred kilometres of dry-stone terrace wall, raised by hand from the eleventh century onward to hold soil for Nebbiolo. The vine is called Chiavennasca locally and ripens in five named subzones (Maroggia, Sassella, Grumello, Inferno, and Valgella) between Berbenno and Tirano. The Sforzato passito is made from grapes dried on cane racks through the winter, a practice protected under DOCG rules since 2003. Local growers, organised through the Fondazione ProVinea, tend many plots smaller than a quarter hectare.
Valtellina runs in clean alpine seasons. Spring brings asparagus and the trout opening on the upper Adda in April. Summer crowds Bormio and the Stelvio Pass road, open from late May into October. The Nebbiolo harvest comes late, usually the second half of October on the terraces; selected grapes for Sforzato are then carried indoors to dry on cane racks through the winter. December opens the Bormio thermal season and the ski runs above Santa Caterina. The Bernina Express runs through the valley in every season between Tirano and St. Moritz.