Story: Lombardy | Wine region

A little Lombard wine is in many bottles of Italian sparkling wines, although hardly anyone knows it. Oltrepò Pavese, which for decades served almost exclusively as a base wine supplier for the Italian sparkling wine industry, is only in these years becoming aware of its true quality potential.

The Franciacorta area, the only Italian wine region to enjoy an international reputation in the sparkling wine sector, is much more confident. Wineries such as Ca'del Bosco, Bellavista and others now openly want to compete with the big Champagnes, but the road ahead is still long and rocky.

In contrast, little is happening in Valtellina, where winemaking has too long been limited to its role as a supplier of bulk wine to the Swiss market: A lonely pioneer named Nino Negri, a winery that today belongs to Gruppo Italiano Vini, and a few but promising newcomers, and the panorama is almost exhaustive.