Rainoldi «Wine as culture»
The Valtellina valley is located in the northern Italian Alps where the vineyards, hanging from the mountain, are suspended in steep terraces. This mosaic of vineyards adorns the northern slope of the Lombardy valley, which stretches 40 km from east to west. The vineyards, all facing south, benefit from optimal exposure to the sun, which is ideal for growing grapes. This viticulture, on hilly slopes, requires about 1200 hours of work per year and per hectare - four times more than the time needed for hillside viticulture - and harvesting sometimes requires the use of a helicopter to transport the grapes from the terracing to the valley.
Wine-growing in this valley dates back to the first millennium and today Valtellina is the only recognized wine-growing region that is almost entirely dedicated to the cultivation and production of Nebbiolo.
At the beginning of the 1920s, the Valtellina region was in a situation of poverty and emigration. A strong desire to get out of this situation led Aldo Rainoldi to set up his own wine trading company in Lombardy and Switzerland in 1925.
In the second half of the 1950s, his son Giuseppe decided to join him. The quality improvement began with the purchase of grapes instead of wine, just as the sale in bottles replaced that in chestnut barrels. This phase coincided with the expansion of markets: not only Lombardy and Switzerland but also the United States, Japan and Northern Europe, thanks to a wider and more differentiated range of wines.
At the end of the 1990s, after completing his studies in viticulture and oenology at the University of Viticulture and Oenology in Turin, Aldo Rainoldi, Giuseppe’s nephew, joined the company to continue the family tradition. The aim is to combine qualitative growth with respect for the environment, leading the company to the next generation.
The production of high-quality wine in respect of the family tradition and the environment is the daily goal. Thanks to a new high-tech winery, grapes from different vineyards and altitudes can be harvested at maturity and then vinified separately.