Haven’t bit on de negoce in awhile as I’m pretty full up on QPR wines, but the Valtellina offer sounds pretty sweet. Anyone try these? How modern / traditional are they? Description sounds pretty good overall.
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Oh man, this is right up my alley.
I did try a couple of Bettini wines when I was in the region in 2012. I liked them, just picked them up at a local grocery store. I have no idea if/how they have changed since 2012, though at $20 per bottle for ‘Cru’ valtellina, the price is quite right.
My only nit here is Cam making the comparison to Barolo–people expecting a big wine with ripping tannins are probably going to be disappointed. Valtellina can be tannic, definitely acidic, they do age, but they are more on the mineral, ‘Burgundian’ spectrum.
- 1997 F.lli Bettini Valtellina Superiore Riserva - Italy, Lombardia, Valtellina, Valtellina Superiore (3/17/2012)
Aged Nebbiolo bouquet. Intoxicating aromas of dried cherry, rose, iron and earth. Light/med body, high acidity, grapefruit pith on the finish. Intense minerality, Nebbiolo spice inner aromas, tannin mostly resolved. Found at the Iperal grocery store in Colico for ~$16. In really great condition given 15 years of age–silly to find this on the shelf for a pittance. - 2010 F.lli Bettini Chiavennasca Bianco Terrazze Retiche di Sondrio IGT - Italy, Lombardia, Terrazze Retiche di Sondrio IGT (3/16/2012)
Tasted from a cup–wasn’t aromatic but perhaps that was the cup not the wine. A white wine made from Nebbiolo, which is called Chiavennasca in the Valtellina. Had very round texture with fresh and mineral driven flavors. Cheap, too, at about $8 US.
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Your experience there was enough to push me over the edge and hit the order button. My Credit Card is still burning from the Bedrock release.
Yes, it is titled Alpina Barolo but if you read the copy you’ll see where it is expressly noted that these are indeed not Barolo in the quote from Decanter’s Michaela Morris that I think sums up the wines from the region best: do not expect Barolo: known locally and proudly as Chiavennasca, Valtellina Nebbiolo has a distinctly alpine timbre. Piercingly intense and finely etched, the wines are mineral-laden with an impossible lightness of being.
But I take your point 
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I am waiting for Lots 298 and 303, both ordered mid-April, to ship “May or June”. That would have been fine. But, then it changed to July. July, in central California is hot, certainly hotter than May or June. Haven’t received any word except a reminder that I did purchase futures, and that they should ship in July. I think it a safe bet that they will not ship this month, nor likely next month, which is hotter. I’m not sure how a rational person should be feeling about this…
Hi. Yes, my apologies. Everything has been taking longer than expected…dry goods for bottling and then what used to be a 35-day journey on the water with a week on either end for land transport and clearing is now 120-123 days. Having said that, these containers are on the water and should ship next month as you mention. I am sorry for the delays but the wines will benefit from the additional time in bottle. Of course, we won’t ship them unless its safe to do so.
So, why is everything so backed up?
The carriers have been playing fast and loose with timing but its not entirely their fault…the ports have been turning ships back because all the big box guys like Walmart and Target ordered huge amounts of inventory in January to make sure they had goods to sell for summer and holidays…well, they over-ordered and now all that inventory is stacked up in the ports with no where to go and its causing 3-4 weeks delays to just get containers out of the yard. You might have seen the recent news about Walmart cutting prices to move inventory…that’s because they are being charged huge amounts of “demurrage” by the ports for leaving their shit there for so long.
On top of that we have a trucker strike going on and the longshoremen are threatening to strike because they know they have the ports by the short and curlies…
Besides the fact that Walmart and the other big box guys are blowing out inventory to help clear the port backups (apparently the white house yelled at them to get their crap out), the only good news is that future container orders are down significantly so the backups should clear a bit and inbound containers should have an easier time.
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A quick search shows at least a couple of these available in Italy in the €11-14 range. They seem to be village level cuvées. So the price is right but by no means a bargain. Of course for US-based board members, these would be quite difficult to source otherwise.
Apparently a couple years ago I had a SVD Valgella from this producer at a restaurant in Livigno which I liked quite a lot. No other experience with Bettini otherwise.
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Understood, and I totally expect your tasting notes for this offer on the order page–as they reliably are–will be spot on when this parcel arrives. These read as totally archetypical for the region based on your notes.
After missing out on the Willamette Cab Franc–and having a decent dN stash in the domestic crowd pleasing style–this is a great re-entry point.
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there is no way you could find these DOCG bottlings for 11euro in Europe…its below ex-cellers FOB. I can see a 14 euro price for someone local to Lombardo however…but then you have to get it here. Trust me, at $239 delivered to your door, these are a bargain…I think you’ll find almost all Valtellina DOCG wines over $30 here in USA…then shipping on top of that.
I trust you! My position is unique in the fact that I am one hour away from Valtellina when in Italy, so I tend not to buy much here in the states. But… based on my experience with the producer these should taste great, which I care more about than whether it is a bargain or not 
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Cameron Hughes will there be more Valtellina offers?
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I’ll 100% back this up, having shopped for Valtellina reds recently.
For ArPePe, the top tier producer, you are probably looking at $40+ for their Rosso, $60+ for ‘cru’ bottlings, and >$100 for riservas. Good to very good producers with some export footprint (Rainoldi, Balgera, Sandro Fay, Mamete Prevostini, Nino Negri), you might find an entry level bottle at $25, but generally are looking at $30 to $40 and up.
I will say that if you find a Balgera with 10+ years of age for <$40, it’s worth the gamble. I will also say that if you can get ArPePe ex cellar, it is a lot cheaper than in the US, should have bought more when there but already had a full suitcase of Rainoldi 
Hard to say exactly where Bettini sits in the hierarchy, but $20/bottle to span the 4 most important subzones delivered is more than reasonable.
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Dreams do come true. I’m in.
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I’m in, too, on the Valtellina. It took a while: missed the offer initially thanks to a small, but very attention-consuming grandchild; read about the offer here on WB; did a long version of the wine-buying dance with my husband; after the initial offer sold out, & was re-upped, risked marital conflict because 1) it’s from ITALY and 2) Cam used the word “ethereal” or a derivative, seven (7!!!) times in the email/tasting notes. I hope by the time I drink enough of these ethereal wines that I know what it means!
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Word, I never got the email or text message for the Valtellina’s. Anyone else as well? I got the bottle shop sale offer the previous week…
I’m signed up under two email addresses and I’ve noticed one of them hasn’t received any offers in the last week, including the one you mentioned. Maybe try to sign up again?
Please check your spam folder and be sure to mark as “not spam” so that the offer are properly routed going forward. This happens all the time…
Thanks! Cameron
I am sipping on 200 as I read your post. 200, 253 and perhaps several others would define “ethereal.”
I am also guessing that with the American dollar essentially one to one with the Euro and the economy extremely weak in most European countries there are similar situations which allowed 200 and 253.
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Please check your spam folder and be sure to mark as “not spam” so that the offer are properly routed going forward. This happens all the time…
Thanks! Cameron
Joe, thanks for the insight into 200 & 253, neither of which I’ve opened yet- just waiting for the perfect time, maybe Christmas…
“Ethereal” is one of those words that makes me want to buy- don’t know why! “Elegant” is another, but it’s more generic, so I can resist. But for “ethereal” to show up seven times in an offer… well, I couldn’t resist. So, I scanned my copies of dN tasting notes for the wines that I purchased for the word “ethereal.” It shows up for the 100 cab (2x), the 120 cab (2x), 151, 195, 196 (2x), 86 (!?), 124, 229 & the 278 monsalto Butia. Never for a white or a Pinot. Not sure I can draw any conclusions from that…