We do not know the name of the person who, three thousand years ago, carved the outline of a man on a stone that had stood guard over the grapes for centuries. His imaginative reproduction now travels the world on the labels of the classic Inferno, Grumello and Sassella wines A truly ancient new symbol Dates and places are not mere notches on the yardstick of time and space. They invite stories and open up to narrative digressions. The year 1959 was particularly important here as was a place, Castionetto di Chiuro, 90 It costs much more to grow grapes in Valtellina than elsewhere. But do not imagine even for a moment that the winegrowers who work against this amazing theatrical backdrop are unprepared or uninterested in the most elementary laws of good enterprise Soil laid on rock The Rainoldi vineyards climb the “ronchi” between the famous Valtellina Superiore sub-zones: Sassella, Grumello and Inferno, joined by Maroggia to the west, and Valgella to the east. All the vineyards here are vertical and cling to the terraces. The same goes for those of the other winegrowers, who bring their grapes to the state-of-theart vinification cellar inaugurated in 2016, just above the historic Casacce site. Naturally after passing strict checks by the agronomists. The rows of vines are exposed to the sun and protected by the Alps from the full brunt of the icy north-westerly winds. The temperature range so liked by the Chiavennasca grapes is guaranteed by a light breeze that blows at dusk. In these areas, however, the skill of the winegrower, the expertise of the agronomist, the knowledge of the oenologist, and the experience of the cellarman would count for little without another ingredient: the soil laid on the rock. Metre after metre, year after year, generation after generation. The soil teams with water, the sun and man in a marvellous creative effort to bring life to an agricultural system with sensationally spectacular impact. Sassella and from there along the fabulous “Via dei Terrazzamenti”, following the terraced slopes. Not far away, the Rainoldi family manage the Vigna degli Apostoli, which translates as the “vineyard of the apostles”, harking back to sacred, timeless worlds. Nearby stands the octagonal chapel of Pentecost or the Holy Spirit, also known as the Chapel of the Twelve Apostles. The swollen bunches of grapes look like an allegory of life as an inexhaustible source of enchantment. Cacti grow wild among the rocks. Nature, thousands of years old, plays its part. Then man intervenes, leaving his mark while fully respecting nature. The grapes are espalier trained on grassy soil. “On these bold terraces, the biodiversity of our slopes offers its best fruits,” explains Aldo, his body firmly planted on the ground, one leg uphill, the other down. The smell of grass and hints of soil waft through the air. "We manage the foliage keenly to increase the leaf surface exposed to sunlight and encourage photosynthesis. Even a certain Galileo Galilei all those years ago realised the importance of the cohesion between vine and sun's rays. The “enchanted drink”, in the eyes of the scientist who rewrote the cosmos and all knowledge, who said “wine is sunlight, held together by water.” where the archaeologist Maria Reggiani Rajna from Teglio discovered a rock covered in arcane symbols among the sun-kissed vines of this mid-slope hamlet. Sixty centimetres tall and thirty centimetres wide, the stele was a rectangular cube shape and engraved on both faces, almost certainly at different times. On show in the Valtellina Museum of History and Art in Sondrio, this piece of granite features a necklace on one side, possibly an ancient representation of the Mother Goddess, datable to 2000 BC. On the second side is an anthropomorphic figure wielding a long-handled axe, carved between 1250 and 1000 BC. The silhouette looks like it was drawn by a “prehistoric” Keith Haring. The stylised “radiant-boys” by this brilliant American artist were in fact inspired by prehistoric rock carvings. Inspired in turn by these engravings, Aldo Rainoldi revamped the winery’s brand. A fragment of primitive art became the steersman of new communicative codes, in affinity with its origins. Marco Rainoldi seems older than his years: straightforward and determined, he has already found order in the chaos that agitates a developing mind. “I actually question myself a lot, I cultivate my doubts,” he explains with no-frills courtesy. "I am encouraged by the certainty of the quality of the work done by my father and uncle. I want to protect our company from the threats of climate change, but also from market logics that have nothing to do with my family's tradition. Is that clear? Not really. Well, obviously, because it is difficult to explain, unless we liken it to an ancestral call that seduces and leads to places where the values of our personal history are kept. Marco is tied to the land and traditions with a religious spirit, but is secularly open to the best. He studies the future of wine, innovation in the field, and the latest consumer trends at the University of Trento and at the Edmund Mach Foundation in San Michele all'Adige. He will soon return to live in his birthplace and make Valtellina communicate with the world. His sister Maria Vittoria, a little younger, observes curiously and learns. She is still searching for her own path, but is definitely not immune to the appeal of the family's wine cellars. Talking to them, you sense the emergence of a new interpretation of the company’s slogan. Caressing the wonderful oxymoron that combines tradition and innovation, the fourth generation is already leaving their own mark, using smart and digital solutions that blend harmoniously with the principes of environmental and social sustainability. One thing is for sure, Rainoldi wine will continue to acquire culture. Popular like a feeling that stirs the heart. Divine like a sacred pillar of good living. 86 “My ambition is to continue to make excellent wines, passionately and honestly, adding a few of my own to the list of those that have already written the history of our winery” The aesthetics of ethics 98 “Il vino spara fulmini / e barbariche orazioni / che fan sentire il gusto / delle alte perfezioni” (Wine shoots lightning bolts / and barbaric orations / that let you taste / lofty perfections). So sings Paolo Conte in Cuanta Pasión. Wine is one of the highest expressions of civilisation. This is attested by the noble landscapes painted by the vineyards. It is validated by the many tributes in the world of literature. If we published all the quotations about wine, they would fill a voluminous tome. A solid, wise alliance goes from Homer to Virgil, Dante to Shakespeare, Goethe to Leopardi, and Joyce to Neruda. Wine is also a transversal culture that combines rational methods and surprises, gentle caresses and forceful cures, caring hands and precise machines. In Il vino giusto Luigi Veronelli wrote: “science has conquered space but as yet not the ‘mechanism’ of wine's infinite metamorphoses; something is still missing, still eludes all analysis, something that only we who love wine know, with which we alone communicate: its soul.” “Making wine is a beautiful and complicated profession,” confirms Aldo Rainoldi. It cannot be just a job; it is a vocation sealed by a pact between the winegrower and his vines. "We cultivate the plants in the most natural way possible, we cut the grass and leave it at the foot of the vines as nourishment, we only practice emergency irrigation, for dry pruning we use the Simonit & Sirch method that preserves the health of the vine and increases productivity, we harvest by hand and keep everything under control, visiting each vineyard with our agronomist.” Curiosity and knowhow are required in the vineyard as in the cellar. “We need to know about available new winemaking methods, without giving up a craftsmanship that is difficult to describe and yet necessary to guarantee the quality of the final product.” There are times still today, when winegrowers are left with no other tools but their own hands. Hands that link past, present, and future Utmost perfection, conscientious care 94
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