Lake Como

Founded in 1897, the historic reference point for Valtellina — cellars carved into a 15th-century palazzo in Chiuro, at the heart of the region's terraced vineyards.

A cellar carved into the rock on Sondrio's edge, reviving a 19th-century estate since 1984. Traditional, patient winemaking — five generations of Nebbiolo from the Alps.

Founded in 1973 in San Giacomo di Teglio, now with the founder's children Marco and Elena at the helm. 'Il Glicine', from a single hectare in the Sassella subzone, is the estate's benchmark bottling.

In Mese, near Chiavenna at Valtellina's northern edge, winemaking since the 1940s — today run independently by grandson Mamete Prevostini, with vineyard holdings inside the walls of the historic Vertemate Franchi Palace in Piuro.

Three generations in Chiuro since the 1920s, when the first Aldo Rainoldi was a local wine merchant; his grandson, also Aldo, turned the firm into a producer of some of Valtellina's most awarded reds. 'Inferno' is a real subzone — a pocket of rock terraces where summer heat builds up like an oven. Tastings in the cellar by appointment, with a dedicated hospitality line.

A Swiss-Italian family from just over the border, making Valtellina wine since 1897. Tenuta La Gatta is a former 16th-century Dominican convent in Bianzone, ringed by terraced vines, where you can do a guided tour and tasting, a lunch of pizzoccheri, or a picnic in the vineyard. Sforzato — the region's dried-grape Nebbiolo — is always in the line-up.

Founded in 1919 by Pietro Plozza in Brusio, on the Swiss side of the valley; the Tirano cellar sits at the Italian end of the Bernina Express, the UNESCO-listed red train from St. Moritz — a memorable way to arrive. Modern, design-led tastings of 'Nebbiolo of the Alps', with rye bread and Casera cheese. Tuesday to Saturday, three time slots.

Two school friends, Davide Fasolini and Pierpaolo Di Franco, started in 2004 with no family land — just rented, half-abandoned terraces they brought back by hand ('dirupi' means cliffs). Now a cult name for pure, mountain-fresh Nebbiolo. The cellar is a 16th-century building by the Madonna di Campagna church in Ponte: tiny, so message ahead or you may not find anyone.