Sandro Fay

The Sandro Fay winery in San Giacomo di Teglio, in Valtellina, bears the name of his father, who founded the company in 1973, but it is his son Marco who has inherited the company legacy, giving an original and innovative imprint to the production . This has allowed it to become one of the points of reference in the Valtellina wine scene. One of the first decisions taken was to concentrate on the processing of the vineyards in the Valgella sub-area, the largest area among the DOCGs of Valtellina Superiore, but also the less famous one compared to the others, namely Inferno, Grumello and Sassella, this allowed us to concentrate work and experience in a more limited area. Cellar and vineyards, therefore, in that sub-area which takes its name from the dialect term "Valgel" to indicate the small streams that characterize the area. And here's another intuition: the potential of Valtellina in vertical development, that is, exploiting the changing conditions when you rise in altitude. Therefore terraces and vineyards differentiated in height which are harvested and vinified separately, creating different labels. The vines, which are mainly Nebbiolo, the native vine of this area which here is called Chiavennasca, grow at an altitude between 350 and 900 meters above sea level, on excellent soil for the production of fine grapes. And it was an immediate success with the public and critics. Furthermore, Marco Fay is vice-president of the Consorzio di Tutela Vini di Valtellina, a position he is very keen on, especially for the possibility of representing the vignerons in important projects, such as that of wine zoning which allows the environmental contexts of the different terroirs to be mapped present in a specific viticultural area and collects, for the vines involved in the study, a substantial amount of plant and production information. This is the spirit that animates Fay and which is perfectly represented by its wines: innovative, but at the same time linked to tradition and the terroir which they represent in a sublime way.