I believe it was Nils Lindgrin who recently gave some tasting notes
here on old Valtellina wines. Many had held up very well. I remembered
I had single bottles of 3 Valtellina wines from the 1970s , and I said
I likely would report soon if they are still drinkable.

I opened the bottle of Nino Negri Inferno Superiore 1979. The cork was
sound, and the fill was still in the neck. The parrot made short work
of grinding up the cork, and this usually is a good sign. He is much
more selective with corks from dry red wines than from sweet wines.

The Inferno was fully mature, but by no means over-the-hill. You might
mistake it as a Barolo from a light year. It had fruit much like
Barolo, but less intense. There was still ample acid, and tannins were
under control. It is very much a food wine. When young, the name
Inferno was apt. The wine then had a quite raw bite and far more acid
and hard tannin than many would tolerate. The Inferno has now smoothed
to a warm glow. The grapes used are mainly Chievennasco which
apparently is just a local name for Nebbiolo of Barolo fame. The
Valtellina region is in Lombardy in the Sondrino province, which is a
very northern Italian Alpine area.

A small back label on the bottle says the wine is suitable for long
aging. That is true, but it would better read that the wine requires
long aging, unless you have a stainless steel lining for your stomach
and like the harsh bite when the wine is young.