Convento San Lorenzo by Mamete Prevostini

The Renaissance of Convento San Lorenzo: A Tale of Monastic Roots and Modern Alchemy

Perched high above the ancient city of Sondrio in Italy’s Valtellina valley, where the jagged Alps cradle the Adda River like a whispered secret, stands the Convento San Lorenzo—a 12th-century Benedictine monastery that has borne witness to centuries of prayer, toil, and transformation. Founded around 1100 by the noble Capitanei di Sondrio families and entrusted to a community of nuns, this secluded sanctuary was more than a house of devotion; it was a self-sustaining haven of alpine agriculture. Terraced vineyards, enclosed by weathered stone walls in a rare clos (walled vineyard), sloped eastward and westward along the girapoggio—ancient paths that maximized the sun’s caress on glacial, rocky-sandy soils. Here, amid chants and candlelight, the sisters tended Chiavennasca vines (Nebbiolo’s local kin), coaxing elegant reds from the rugged terrain that would one day echo the Alps’ pure, untamed spirit.

Through the ages, the convento endured like the mountains themselves. It weathered the 16th- and 17th-century dominion of Switzerland’s Three Leagues, surviving the shadows of the Thirty Years’ War as pilgrims traversed the Valtellina pass below. Napoleon’s 1797 suppressions deconsecrated it, handing the site to secular hands, while 19th-century floods and restorations by the Sisters of the Holy Cross repurposed it as an asylum and school. By the early 2000s, the walls that once rang with vespers fell quiet. The remaining nuns, advanced in years, struggled with the “heroic” labor of hand-harvesting the steep 2-hectare clos at 450–600 meters elevation. The vineyard, a UNESCO-recognized marvel of dry-stone terraces, whispered of forgotten potential—vines over 40 years old, yielding fruit with ethereal minerality and alpine snap, but untended and unseen.

Enter Mamete Prevostini, the third-generation steward of a family winemaking legacy born in the post-World War II grit of Valtellina. It began humbly in the 1950s, when his grandfather bottled cave-aged wines in a crotto (natural grotto) to fuel the family’s 1767-founded Ristorante Crotasc in nearby Mese—a rustic osteria where alpine travelers sought warmth and solace. By 1988, young Mamete seized the reins, pivoting from quantity to quality with his first labeled vintage in 1995. A believer in terroir’s quiet poetry—“complex but not complicated”—he amassed 10+ hectares across Valtellina’s subzones, from fiery Inferno to graceful Sassella, always honoring the region’s dry-farmed, hand-harvested ethos. As president of the Valtellina Wine Consortium from 2009 to 2018, Mamete championed the dual DOCG status that elevates these Nebbiolos as Italy’s alpine gems.

The turning point came in 2004, courtesy of a fateful tip from a friend: the nuns of Convento San Lorenzo sought a lessee for their vineyard, weary of its relentless demands. Mamete, drawn by the site’s spiritual aura and prime Sassella exposition, leased the clos in 2009—after five years of patient courtship. What began as stewardship soon blossomed into revival. He and his team meticulously restored the terraces, selecting clones for purity and embracing organic practices amid the wind-swept fruttaio lofts where grapes would later dry for Sforzato. The convento’s ancient walls, framing panoramic views of Sondrio below, became a canvas for innovation: minimal intervention, large oak aging, and a rare full malolactic in new tonneaux for the flagship Riserva—techniques that infused the wines with balsamic depth and silken finesse.

Then, providence intervened once more. The COVID-19 pandemic, a global pause that reshuffled priorities, softened the path to permanence. In 2022, after 13 years of devoted lease, Mamete Prevostini acquired the entire complex outright—including the edifice itself—for a sum whispered to be in the millions. It was no mere transaction; it was a homecoming. The bond with Sister Ludovica, the resilient nun who entrusted him with the vines, symbolized this union—a fresco-inspired veil of heritage draping modern ambition. Today, Convento San Lorenzo pulses with renewed life: a boutique production hub yielding just 100,000 bottles annually across the portfolio, but under its own hallowed label, a quartet of wines that capture the site’s soul.

The Convento San Lorenzo Portfolio: Vines Reborn

From the clos’s sun-kissed heights emerge four expressions of Chiavennasca, each a chapter in the convento’s reborn narrative. These are wines of alpine elegance—vibrant acidity, silky tannins, and notes of wild cherries, mountain herbs, and schist-born minerality—crafted for contemplation and the table.

•  Vesper Rosso di Valtellina DOC: A youthful ruby hymn to evening light, evoking monastic vespers with aromas of red cherries, violets, and alpine thyme. Fresh and approachable after stainless-steel fermentation and brief oak, it’s the gateway to the clos’s purity. Pair with bresaola antipasti or mushroom tagliatelle.

•  De Le Mur Valtellina Superiore Sassella DOCG: Deep garnet whispers of black cherry, rose petals, and earthy spice from the walled Sassella plots. Aged 24 months (12 in oak), it honors the convento’s enclosures with refined structure. Ideal alongside pizzoccheri pasta or roasted venison.

•  Clos Convento San Lorenzo Valtellina Superiore Riserva DOCG (e.g., 2019): The clos’s crowning jewel, intense with dried cherries, leather, and balsamic echoes. A 36-month odyssey in new tonneaux yields power tempered by grace; the 2018 vintage earned Tre Bicchieri acclaim in Gambero Rosso 2024. Savor with braised beef or aged Bitto cheese.

•  Ventum Sforzato di Valtellina DOCG: Born of 100-day appassimento in breezy lofts—“Ventum” for the winds that sculpt the Alps—this amber-edged opus bursts with figs, prunes, clove, and mint. Its debut 2018 vintage claimed Tre Bicchieri in Gambero Rosso 2022, a testament to the site’s opulent finesse. Decant for osso buco or truffle risotto.

A Legacy Etched in Stone and Vintage

Under Mamete’s vision, Convento San Lorenzo transcends its monastic past to embody Valtellina’s future: a beacon of sustainable “eroica” viticulture, where 2,500 km of dry-stone walls meet global acclaim (Decanter Platinums, OperaWine selections). Visit via the Sentiero della Memoria trail, or raise a glass to this alchemy—from cloistered vines to cellar-worthy poetry. Here, history doesn’t fade; it ferments, ages, and unfolds with every pour.