The art of wine growing in Valtellina

The work accomplished in the past by wine growers in Veltlin is truly heroic. The steep hillsides of the valley were by far not ideal for wine farming. However, winegrowers realized that once a possibility for wine growing is created, wonderful grapes would grow on this sun-blessed location.

Working unbelievably hard, they created a 2500 kilometre long dry wall construction on the hills of the 50 kilometre long wine growing area. Thousands of stones were sheeted and thus winegrowers created one of the biggest terraced wine growing area in the world. And this happened over 2000 years ago!

Still today, the Nebbiolo grapes of Veltlin grow on these sunny terraces and are laboriously harvested by hand – vine for vine. The Mediterranean climate and the excellent soil are further prerequisites for the production of Veltlin wines. For Valtellinas, the pressing of the Nebbiolo grape results in the same wine as the expensive Barolo wines from Piemont.

But besides natural conditions, people need a lot of passion and creativity that they can deploy in wine growing and in cellars in order to press this wonderful raw material into strong and at the same time noble wines, rich in essence. Creativity was and remains an important factor of our company philosophy.

Thus, we are the pioneers of Sforzato production and in 1946 we were the first ones to introduce Sforzato to trade.

Still today, it is our goal to create new and truly different Valtellinas in order to successfully defy the old and dusty image of Veltlin.

Time and ideal upgrading opportunities are two further decisive factors for the production of superior wines. For this reason, in 2002,we decided to press our wines in fermentation tanks of the new generation and not longer in big concrete tanks and after pressing to let them mature in European chestnut/oak timber casks or barriques for several years. However, this change needs time, space and above all high financial commitment as the expensive wooden casks can be used only three times at the maximum. Nevertheless, numerous awards have shown that this commitment pays off.

Thus, we will continue to use our passion, creativity and ideas in order transform the treasures of Valtellina into excellent, modern wines. We will do this with great gratitude to our former predecessors.