Sfursat Docg and Valtellina with its products
The Sfursat of Valtellina Docg:
Sforzato di Valtellina (or Sfursat di Valtellina) Docg is produced with Nebbiolo grapes. The origins of viticulture in Valtellina are very distant in time and date back to Roman times. Sfursat is made with dried grapes. The pressing of the grapes can only be done in posterity, more or less around December 3rd. The minimum refinement period is twenty months, of which at least 12 in wooden barrels. Sforzato is the result of the vinification of dried grapes, which lose 30% of water by dehydration. Then the bunches rest in the winter cold for a period which, depending on the vintage, can last until the end of January or in special cases even until February/March. The grapes thus concentrate their juices until they reach a 25% sugar concentration. In past times, drying was done with mats or layers of straw placed on the ground in special large rooms, mostly the attic of the house. Today, stackable reed trellises or small plateaux in dry, well-ventilated rooms are used. Sfursat is a wine rich in tradition and plagiarized by skilled hands. To this day it remains one of the cornerstones of this beautiful region.
Valtellina products:
In Valtellina you can savor numerous typical products, with DOP and IGP brands. From the famous wines made from Nebbiolo grapes, to the Bitto DOP and Valtellina Casera DOP cheeses, without forgetting the Bresaola della Valtellina IGP, the Valtellina apples IGP and the famous pizzoccheri IGP, the main dish of Valtellina cuisine. Among the typical products of Valtellina, apples cannot be missing; The apples grow and ripen naturally, heated by the sun and caressed by the wind in the valleys along the hillside, between 200 and 900 meters above sea level. The food and wine offer of Valtellina does not end only with DOP and IGP branded products. Another product to mention is Valtellina honey: rhododendron, chestnut, linden, high mountain wildflower or acacia honey, there is something for all tastes! In the province of Sondrio today about 350 beekeepers operate with 6000 hives, for an average annual production of about 780 quintals.
