Plozza
Despite its altitude (approx. 440m), and shelter from the encircling mountains, Tirano is a successful wine producing region. The area under vineyards, called Valtellina, is the highest wine producing area in this part of Italy, and is famous for its terracing, which is accredited to the Romans, and is now recognised as an UNESCO world heritage site. The grapes grown here are mainly Nebbiolo, tight bunched, intense, black grapes with a dusty white ‘bloom’ on their skins. The bloom is a waxy coating produced naturally by the grapes themselves, and it protects them from environmental conditions and fungal attacks, amongst other things.
Here in Tirano the Nebbiolo grape is famed for its use in the production of a very particular wine, Sforzato. And it’s what we came to Plozza, the largest producer of it here, to taste.
We began our visit in the vineyards, with Luigi, our guide, telling us about the grapes.
After learning about the grapes, Luigi led us into their drying rooms, where the ripe grapes are taken to be lightly dehydrated, an important step in the production of Sforzato.
It was fascinating. The whole grapes bunches are laid into plastic drying crates, that hold no more than 5kg at a time, to allow for free air movement around them. They will remain in their crates for about two weeks, until the juice in the grapes has concentrated sufficiently.
Next was the cellar, with its huge collection of new French oak casks, where the wine produced from the pressing of the dried grapes will spend its ageing period.
We then moved into the tasting room, to listen to Luigi describe the different areas, and qualities, of the region.
It was all wonderful preparation for the tasting of the wines, in this case a four wine tasting involving a simple Nebbiolo, followed by three Sforzato of increasing quality.
The wines were intense, ranging from deep, dark fruits with medium tannins, to rich, and jammy, with supple tannins.
It was a fabulous tour, with incredible wines. Thank you Luigi.
Written by Brian Simpson.
