Mattia Franzina’s tiny cantina is tucked away in the village of Buglio-in-Monte which, approaching from il lago di Como (the west), is one of the first settlements on the left as you come into the Valtellina. The family have been farming there for over fifty years, originally livestock & selling grapes, before selling the ‘bué’ & focusing on the fruit. Indeed their 0.8ha includes more than 100 year old plants, mostly Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo), but also Rossola, a paler, more productive, higher acid, & Pignola native varietal; plus some Merlina dotted around the terraces, which is an ancient varietal. Mattia’s a talented agronomist, graduating in 2009, & when not tending his own vines, consults for many for the small producers of the Valtellina.
The soil on these first slopes of the Valtellina is composed of schistous rock terraces & ‘giss’, a compact morainic soil. The terraces are at 350m asl, facing SSW, & the influence of the lake, 25km away, is felt by the gentle breeze that constantly fans the vines.
In 2014 his family took the step of building a new cantina in the village, & celebrated the vintage with 1500 bts of Rosso di Valtellina! Their first Valtellina Superiore, from the terraces above the village, came in 2015, again producing 1500 bts.
Vinification is traditional: the Rosso comes from declassified Valtellina Superiore fruit from three Buglio vineyards, fermented in stainless-steel, with 20% of the wine ageing briefly in tonneaux. The Valtellina Superiore invece is aged for 12 months in a single 10HL Veneta Botte bought in 2014. Total sulphur at bottling is circa 40mg/litro.
Lying adjacent to his vines, but way up above is perched Valtellina’s smallest vineyard: Maroggia, all 25ha of it. His dream is to rent the top plot on this knoll, & to produce the region’s first Valtellina Superiore Maroggia!
Organic, uncertified.
Go Mattia!
Located in the heart of the Valtellina region in the village of Castione Andevenno, on the western end of the Sassella zone historically known as ‘Grisoni’ behind the family cantina, Alfio Mozzi is the third generation contadino to work his family’s schist terraces, along with his nephew Alessandro. Nonno Domenico was already making wine from 1.5ha of vines during the 1940s & ’50s, selling it in bulk to the local cooperative, Enologica Valtellina in Sondrio, & they in turn to the neighbouring Swiss market. Alfio’s father Ezio (nato ’35) tended the vines at the weekend, along with his wife Bambina, but earned a living from transporting feed in the valley; he now helps his son in the vineyards, aided by their dog ‘Giubi’.
Born in 1972, Alfio grew up among the vines, although he became a ‘fabbro’ (ironmonger) first for ten years, before returning to the family estate in 1998. In 2009 he made the step-change from fruit grower to bottler, restoring the family’s old cantina. In 2010, he was joined by Alessandro, a passionate agronomist who studied at the Agraria Institute of Sondrio. The estate now stands at 3.5ha of Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo), all within the prized Sassella zone/vineyard, on friable, rocky, free-draining schist terraces at between 350 – 550m asl, facing SE for the Valtellina Superiore plots of ‘Ronchi’ & ‘Uratori’, & SW for the old vineyard of Mossino at 550m asl. They also grow some Rossola in the highest (550m asl) vineyard of Mossino. Some of their vines are 100 years old, especially in Mossino, while new plantings use a variety of Chiavennasca clones, such as CR34, 269, 275, 274.
They are in the process of converting to certified organic. Since 2010 Alfio & Alessandro have stopped applying fertiliser or calc to their terraced vineyards. And since 2012 they stopped using herbicides. Indeed, as a result Alfio has noticed three benefits: bunches have become looser & smaller; the grapes now have a distinctly richer bloom; & the fermenting wine throws less ‘fecce’, i.e. is cleaner.
In 2019 Alfio added a new vinification room to the family cantina, along with a new destemmer & pneumatic press. Spontaneous fermentation takes place in stainless-steel & fibre-glass, with pumping over of the Chiavennasca must taking place over c.20 days using spontaneous yeast. Unforced malolactic takes place in the spring following the harvest, in Garbellotto (French light toast) 32HL & 22HL botti grande that the family have been buying since 2010. Affinamento in botte is for c.20 mths for the Valtellina Superiore & c.32 mths for the Riserva. The wines are bottled with c.60mg of total sulphur. Production is limited at c.8k bottles of Valtellina Superiore & 2.5k bottles of VS Riserva
They produce three wines: Sassella Valtellina Superiore; Sassella Valtellina Superiore Riserva (in good years); & Sforzato di Valtellina (a partial passito wine).
The labels show the Opuntia Fico d’India, a wild variety that thrives among their schist rocky terraces.
Alfio is supported by his wife Monia, & children Sofia & Matteo.