Sforzato di Valtellina, Sfursat in dialect, is an appellation in the province of Sondrio, in Lombardy. It was born as a DOC in 1968 and became a DOCG in 2003. It has about 61 hectares, with an output of 2,460 hectolitres. The production rules were last updated in 2017.
The Nebbiolo of Valtellina
It is made from at least 90% Nebbiolo, known here as Chiavennasca, with other non-aromatic red grapes. The area covers eighteen communes, among them Sondrio, Teglio, Tirano, Chiuro and Ponte in Valtellina. The fifteen communes of the Valtellina Superiore DOCG all fall within Sforzato too.
Alcohol, ageing and history
The minimum alcohol is 14%. The wine ages at least 20 months, 12 of them in barrel, and is released from 1 December of the second year after the harvest. In the valley, vine growing intensified in Roman times, and in the Middle Ages it was taken up again by the magistri comacini and the Benedictine monks. From 1550 to 1797, under the Grey League, the wines of Valtellina were exported to the courts of central and northern Europe.
