Find out about Heroic and Mountain Wine-Growing

Heroic Wine-Growing

You often hear about heroic wine-growing, but what does it mean exactly? Why heroic? There are places where wine-growing requires immense effort and sacrifice. Harsh, arduous places which would seem better left to themselves. High, precipitous inclines lacking space; steep and inaccessible areas like the slopes of volcanoes or the lost islands of the Mediterranean … in the end, you have to ask, what's the point of doing it? True enough, if we just considered the effort needed to get the wine, perhaps when all's said and done, we could say it isn't worth it, but yet … lots of other things come into play. First there's the safeguarding and conservation of a territory or a landscape unique in nature and which offer unique characteristics to the wines grown there; then there are mountain communities and, by extension, sustainability, to maintain and recover traditions, passing them on to the younger generations, teaching them ancient but at the same time new skills.

At the end of the day, if you're a hero, a visionary and in love with where you come from, you won't  want to throw in the towel.

The 'Great Wall of the Valtellina Vineyards'.

The Valtellina is the most northern of the Italian alpine valleys, fascinating not just for tourists and foodies but also one of the most important places in Italy for wine-lovers. All of them know the valley's wines, first and foremost Sfursat but also all the subzone wines such as Inferno, and the luckiest of these wine-lovers have also managed to spend some time there. We say 'lucky' because Valtellina isn't exactly round the corner. A valley which extends for 42 kms. from Morbegno in the west to Tirano in the province of Sondrio in the east. The 'Great Wall of the Valtellina Vineyards' is only perched on the south-facing side of the valley and therefore enjoys sunlight. It's said that 2.500 kms. of terracing built of millions of stones hold up the rows of vines. So precious grapes resulting from meticulous work, an asset when the area was the property of the Swiss 'Grau Bunden' or Grey Leagues which had to be looked after by real guards. The vines were "Tense" in old Italian- 'protected'.

A spectacular rural landscape, a result of continual work which has to be carried out entirely by hand: all the jobs from the actual cultivation of the grapes to the maintenance of the walls can't be done by machine. The only spectacular exception is because the harvesting is so difficult in some parts a helicopter is used to pick up the baskets full of grapes and take them to the winery. In general, though, we're speaking here of protecting a culture and knowledge and passing on this heritage to the coming generations.

Sciùr: Sustainable, Consolidated, Innovative, Unique, Responsible

Sciùr comes precisely from these almost unreachable slopes. "Every terrace is a little organized world, which encapsulates the tenacity of so many generations brought up to work for their daily bread and glass of wine."

A wine with unique characteristics obtained from Nebbiolo, called locally Chiavennasca, which is practically the only vine variety grown in Valtellina. It's well known that Nebbiolo is one of the noblest varieties. Profound and elegant, authoritative and generous, with very specific and recognizable notes and often extremely complex.  Fruity notes always melting into an alluring, closely-woven mix hinting at continuing growth and spiciness. This Valtellina wine, produced from the same grape as its cousins Barolo and Barbaresca, is elegant but dense, it's intriguing and ages well. Indeed, It may well take some years before the wine finds a perfect balance and harmony between all its parts.

An Heroic Project

An excellent wine for drinking but also for setting you thinking. A wine born with the involvement of a group of young designers from Italy and abroad from the Polytechnic of Milan, of teachers and experts in the field, all sitting round a table and asking themselves, what will be the wine of the future? What will we be drinking and what would we like to be drinking? Sciùr can be taken as a model: grapes harvested from sustainable vineyards and managed respecting to the full the delicate balance of nature, a strong sense of protecting the landscape and of traditions and of passing the torch to future generations. Yes, a social blueprint, if you like. In fact 1 euro from every bottle sold is donated to the Polo di Formazione Professionale Valtellina ( a training college for the professions based in Sondrio ) for a program of work placements for young wall builders so they may learn the techniques and historical culture of the maintenance and building of dry-stone walls.

Sciùr is a wine already looking at the future; what's keeping you from trying it?