Dirupi
Background
Dirupi is tucked away in the center of the rugged Alpine valley known as the Valtellina in the region of Lombardia. The winery is housed in a 16th century building within the medieval town of Sondrio. This is where the owners Pierpaolo Di Franco and Davide Fasolini grew up together playing basketball and picking grapes.
Each year helping with the local harvest as was the custom in this tiny alpine village. They both found their passion for wine making in Sondrio and returned after attending the University of Milan to study Enology. In 2004 with newly minted degrees in hand, the duo sourced 4.5ha of 18 ancient terraced vineyard sites throughout the Valtellina. These vineyards dot the steep hillsides above the winery in Sondrio and are sprinkled throughout the towns of Montagna, Poggiridenti, Grumello and Inferno.
The Terroir
The Valtellina is all about altitude, altitude, altitude, and the Dirupi vineyards reach 650 m (2100ft) making their fruit some of the highest altitude Nebbiolo in existence. The top soils here are sandy and gravelly giving excellent drainage having been scraped by ice flows and snow melt for millennia. Consequently, many large rocks are left in the vineyards which retain heat during the day and release it at night, helping the grapes achieve their maximum ripeness and balanced acidity.
The roots of the Dirupi vines are forced deep down into the poor soil to acquire nutrients and hydration from the rich mineral deposits left during the last ice age. In this rough landscape each plot was chosen for its particular aspect, altitude, and exposure in a great effort to maximize sun, humidity, and other micro-climactic conditions. Only due to this careful and labor intensive effort is Dirupi able to achieve the great clarity and elegance which mark their wines today.
Necessarily and by choice, the farming and harvesting here is all done by hand. The work is slow and treacherous. Indeed, the word Dirupi itself, means crags or cliffs, and was chosen because of the difficult steep terrain of the vineyards. Each terraced plot is supported by hand made rock walls over 1,000 years old.
The WIne
Today, after great effort and hard work, all Dirupi wines and vineyards are certified organic. This is an incredible feat given the inherent challenges of this harsh environment. A total of 35,000 bottles are produced and sell out every year upon release.
