Triacca Alpi Retiche del Frate 2019

Towards the end of the 19th century, Domenico Triacca traded in wine between Valtellina and Valposchiavo (Grigioni, Switzerland), but he was an ambitious man and wanted to produce his own noble nectar independently, from his own grapes. In 1897 he bought 2000 square metres of vine-covered terrain in the Valgella area in Valtellina, Lombardy. This was the pivotal moment when what would become one of the most important wineries in Valtellina was created. Sadly, Domenico Triacca died in 1910 in an accident while transporting wine along Lake Poschiavo. The reins of this infant enterprise were passed to his widow, Orsola, and subsequently to the most diligent of his five children, Eugenio: farsighted, scrupulous, determined and highly successful. In the Fifties our market extended all the way into the Engadine region, selling cask wine from wooden barrels. After the Second World War, the switch to bottles was made for the sake of quality, easier storage and to conform to consumer taste. A bottling plant was built, too, at Zalende in Switzerland, south of Poschiavo, for the Swiss operation. By acquiring a storage facility at Coira, it was possible to conquer and nurture the vital market of northern Graubünden, dominated until then by local merchants. As a result of this success, the company could invest profits in new vineyards. By this time the family already owned about 28 ha. In the Sixties the third generation took over: Gino (a skilful salesman), Domenico (an ambitious technician) and Rino (a scrupulous manager). At their side, the ever reliable Uncle Eugenio with his experience and charisma. The Triacca winery reached a historic milestone in 1969. The idea of diversifying had been mulled over for a long while and, as a result of acquiring the glorious Madonnina estate in the Chianti Classico appellation, right in the heart of Tuscany, this was achieved. In the same year, the pearl of viticulture in the Valtellina region, Lombardy, La Gatta at Bianzone, a former Dominican monastery, with its vineyard of 13 ha, was acquired from the Mascioni winery in its entirety when they unexpectedly put it up for sale. During the Nineties further expansion in the south of Tuscany took place with the acquisition of the Santavenere estate at Montepulciano and the fourth generation became involved: Giovanni, responsible for the Swiss market, and Luca, technical director for all three regions of production.