Rural Traditions

Costiera dei Cech in Valtellina has been known since antiquity for its deep-rooted food and wine heritage, which has remained unchanged up to the present. This is thanks to the farmers who for centuries have toiled in what is defined as “heroic” work along this area of the Rhaetian side, astutely exploiting the art of dry-stone walls for the construction of terraces.

TERRACING

At Costiera dei Cech, the terraces are a landmark that contribute not only to the breathtaking aesthetics of the landscape, but also to producing fine wines. These mountain terraces are age-old agricultural structures created to cultivate vineyards and olive groves optimally on the steep mountain slopes. Local farmers have wisely built dry stone walls, currently acknowledged by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, thereby creating terraces that adapt perfectly to the mountainous terrain.

This centuries-old practice allows the vineyards to receive ideal solar radiation and benefit from ventilation, helping produce high-quality grapes. Because of this aspect, Costiera dei Cech is famous for its wines. The terraced vineyards give the wines a unique complexity, reflecting the influence of the soil, climate and local traditions. What’s more, Costiera dei Cech terracing offers an extraordinary visual experience, with countless rows along the slopes, creating a spectacular panorama, and representing the perfect symbiosis between agriculture, landscape and winemaking tradition.

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TRADITIONAL PLACES

SFORZINI
OVEN

The Sforzini home, located in the middle of the village of Traona, houses the oven that was used by the town’s families to bake products for everyday consumption and during holidays. The wheat was processed, harvested and ground in the mill to obtain the flour used to prepare bread. Bread has always been the staple of the local people’s diet and was prepared and baked at home. The women went to the Sforzini home to organise shifts for using the oven. After preparing the dough in their homes, they went to the home, carrying firewood in their baskets. At Christmastime the oven was operated for 15 consecutive days during which, in addition to bread, bisciola (dried fruit and nut bread) and focaccia were baked. The townspeople using the oven were in the habit of leaving part of what they had made to the Sforzini family as thanks. Now owned by Vittorio Sforzini, it is used on a household level and open to the public during food and wine events.

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CORLAZZO
WINE PRESS

Corlazzo is a community in the Traona municipality, located in sunny Costiera dei Cech. This ancient rural village, with its countless terraces, prides itself on the breathtaking landscapes that offer a total overview of the Orobic Alps and preserves interesting exemplars of historical and natural character. Amongst these, the old ratchet press, dating back to the 17th century, is one of the best preserved in all of Valtellina. Used for pressing pomace and producing wine, the press amazes with its enormous size and is made with various types of wood and metal. It is located in a very long and high rustic room, built specifically to contain this large machine. The family that owned the press, in exchange for compensation, also made it available to families who worked the nearby vineyards and did not own this type of tool. This custom led the people to see pressing both as a moment of collective work and of amusement and socialisation.

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ARIETTI
MILL

This very ancient mill is located in the historic heart of Traona, near the noble buildings which usually had private areas such as this for processing the products of their lands for food and trade purposes. The Arietti mill was hydraulically operated and powered by water coming from the Vallone stream. In this room we can admire two mills: the stone one, from the early twentieth century, which ground buckwheat and wheat until the 1950s when it was upgraded to produce yellow polenta flour, a staple of the local diet. In the second type of mill, cereals intended for livestock were ground using two steel cylinders. The processing and maintenance of the massive machine were carried out by the central figure of the miller. The mill witnessed a succession of different owners until the end of the nineteenth century when it was inherited, through his wife, by Abdone Arietti who handed down this ancient art to his son Elirio Aldo Arietti who kept the structure operating until 1990.

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