THE AREA OF TORGIANO

In the Pleistocene epoch the central Umbrian valley was covered by a huge lake called “Lago Tiberino”, whose deposits have formed the soil of Torgiano’s territory.

At the end of the Miocene epoch, almost 12 million years ago, huge earthquakes followed the Appennine orogeny, causing the Italian peninsula to emerge from the sea. Most of the territory that now is Umbria was at the time covered by a huge lake, named by geologists “Lago Tiberino”, that was still there during the Pliocene and for greater part of the Pleistocene epochs, favouring soil  sedimentation.

The main characteristic of Umbrian soils is that they come from the reduction of water and not from the emergence from water, as occurred in neighbouring Tuscany.

The debris originating from first part of the Pleistocene epoch (between 1.65 million and 10,000 years ago, the Oleocene period) are formed by sands and conglomerates interposed with clay layers of different thicknesses.

In Torgiano area these soils are composed of sands, loamy soils and clays.

The presence of some volcanic events is evidenced also by rock tufa, very common in the whole Tiber Valley, while travertine deposits are the result of sedimentation of chalky soils from continental origin together with vegetal organic remains. Therefore in the Torgiano area there are marine deposits from the pre-Pleistocene (marly sand) –that are the backbone of the rolling hills surrounding Torgiano (300 mt altitude)- on which have sedimented the lake deposits from the Pliocene, while the fluvial-lake deposits from the Pleistocene and the fluvial and alluvial deposits from the Oleocene formed the soils in the plain area at the foot of the Brufa hill. On the mountain above Torgiano, where mainly olive orchards are cultivated, we find tufa and travertine.

The soils of Torgiano are therefore loamy soils, of medium depth, with good structure and chalky and tufa subsoil; the hydric capacity is good. Vineyards are planted between 220 and 300 meters altitude, with different slopes; the general exposition to the sun is West-South West.

Traditionally the climate of the area presents good amounts of rainfall (with a yearly average of 1,500 mm and 95 rain days) and sparse summer rains in July and August, with high temperatures.

The great exposure to the sun and the temperature range between day and night in September and at the beginning of October allow the grapes to reach perfect anthocyanin maturation at the same time as the alcoholic maturation, keeping a pleasant acidity, typical of Torgiano Rosso Riserva wine.

Recent history has seen a positive evolution for both the Torgiano DOC and DOCG appellations, with new vineyard plantings and the launch of new firms.

Il clima dell’areale di produzione è caratterizzato da buone precipitazioni (con una media annua di circa 1.500 mm e di 95 giorni piovosi) e, normalmente, scarse piogge estive nei mesi di luglio e agosto, con temperatura relativamente elevata. l’ottima insolazione e l’escursione termica tra notte e giorno, che caratterizzano il mese di settembre e l’inizio di ottobre, consentono alle uve di maturare raggiungendo un’ottima maturazione fenolica in contemporanea a quella zuccherina, mantenendo una piacevole acidità, tipica del vino “Torgiano Rosso Riserva” DOCG

La storia recente è caratterizzata da un’evoluzione positiva della denominazione, con l’impianto di nuovi vigneti e la nascita di nuove aziende.