La Tosa

The brothers Stefano and Ferruccio Pizzamiglio are at the helm of the La Tosa winery. They are from Milan originally but have been adopted by the people of Piacenza, and their professional destiny was already clearly defined: they wanted to become doctors, like their father. Their love for the land brought them to Vigolzone where, since 1985, the year they made their first wine, they have been committed to producing genuine, local wines, focusing on native varieties such as Gutturnio and Malvasia. With perseverance and passion for the land that gave birth to their mother, the Pizzamiglio brothers have made the La Tosa winery one of the most expressive wineries in the hills of Piacenza.

Stefano, the family's enologist and agronomist, looks after the 19 hectares of totally grassy vineyard, most of which was planted in the 1980s. "I talk to many of the plants,' is how Stefano describes his emotional bond with his vineyards, as though he had always known them. The agronomic management, which has always been faithful to environmental sustainability, is now in organic conversion and treatments are reduced to the exclusive use of copper and sulphur. The ancient red soil of La Tosa's 6 different vineyards is enriched annually with animal organic matter, so as to avoid the use of systemic compounds. In addition, during the hottest summers, the leaves are moistened with natural algae extracts that have a restorative effect on the plant. While it is true that the soul of the wine is rooted in the vineyard, for Stefano it is equally fundamental to work rigorously during the vinification process. The grapes are harvested by hand, selected in the vineyard and softly pressed in order to treat them as delicately as possible, extracting their territorial expressiveness and pleasant taste. Since 2006 La Tosa has been committed to working without the addition of sulphur dioxide during vinification, inaugurating the "VisVini" association of which Stefano is the president, in order to promote and explore this production philosophy with other winemakers.

In 2015, his brother Ferruccio set up a museum inside the winery dedicated to the history of wine-making in the Emilia region. More than 400 objects, including presses, crushers, barrels and bottling machines used in the countryside and in the cellar between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century are now housed in the rooms of the museum, providing a material reminder of a past that La Tosa has helped to preserve.