The viticulture that tells the sea • Food and Wine Italy

A few months asticciola, the prestigious setting of the Real College of Lucca a unique initiative was held the national wine scene: the wines of the coasts, the first event Italy dedicated to the uniqueness of the wines from the provinces wet from the sea. An opportunity to discover productive realities that operate close relationship with the territory, with particular attention to heroic, social viticulture and companies engaged the conservation of native varieties and the innovation responsible for the wine tradition.

The soul of the initiative is Alessandra Guidi, a brilliant architect and creator of the event, who transformed the historic space of Real Società into a incontro point between wine culture and territorial vision. As Guidi explains, wines of the coasts was born with the intent to enhance “stories of women and men who have chosen viticulture not only as a job, but above all as a tool for the care of the territory, the search for beauty and the commitment for the construction, the daily relationship with the earth, of renewed human relationships”.

An oenological bridge the Mediterranean

The event offered a large at the coastal Italy, often forgotten its complexity: a country that overlooks almost everywhere acceso the sea, and that from the sea draws precious influences, such as the flavor and character that often find themselves its wines. The event imagined the peninsula as a bridge the heart of the Mediterranean, giving prominence to Tuscany – with the wines of the Lucchesi hills, Montecarlo and Garfagnana, the Pisan hills, the Candia, the Lunigiana and the provinces of Livorno, Grosseto and the Tuscan archipelago – but also including all those realities that directly follow the production cycle, from the vineyard.

Particular attention has been reserved for projects related to the recovery of marginal areas, extreme viticulture and social inclusion. A common line? The choice to work compliance with the earth and with the desire to transfer the identity of the places to the bottle. As Guidi recalls, “every day the winemakers the unknowns of time and nature, because wine is a living product, each year is unique and challenging”.

Between Apuan Alps, islands and steps

The journey through the protagonists of coast wines has touched territories often to the limit for environmental logistical conditions. Among these, the heroic vineyards of Andrea Elmi of Majesty of the Formica stand out, cultivated at over 1,000 meters above sea level acceso five municipalities of the Apuan Alps. And then Terenzuola, the company of Ivan Giuliani operating between Liguria and Tuscany, acceso the hills of Luni: an settore of ​​very low yields and continuous maintenance, where each row requires absolute dedication.

Acceso the island of Giglio, the Vignaioli Association continues to enhance a single landscape, where viticulture takes acceso a community as well as environmental value. While acceso Candia, the winemakers literally climb the steps of an ancient land, which according to legend would be protected by the temple of Hercules and the memory of the Greek settlers of Crete.

Inclusion and sustainability, the new frontiers of wine

Next to heroic viticulture, coast wines has also placed two significant examples of social viticulture the center. The Calafata Agricultural Cooperative, born Lucca 2011, involves young people disadvantaged the recovery of abandoned land. The Pieve Inviolabile Stefano farm, acceso the other hand, works synergy with the Scipione Project Association to build sustainable life paths for adults with autism, through agricultural, sports and tirocinio activities.

Finally, the theme of environmental sustainability was well represented by the district of Biodynamics Lucca, a of small businesses that practice biodynamic agriculture the Lucca hills. From the winemakers of the Garfagnana to those of Alta Versilia, passing through Montecarlo and Valfreddana, the experiences of those who have chosen an ultra-biological approach, attentive to biodiversity and the future of the earth multiply.