The English make movies titled 4 Weddings and a Funeral. The Italians name wines for Fresh Water (Dolceacqua) and Five Counties (Cinque Terre). Well, every country has its own tradition! Was told-off yesterday for stopping my wine series after Corsica. Apparently, I should have included Liguria. Oh Boy! I know only two wines from there. Luckily, nobody asked for Tunisia. Never tasted any Tunisian wines ever. But now that we will finish the first leg of our Genovese journey in Tunis, there is plenty of time to explore the wines the Phoenicians brought to Carthage.
The small Ligurian town of Dolceacqua close to France
One would not expect Liguria to be a big wine producer. Mountains pushing the peaks into the clouds and dipping their feet into the sea are a challenging place for viticulture. But topography can be deceptive. Over the eons, erosion created plenty of lime-stone sand, gravel and loose earth which grapes like. It is only a matter of catching and keeping it together. Liguria is full of terraces which retain the fertile soil and allow the grapes to be exposed to the bright sun and humidity of the sea. It is hard, back breaking manual labor though. A bottle of Cinque Terre costs around GBP 15 in London. A wine farmer probably keeps 10-15 %. You are not getting rich quickly with making wines in Liguria. Whilst the hills of Cinque Terre and Dolceacqua are the steepest, the other Ligurian mountains are not easy either. The volume of production is understandably small.
Google Map of Vernazza with the wine terraces above the village
Despite being small, Liguria has eight DOC wine regions. White wines are made from the Bosco, Albarola, Vermentino and most of all Pigato grape. To the west, more reds are cultivated. We find well known grapes such as Sangiovese and Canaiolo but also the very local Rossese, which makes the fabulous Rossese di Dolceacqua.
Liguria’s eight DOC regions
Wines from Cinque Terre contain 60% Bosco, 25% Albarola and 15% Vermentino. The production seldom exceeds 150’000 bottles. Had I not hiked forty years ago all the way from Rapallo to La Spezia I probably would never have discovered them. Staying in one of the beautiful fisher villages overnight and having seafood for dinner with a local white is sheer pleasure. The whites – can’t remember their specific names – were flowery, fresh and well balanced. Very easy to drink. Remember that I wondered whether to buy a few bottles but with a backpack and a few more days to hike, I dropped the idea. And the next village had more surprises ready anyway!
Fruity local White in Verazza in Cinque Terre
The encounter with Rossese di Dolceacqua happened fifteen years later when on a one-day trip from Monaco to Ventimiglia. We were at a banker seminar with another 300 colleagues and decided to escape to Ventimiglia, across the Italian border. The afternoon looked just too boring. We did not know what wine to order for lunch but a local red named Dolceacqua sounded good for our Bistecca Fiorentina. The wine was pleasantly light but nonetheless fragrant with flowery notes. It was soft and easy on the palate but still had some structure. We all loved it - there was nothing else to see in Ventimiglia - but we meet Dolceacqua!
The steep hills behind Dolceacqua – no machines here – all done manually!
Can’t really opine on any other wine from this part of Italy. The two above stayed on my mind and when I have a chance to order some I do. Production is limited and you need to order early since they quickly run out of stock. Am happy I know them.
Tomorrow we return to Pisa - or better - its famous mathematician Fibonacci.