Liguria

History

The first news about wine in the region was given by the historian Diodorus of Sicily in the first century BC. He writes: “in Liguria, neither olive, nor vine, only forests... but only because land is inaccessible to Ceres and Bacchus”. In the Middle Ages we have the first reliable indications of grape growing in the Riviera di Ponente, in the La Spezia district and in the Cinque Terre area. Petrarch also mentions it in his poem “Africa” dedicated to the Riviera di Levante (Liguria’s East Coast). From these initial reports, it is understood that growing vines in Liguria has always been very difficult and cultivation is considered “heroic” because of the extreme conditions that farmers have to face when working on extremely steep mountainous slopes that plunge down into the sea below.

Territory

The region is one of the smallest in Italy, where the mountainous territory exceeds 60% of the total area, and the rest is totally hilly. The vines are often grown by terracing slopes, so as to be able to stand and carry grapes on such steep hills. The climate is varied but still mild thanks to the influence of the sea and numerous waterways. Unfortunately, because of the difficulties in cultivation over the years, the production of wine has decreased and many sites have been devoted to the cultivation of flowers, activities that are both economically more profitable and less tiring. For this reason it is often difficult to find Ligurian wines outside the region due to the limited quantity produced.

The most common red grapes are Rossese and Ormeasco (which is a local biotype of Dolcetto). Among the whites are Pigato, Vermentino, and Bianchetta Genovese. Pigato and Vermentino are two biotypes of the same grape, although they give wildly different wines.