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Under the Radar Italy: Liguria
When you think of Italian wine, you think of Tuscany, or Piedmont, or recently Mt. Etna in Sicily. Liguria, where’s Liguria? Occupying the coast in the northwest corner of the nation, Liguria is isolated from the rest of Italy, as it’s protected by a range of coastal mountains and looks down on the Ligurian sea over precipitous drops of several hundred meters.

Liguria wine map courtesy of http://www.italianwinecentral.com

This is the Italian Riviera, glitzy Portofino and the well known Cinque Terre are here, as well as major port cities Genoa and La Spezia. Due to high tourism and the difficulty of the terrain, grape growing has declined in the region, most unfortunately! As wine enthusiasts, we need to do everything we can to help, so find some Ligurian wines and drink up! (click on any photo for slideshow, escape to return)

Look closely at the rugged terrain to see every possible spot terraced for crops

Given the proximity to the sea, the grapes are trained pergola style to allow airflow.

Vineyard/Inn owners transport beachgoers on the same rails as the fall harvest

Mini-railways are the only way to get around the steep, terraced vineyards

Care to take a ride?

The hikes offer dizzying views down into vineyards and towns

The Cinque Terre combines stunning scenery with terraces covered with grapes

Some Italian sights are universal, enjoy the evenings in town!

Beautiful but difficult terrain for growing grapes

The Vineyards
The dramatic drop from the mountains to the Ligurian sea means the scant amount of vineyard land must be terraced and worked by hand. Also due to the sea influence, vines are trained in the pergola method to allow for better airflow in the humid seaside exposure. Adding to the expense, every vineyard requires a small cog-railway setup to allow transit up and down the steep vineyard slopes. Your vineyard workers better be comfortable with heights!

Cantina Crovara was our absolute favorite Cinque Terre DOC wine. I wish it was available outside Italy!

“With daily commitment and passion, young winegrowers guard the precious and fragile environment that surrounds them, working the ancient terraces on steep slopes in the sun and the sea. Pressing with experience handed down the bunches of wild grapes, and Vermentino albarola that mature on dry stone walls, we get Codest fresh wine with an intense and persistent taste, with his sapidity typical feature of Cinque Terre.”

Another nice Cinque Terre DOC wine. A blend of Vermentino, Albarola and Bosco grapes.

This is a rosato of Sangiovese, one of the red wine grapes in the area.

Sangiovese from Liguria – less impressive (to me) than the whites

Cinque Terre Sciacchetrà is a dessert wine produced from the local grapes, dried on mats before fermentation, in the passito method.

Intensely flavored and unique, grab a bottle if you can find one outside of the region.

It’s Italy, of course grappa is available!

Wines
The top wines in the region are the white wines, often based on the Vermentino grape.  The Cinque Terre DOC white blend contains Vermentino, Albarola and Bosco grapes and is deliciously fresh and perfect with the many seafood based dishes that are served.  Red wines are less abundant, and are based on either the Rossese di Dolceacqua grape or Sangiovese. Finally, a unique dessert wine called Cinque Terre Sciacchetra is produced from the white wine grapes of the Cinque Terre blend, but dried on mats in the passito method used elsewhere in Italy.

Interesting side note: Elio Altare of Barolo fame is personally invested in a Cinque Terre vineyard/winery Campogrande, I haven’t had the opportunity to try the wines, but they are available in the US, so I need to source some and place my order!

Squid with our favorite Ligurian white wine

Polpo – Octopus

Trofie al Pesto – trofie are a ligurian pasta

Bruschetta four ways

Acciughe al Limone – Anchovies in lemon and olive oil

Ligurian Food
Genoa is the original home of pesto, and it is produced with great sincerity and purity in Liguria.  If you ask, you’ll be told how the basil which grows here is unique (and it is, the particular variety of basil that grows here has tiny, tiny leaves).  As in all Italian cooking, strict attention is paid to the highest quality ingredients, so don’t skimp when you make yours. Typical Ligurian dishes include:

• Trofie al pesto (Genoa is the home of pesto, so it figures into dishes all around the region)
• Acciughe al Limone – anchovies with lemon and olive oil
• Seafood, especially squid, octopus (polpo), clams

Requires a bit of searching, but you can find Ligurian wines without an airfare to Italy

Ligurian Wines in the US
Sounds great, but can you find Ligurian wines in the US?  Yes! Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants imports several wines from Punta Crena.  Neil Rosenthal imports Bisson Cinque Terre white wine. They may require a bit more research, but they are available and are worth your time and energy hunting them down.  And if you find a US source for Sciacchetrà, let me know!

Guest Post for Bin Notes | Red Thread
This is a guest post for First Friday series on lesser known wine regions.  I’d encourage you to go over to Lyn Archer’s excellent binNotes | red thread for more under-the-radar areas!