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ITALY

Italy’s seaside vineyards ‘at risk of extinction’

From the vineyards clinging to seaside cliffs to a unique cellar of bubbly wine stored on the seabed, the off the beaten track wine region of Liguria in northern Italy offers an array of spectacular sights.

Italy's seaside vineyards 'at risk of extinction'
Photo: KatelynKenderdine|Flickr

But as he plucked grapes from his terraced vineyard at the end of harvest, Cesare Scorza said the traditions are in danger because of the higher cost of farming on 60-degree slopes and keeping stone walls intact.

Grape pickers made their way through the vineyard as if suspended between sky and sea, walking up and down wooden ladders and across along the walls.

The crates of juicy grapes are carried up the slopes on a special lift driven like a tractor along a monorail track — one of dozens in this region.

"This type of farming is expensive," said Scorza, who has two hectares (five acres) in Manarola, a colourful clifftop village in the Cinque Terre National Park.

"The labourers cost more than in the valley and you are always having to repair the walls. There aren't many young people with a passion for this!"

Despite the difficulties of cultivation, Liguria was for centuries a flourishing wine region that supplied wealthy merchants in the nearby port of Genoa.

Mass transport eventually made wine from other regions like Piedmont or Tuscany much more competitive but fans say the sea breeze gives the Ligurian wines a distinctive taste that cannot be found elsewhere.

Ligurian producers have also managed to find an upmarket niche for the most prized products of the steep-slope vineyards like Sciacchetra, a dessert wine that can sell for upwards of €70 a bottle.

'At risk of extinction'

One particularly imaginative local grower has even invented what he calls the "Wine of the Abyss".

Pierluigi Lugano, a former art history teacher, stores thousands of bottles of his wine at the bottom of the sea near the glamorous seaside town of Portofino – and the unusual idea is proving wildly popular.

Lugano said the inspiration came from his interest in marine archaeology and the recovery of Roman amphoras from shipwrecks that still contained remains of wine or olive oil that had been preserved by the sea water.

"The darkness and constant temperature of 15 degrees are valuable and there are also conditions that you do not have in a normal cellar like the external pressure on the bottles which helps the perlage," Lugano said, referring to the bubbles created in the wine.

The twisting of the bottles to produce sparkling wine – a process known as remuage – occurs naturally due to sea currents and the absence of oxygen ensures a hermetic seal to help the wine mature, he said.

Bottles are stored in large cages on the seabed at a depth of 60 metres (197 feet) and Lugano even uses an actual shipwreck – a 100-year-old yacht that once belonged to the Rotshchild banking family.

When they are brought out, the bottles are covered in molluscs and other sea life – a distinctive characteristic that has helped attract customers.

"They look like something out of science fiction," he said.

Lugano started out in 2010 with 6,500 bottles under the sea, which has now increased to 15,000 bottles – more than 10 percent of his annual production.

He now plans to expand further after this harvest.

It is a labour of love for Lugano, who said he hoped this type of initiative could help save seaside vineyards like his that are "at risk of extinction".

"The vineyard terraces have been gradually abandoned, older generations have not been replaced by younger ones. But I believe in recovery!" he said

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ACCIDENT

German tourists among 13 dead in Italy cable car accident

Thirteen people, including German tourists, have been killed after a cable car disconnected and fell near the summit of the Mottarone mountain near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy.

German tourists among 13 dead in Italy cable car accident
The local emergency services published this photograph of the wreckage. Photo: Vigili del Fuoco

The accident was announced by Italy’s national fire and rescue service, Vigili del Fuoco, at 13.50 on Sunday, with the agency saying over Twitter that a helicopter from the nearby town of Varese was on the scene. 

Italy’s National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps confirmed that there were 13 victims and two seriously injured people.

Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that German tourists were among the 13 victims.

According to their report, there were 15 passengers inside the car — which can hold 35 people — at the time a cable snapped, sending it tumbling into the forest below. Two seriously injured children, aged nine and five, were airlifted to hospital in Turin. 

The cable car takes tourists and locals from Stresa, a resort town on Lake Maggiore up to a panoramic peak on the Mottarone mountain, reaching some 1,500m above sea level. 

According to the newspaper, the car had been on its way from the lake to the mountain when the accident happened, with rescue operations complicated by the remote forest location where the car landed. 

The cable car had reopened on April 24th after the end of the second lockdown, and had undergone extensive renovations and refurbishments in 2016, which involved the cable undergoing magnetic particle inspection (MPI) to search for any defects. 

Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Twitter that he expressed his “condolences to the families of the victims, with special thoughts for the seriously injured children and their families”.

Infrastructure Minister Enrico Giovannini told Italy’s Tg1 a commission of inquiry would be established, according to Corriere della Sera: “Our thoughts go out to those involved. The Ministry has initiated procedures to set up a commission and initiate checks on the controls carried out on the infrastructure.”

“Tomorrow morning I will be in Stresa on Lake Maggiore to meet the prefect and other authorities to decide what to do,” he said.

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