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WINE

Ligurian vineyards under threat

Itslian grape farming traditions in the region of Liguria are in danger because of the higher cost of farming on 60-degree slopes, according to local farmers.

Ligurian vineyards under threat
Photo: Brian & Jaclyn Drum /Flickr

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

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 euros ($90) a bottle.

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 Rothschild 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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FARMING

Cold snap ‘could slash French wine harvest by 30 percent’

A rare cold snap that froze vineyards across much of France this month could see harvest yields drop by around a third this year, France's national agriculture observatory said on Thursday.

Cold snap 'could slash French wine harvest by 30 percent'
A winemaker checks whether there is life in the buds of his vineyard in Le Landreau, near Nantes in western France, on April 12th, following several nights of frost. Photo: Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP

Winemakers were forced to light fires and candles among their vines as nighttime temperatures plunged after weeks of unseasonably warm weather that had spurred early budding.

Scores of vulnerable fruit and vegetable orchards were also hit in what Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie called “probably the greatest agricultural catastrophe of the beginning of the 21st century.”

IN PICTURES: French vineyards ablaze in bid to ward off frosts

The government has promised more than €1 billion in aid for destroyed grapes and other crops.

Based on reported losses so far, the damage could result in up to 15 million fewer hectolitres of wine, a drop of 28 to 30 percent from the average yields over the past five years, the FranceAgriMer agency said.

That would represent €1.5 to €2 billion of lost revenue for the sector, Ygor Gibelind, head of the agency’s wine division, said by videoconference.

It would also roughly coincide with the tally from France’s FNSEA agriculture union.

Prime Minister Jean Castex vowed during a visit to damaged fields in southern France last Saturday that the emergency aid would be made available in the coming days to help farmers cope with the “exceptional situation.”

READ ALSO: ‘We’ve lost at least 70,000 bottles’ – French winemakers count the cost of late frosts

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