![]() He sells this wine for €15/bottle of which 21 % is the Value Added Tax. It has a delicate bouquet and a fine finish. This will result in the “white” Cinque Terre wine, which is actually still somewhat pinkish because of the process. The lower quality grapes are processed immediately. For this he combines his grapes, a blend of the three varieties described earlier, of which at least 60 % is Bosco, and separates them in two batches. He makes the two most important wines of the region, the white Cinque Terre wine and the Sciacchetrà. Then he bottles his wine, and affixes his labels, and stores them in the back shelf ready for sale. It is a cellar about 8’ x 30’, where he takes his harvest and removes the stems, then presses his grapes, after which he ferments them in the same type unglazed earthenware jars as the ancients have done thousands of years ago. What you will see is the smallest commercial winery ever. ![]() Then Andrea will take you back to Riomaggiore to show you his winery. From his vineyard is a short 10 minute walk up to the Santuario, located up on a hill where you will find a 14th century church and where you have an amazing 360 degrees view of the surrounding mountains, villages in the distance, and the blue sea below. The plastic tubes around the vines are there to protect the vines from unintentional damage during this operation. To remove the undesired vegetation he uses a standard Weedeater, which uses a fast rotating plastic string to cut the weeds. At ground level he encloses the stems of the vines with a short section of plastic tubing. Neither does he use chemicals to control the grass and weeds around his plants. He still uses a copper-sulfur spray for his plants, avoiding the synthetic insecticides used in most other vineyards. He says he loves the challenge of almost singlehandedly making beautiful wines responsibly. From there you have a marvelous view of the surroundings and the Ligurian Sea and wonder who so many people still cultivate these wines on this difficult terrain. From the bottom of the hill you walk up a steep path to his vineyard, where he will explain how he grows his vines. He is just a one-person operator and somebody wrote a glowing website for him, (it doesn’t quite sound like him he is much more modest) where you can make reservations, but you also can contact him at and save him the agency’s fees, or call him at 39 3 2870 4791. Halfway up the hill you will pass the vineyard of Andrea. The bus stop is also the start of the path to the Santuario. If you have a car you can follow him to his vineyard and back. ![]() But then you have to make a long walk from the vineyard to the winery in town, because the bus goes very infrequently. If there are more guests, you will all take the bus. At the end of the vineyard tour, he'll drive you to the winery. With three guests, he has a small car with which he can drive you to the bottom of the hill where his vineyard is located. He will meet you at the Banca Carige in the center of Riomaggiore or at the information center at the top of the town. ![]() For the tour he charges €39 per person, minimum of 3 persons, and the tour will take 3-4 hours. He grows a mixture of Bosco, Vermentino, and Albarola vines, which are the usual vines in this region. This is a community trolley, used by several winegrowers in the vicinity. The only thing mechanical in the area is that every few hundred yards there is a track for a trolley to go from the top of the mountain to the highway several hundred feet below to transport the harvest to a more accessible place, where a motorized vehicle can pick it up for transport to the winery. Small, with only around 1000 vines, he cultivates his orchard single-handedly, mostly by hand, also because the terrain is not suitable for mechanical aids. The vineyard is actually right alongside the narrow walking path from the SP 370 highway to the Santuario della Madonna di Montenero. Retaining walls, 3-6 feet high are used to stabilize the ground, but also to reflect and to retain the heat from the sun for the vines. Andrea owns a small vineyard on the steep hills close to Riomaggiore, painstakingly chipped out of the rocky hillsides years ago. ![]() It is a completely different experience than a visit to a standard, faceless, commercial winery. If you have the time, this is something you don’t want to miss. ![]()
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