Wine making is different in every place, but there are places that are more different than others, places where, due to the altitude, the climate, and the slope of the land, making wine is truly a job for visionaries. Heroic viticulture tells the stories of men and women who know hard work, sweat, and the laws of nature at its most extreme. They have chosen to make wine in such places with only one justification: the great quality of the final result. Because when it comes to wines like these, it's always worth it.
What is a heroic wine?
According to the Research Center for Mountain Viticulture, to be considered a “hero,” a wine must meet at least one of these criteria:
Slope greater than 30°. A vineyard on a slope cannot be worked with machines, but only by hand, in extreme conditions, in conditions in which it is difficult to even imagine growing vines.
Altitude greater than 500 meters. Heroic wines are often mountain wines, which experience significant temperature variations between day and night, and therefore require special care, day by day, row by row.
Terraces and steps. Due to the slope, in most cases the vines are grown on terraces, the only form of agriculture possible in conditions such as these, but also one of the most laborious.
Remote locations. Small islands, steep slopes, glaciers, lava or sandy soils: heroic viticulture loves the most difficult challenges and does not frequent the most popular latitudes, favoring the extreme, the dream, what goes beyond the usual. Terroirs that give life to fine red and white wines, without easy compromises, without pandering to passing fads.
Why we like them
Heroic viticulture is a challenge to what is considered impossible, an oenological gamble made in the name of quality and biodiversity. Heroic wines are by definition courageous, and that's why we always like them. Then they are usually great wines, and so we like them even more.
