Liguria 

Though arguably most associated with France, the Riviera - as concept, aspiration, and actuality - originates in Liguria, in northwestern Italy. The word itself is Italian for “coastline,” and was first applied to the 350 miles of waterfront that traces the narrow corridor between the Maritime Alps, the Apennine mountains and the Ligurian Sea. When 19th century English vacationers strolled over the northern border with France, they extended their remit to encompass the Cotes D’Azur and present-day Monaco (where a variation of the Ligurian dialect, called Monégasque, is still a compulsory subject in local schools). The etymology of ‘Liguria’ itself is much older and more obscure, though the word is likely derived from the ancient Ligures people, who are thought to have once occupied a remarkably large swath of Mediterranean Europe, including parts of Southern France, present-day Catalonia on the Iberian Peninsula, and Piedmont down to Sicily, in Italy. Not sure why this once vast aggregation ended up appellate to Italy’s third-smallest region, but it's appropriate because Liguria has always supported multitudes. 

 One of the most densely populated parts of Italy, the territory is 65% mountains, and 80% of the inhabitants choose to live elsewhere - in the conurbations that limn the coast: Sanremo, Savonia, La Spezia and Genoa, Italy’s busiest seaport and the regional capital. You can pivot your visit around cityscapes and beaches, and/or hike up to and around alpine villages carved out of rock, including the world-famous but still surprisingly inaccessible ring of fishing villages known collectively as Cinque Terre. You will hear a dialect bearing traces of Portuguese, Sardinian, Celtic and Arabic that is barely intelligible to other Italians; you will not see (or taste) many tomatoes - an afterthought in the birthplace of pesto. You will drink beach wine whose breezy maritime resonances belie the backbreaking work required to make them. 

And like most places in Italy, Liguria’s enological story began in antiquity. It’s not certain whether the Greeks or the Phoenicians introduced the vine to Liguria, but by the time the Romans passed through the region, wine from Liguria was prized both for its quality and its scarcity. This remains true today, as only the much smaller and less populated Vallee D’Aosta produces less vino by volume per annum. Both places require what the Italians call viticulture eroica (heroic viticulture), as vineyards occupy impossibly steep slopes hostile to machinery of any kind, necessitating painstaking by-hand cultivation to pry these tiny yields from the recalcitrant dirt.

Our two selections this month pretty much epitomize this ethos. The white comes from Punta Crena, one of our favorite wineries. The Ruffino family behind it have been farming the same vineyards above the tiny beach village of Varigotti for 500 years; the current generation even builds their stone terraces by hand. The grape here is the extremely rare Lumassina (this is the only bottling I’ve ever come across)  which performs kind of like an Italian Vinho Verde: light, dry, low in alcohol, and almost effervescent, it is ideal for the dog days of August. 

The red is made from Rossese, a light skinned grape that is genetically identical to another obscure varietal called Tibouren, which grows further northwest along the Riviera, in Provence. Rossese is known as the “Nebbiolo of Liguria”for its light color, ripe tannins and rosy aromas. It works well with a slight chill and a warm breeze -  a great summer/fall transition wine. 

Cheers,

The PlumpJack Wine Team