Ep. 2537 Heydi Bonanini of Possa Winery in Cinque Terre | Wine, Food & Travel with Marc Millon

Had one century ago, 24 different kind of local grape. And, in the last year, I remain only six type seven type of grapes. So my work is, initially, I don't think to make wine, but I want only maintain the biodiversity. I want to try to make the same work of my grandparents. And so we make a reserve for ten years. And for ten years, I make a reserve all around the land that is cultivating all the and behind the the mountain because our grape arrived behind the mountain for find all the type of grape, and I find 19. And I plant all in my land for having the good of all this plant. After we wait some year for every kind of grape, we make wine. And then we test, and we see which type of grape have more quality inside, other not have many quality inside. So we decide to maintain for historical memory, and the other one, we continue to plan. Fascinating people with stories to share, fabulous wines and the best local foods to accompany them, and beautiful places to discover and visit. All of this and more on wine, food, and travel with me, Mark Millan, on the Italian wine podcast. Join me for a new episode every Tuesday. Welcome to wine, food, and travel with me, Mark Millan, on Italian wine podcast. Today, we travel to Liguria, back to Cinque Terre to continue a story of remarkable fortitude, courage, and determination in what is one of the most beautiful and also most labor intensive vineyard areas in the world. My guest today is Hedy Bonannini, who will take us to a small wine farm La Posa in the high hills beyond Rio Maggiore. I was there with Hedy just last month, and the story he has to share is truly inspiring. Welcome, Hedy. Thank you so much for being our guest today. How are you today? I'm well. I'm well. Today, rain, but, it's okay. Well, we've got rain here in England as well. It's pretty windy, and it feels like very much like the end of, autumn. It's moving into the winter even. Hey, Dee. First, tell us about Cinque Terre. For our listeners who are located all around the world and who may have heard of but never visited Cinque Terre, can you describe this special land where you live and work? Yes. Cinque Terre is a particular land. It's one of of the first land where arrived in the past, the grape plant, because we have a a tradition of grape plant that go behind two thousand years ago. We not have many documents, but we think that when the Roman Empire destroyed the Greek, people from Carthagena arrive in, Cinque Terre with grape. And in the first time, the grape is planted to the top of the mountain. But, around, one thousand years, when, the wine and usually the sweet wine that we produce in Cinque Terre that after take the name of the Chagadre, the people decided to change all the mountain and decided to build all the dry stone walls for cultivate all the land. The particular of Cinque Terre is this one. It's a place that is about 15 kilometer from, Porto Venere to arrive to Monterosso, and all the territory from the sea to the top of the mountain in the past was perfect mountain in terraces, grape, terraces, olive terraces and chestnuts, and, near the river because we not have water in the land, and near the river we have for the vegetable. But the particular is really impressive when we see a photo of the 1960, 1950 about because you don't see a place that is not cultivated in all the Chinqueterre. And the particular is that for me, the whole this wall, because I work many year for the national park. We have many date. For build the the Chinqueterre, the people have to use more stone that for build the Great Wall in China. So it's a very particularly impressive work for the people that it's a group of people that for live here have to change the mountain all around. It's the only method for work and can live in this place. But Okay. It's a really impressive opera from these people. Yes. Absolutely, Adi. And I just want our listeners to imagine these slopes that are so steep, rising vertically almost directly from the Tyrrhenian Sea. And as you say, it's a very small and particular landscape. We're talking about 15 kilometers. So just 10 miles between Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso Almare, the five villages of the Cinque Terre that are located closer down to the sea, clinging to the rocks and then the slopes rising vertically above. In fact, Haiti, we met in Rio Maggiore, and then you took us up to Posa. So we really gained gained a sense of of this particular unique landscape. Now, Heidi, Cinque Terre was a land of fishermen as well as farmers, farmers who worked these very, very steep, beautifully terraced vineyards or vineyards terraces that olive trees, fruit that literally covered the entire land. You told me that this was a system of agriculture that worked perfectly because there was a beautiful balance between man and nature that was perfect. Can you describe this? Yes. Yes. Because during the year, the people from this place have to find a good balance with the the nature. When they build the the dry stone walls, dry stone walls is not only for work in the land for cultivated, but is for maintain the water and, put the water where you want. So it's an important opera for, when you have the bigger rain. But particularly, the people from here without nothing, because there are only people that work in the land, so they don't know nothing. But they discover all the regiments that today is the regiments of the epidemic. So it's normally for us that you don't find only grape, but you find grape near. You find many citron plant, many aromatic plants. All the herb that born in the land is used for made compost in the same land. So it's a particularly method that today is difficult to find because it's a very not rich place because the people work all day and, usually, sometime don't have nothing to eat in the past. But, it's a a particular method that the the and the men work for the same end. So for maintain the territory, for maintain in this method, the land is very rich because continue to make the compost every year from the chestnuts where the people cultivate the chestnuts, take the leaf in the winter, and put down where we have the grape for make more compost. And the same land from the top is transported down for give something to eat to the grape plant. The problem Okay. Born in the 1960 about when arrive in Cinque Terre, the street for the car, And, Cinque Terre is very near to La Spezia, La Spezia City that, during this period is a very rich city because La Spezia City have the more big military base of Italy, have many farm that produce armor, and the people from here decide to change his life. And, usually, with the generation of the grandparents, grandfather find a job and grandmother maintain the land. And in this period that we see, the first land that is not cultivate all around. Let me just recap that, Adi. I remember when we were with you, you're talking about this beautiful balance of nature and the biodiversity, the incredible rich biodiversity of Cinque Terre. And at Posa, I was able to see that the aromatic plants that you have growing amongst the vines and the citrus plants, olives, and the chestnut trees. So you have at Posa, you've created or you've maintained what used to be, but then everything changed in in the nineteen sixties when the road came to Rio Maggiore. And people abandoned the vineyards because they were so hard to work, I guess, Haiti. It was such a difficult life, and the arsenal in La Spezia, this great military base provided employment. So that was when the vineyards began to be abandoned. The walls began to be breaking down, and the forests quickly took over. Is that right? Yes. We lost during this period about, the 95% of the territory, but, with risk to lost all the biodiversity of this place because Chiqueterra had, one century ago, 24 different kind of local grape. And, in the last year, I remain only six type or seven type of grapes. So my work is, initial