Valle di Cembra - Emblem of Heroic Viticulture
The Valle di Cembra is located in Trentino, in the Italian Alps, and is one of the Historical Rural Landscapes of Italy registered in the national register of the Ministry, a legacy of our fathers to be lived, promoted and preserved for the future. It is a mosaic of daring terraces supported by over seven hundred kilometers of dry stone walls built since the thirteenth century, where today produce mainly grapes such Müller Thurgau, the elegant Riesling, the delicate Schiava, the intense Lagrein and the fresh Chardonnay ideal for mountain sparkling wines as well as apples and numerous other varieties of fruit trees (eg peaches, plums, cherries, pears, chestnuts), small berries, medicinal herbs and vegetables. The Valle di Cembra is located a short distance from Trento, open towards the valleys of Fiemme and Fassa, on the axis of the Avisio stream, gateway to the Dolomites. Emblem of heroic viticulture and producer of great mountain wines, the cultivation extend from 200 meters along the banks of the Avisio stream up to 900 meters above sea level. A unique terroir consisting mainly of porphyry, a lava stone of effusive origin, generates volcanic wines starting from the 4th century BC, as evidenced by the discovery of the Situla on the Doss Caslir in Cembra, a discovery that makes The Valle di Cembra the oldest cradle of the cultivation of vine in Trentino.
Today, as then, traditional agriculture is practiced, mainly manual given the terraces and steep slopes and above all respectful of the environment, related to the fact that since the 1980s it has been a pilot territory of the integrated struggle protocol of the province of Trento. Direct testimony of the sustainability of crops, the presence of the marble trout in the waters of the Avisio stream and the yellow-bellied toad in the countryside.
Rural landscape category:
- Food and livelihood security
- Agro-biodiversity
- Local and Traditional Knowledge Systems
- Cultures, Value Systems and Social Organisations
- Landscapes and Seascapes Features
Author(s): Mara Lona
Photo Credit: Mara Lona
Country: Italy
