Mountain vineyards. Steep slopes. Wines shaped by altitude.
At Cantina Le Macchie, growing wine means working with the mountain every day.
Our vineyards are located in the hills of Rieti, in the heart of Lazio, at elevations ranging from 600 to 1,000 metres above sea level.
Altitude, steep slopes and difficult access make vineyard work more demanding and often limit the use of machinery. Many operations therefore require careful manual work and a close, constant relationship with each vineyard.
Since 2019, Cantina Le Macchie has been associated with CERVIM, the international organisation dedicated to the protection and promotion of mountain and steep-slope viticulture.
This is what heroic viticulture means to us: accepting the challenges of the landscape and allowing them to become part of the identity of our wines.
What is CERVIM?
CERVIM was established in 1987 to protect, promote and study viticulture in mountain areas, on steep slopes and in other environments where growing vines presents exceptional structural challenges.
Its work brings together wine-growing regions and organisations with a shared interest in preserving these unique landscapes, supporting research and giving a voice to forms of viticulture that cannot be approached in the same way as vineyards located on easier terrain.
What Makes Viticulture “Heroic”?
Heroic viticulture is associated with vineyards where the landscape itself makes growing grapes particularly demanding.
These conditions may include:
- high-altitude vineyards
- steep slopes that limit mechanisation
- terraced vineyards
- small and fragmented vineyard plots
- difficult climatic and growing conditions
- significant manual vineyard work
- vineyards located in landscapes of exceptional cultural, environmental and tourism value
CERVIM’s technical framework identifies mountain and steep-slope viticulture through criteria including vineyards located above 500 metres, slopes of at least 30%, terraced vineyards and viticulture on small islands affected by structural difficulties. www.cervim.org
Heroic Viticulture at Cantina Le Macchie
For us, heroic viticulture is not an abstract definition. It describes the landscape in which we work.
Between 600 and 1,000 metres above sea level, our vineyards experience mountain conditions, natural ventilation and significant day-to-night temperature variations.
The terrain and slopes make many vineyard operations more difficult, but these same conditions are part of what makes our territory distinctive.
Working here requires time, patience and respect for the natural shape of the land. Rather than adapting the mountain to intensive viticulture, our approach is to understand each vineyard and work according to its altitude, exposure and individual characteristics.
The result is not simply wine produced at high altitude. It is wine that carries the identity of a mountain landscape in Lazio.
Wine that carries the identity of a mountain landscape in Lazio.
Experience Heroic Viticulture
The best way to understand heroic viticulture is to walk through the vineyards where it happens.
Visit Cantina Le Macchie and discover our mountain vineyards, our winery and our historic 15th-century cellar before tasting the wines born from this landscape.
Just over one hour from Rome, our Wine Tours offer the opportunity to experience a lesser-known and more authentic side of Lazio.