The first “World Urban Vineyard Day” from Paris to New York, Turin to Florence

“Clos Montmartre”, on the slope of the Montmartre hill in Paris, is one of the most remarkable and unusual beauties in the Ville Lumière. Starting this year, though, Florence also has its own vineyard, “Vigna Michelangelo”, whose vine shoots were planted by Donne Fittipaldi - the Bolgheri brand, led by Maria Fittipaldi Menarini, together with her daughters, Carlotta, Giulia, Serena and Valentina (who have each dedicated a sapling to Alessandro Regoli and Irene Chiari, founders of WineNews, ed.), which is just a stone’s throw away from Piazzale Michelangelo, where one can admire the most beautiful view of the “cradle” of the Renaissance. The vineyards grown in some of the most famous and most visited cities in the world, such as “Vigna della Regina” in Turin (which the Balbiano winery manages), “Rooftop Reds” in New York, “Vigna di Leonardo” in Milan (now owned by the LVMH Luxury Group),“ Clos des Canuts” in Lyon, and “San Francesco della Vigna” (where Santa Margherita produces wine), the “Laguna nel Bicchiere (Le Vigne Ritrovate)” project in Venice, “Can Calopa de Dalt (L’Olivera)” in Barcelona, “Senarum Vinea” in Siena (and Città del Vino),“Clos de la Vigne du Palais des Papes” in Avignon, “Vigna del Gallo-Diego Planeta” in Palermo (and the Consorzio DOC Sicilia),“La Vigna Comunale” in Thessaloniki, the Etna Urban Winery in Catania, and “Cascina Moroni” in Bergamo, all have many stories to tell. The occasion will be the first “World Urban Vineyard Day”, promoted to spread the culture and symbolism of these vineyards united in the Urban Vineyards Association (UVA), which will be open to the public.
A vineyard can also thrive in the city. It is an unexpected greenery in the concrete jungle, a greenery of tradition and earth, which transforms the city limits into city horizons. These are urban vineyards, unique cultivations within a metropolitan area. They offer an agricultural, historical and cultural heritage of enormous value, and the vines grown in cities are often real treasures of biodiversity. The ancient varieties, which in some cases are exemplary and very rare biotypes in the ampelographic panorama of a region, have been cultivated over the centuries, though never replaced with ones more productive or appreciated by the markets, which instead is the policy for vineyards intended for production and trade.
The Urban Vineyards Association was founded in Turin in 2018, by Luca Balbiano, at the helm of the family business, and “ Vigna Michelangelo” in Florence was also invited to be part of the association. Balbiano’s initiative is to safeguard the heritage of urban vineyards as well as upgrade it from a cultural and tourist perspective, and make it productive for the community and the future, respecting the environment through viticultural and social policies of integration and sustainability. And, metropolitan grapes also emerge as an “eco management” tool that contribute to urban sustainability.