Heroic vineyards, the value of Cooperatives protecting viticulture territory

They are also defined “extreme” vineyards. In addition to being aesthetically beautiful, they contribute to enhancing the territory as well as preventing it from being abandoned. This has been made possible thanks to the viticulture of passionate vignerons who believed in a fascinating, though difficult, project. These vineyards, from North to South Italy (and not only), are in the high mountains or overlooking the sea, on steep cliffs and difficult areas. They are all at more than 500 meters altitude and have more than 30% slopes, all of which requires an ongoing commitment. The fact is that a hectare of vineyard in the plains requires more or less 100 hours per year, while in the mountains, or on steep slopes, a hectare of vineyard requires from 600 to 1.200 hours of labor per year. Quality, protection and sustainability of a territory are the words that summarize the value of wines from “heroic viticulture”, which survives mainly thanks to the Cooperative model that supports winemakers from production to promotion. The Consolidated Wine Act (Law 238/2016, article 7), has acknowledged their cultural, agricultural and environmental value as a protection against hydrogeological instability, depopulation as well as a resource for the economy in the areas in which they are located, and they must be protected. Promoting “Heroic Cooperative Wines” is the subject of the Confcooperative project, together with Veronafiere International, aimed at presenting this “small sized” excellence to International buyers.
“These wines are produced in very difficult conditions, however, they make an enormous contribution not just protecting the hills from landslides, but to the beauty of the landscape, too. They also attract tourism, which often supports these production areas”, Antonello Ciambriello, head of the wine sector at Confcooperative, said. “If it weren’t for some of the Cooperatives that work in these territories, such as, Valle d’Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy and Sardinia, these marginal areas would be abandoned. Cooperatives protect not only vineyards, but also, for instance, the apple tree in Alto Adige, whose economic sustainability could not exist without the Cooperative, which allows for critical mass in volume, and scale economies along the supply chain of production. Promoting these wines among International buyers is another contribution Confcooperative offers to its survival”.“Heroic Vineyards” are defined as those cultivated in especially difficult conditions, such as slopes greater than 30%, on terraces or steps, at altitudes greater than 500 meters above sea level. And again, sites on small islands, in areas subject to hydrogeological risk, areas of particular landscape value, particular orographic conditions, with major obstacles to mechanization. At the recent Vinitaly 2025 in Verona, sixteen buyers from ten countries - Lithuania, Ukraine, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Denmark, Malaysia, India, Singapore and Vietnam - were told especially about the characterizing aspects in the territory of six wines from the six Cooperatives of Trentino Cantina d’Isera, Aosta Valley Cave Mont Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle, Campania Cantine Telaro, Alto Adige Cantina Kaltern, the Sardinian Antichi Poderi Jerzu and Lombardy Rocche dei Vignali. Confcooperative brings together 264 Cooperative wineries and has 99.799 winegrower members, totaling 5.2 billion euros in turnover, of which 1.2 billion euros comes from exports. These are large numbers, in which the niche of heroic viticulture wines boasts a significant weight socially and economically.