The red tower house in Riomaggiore\u2019s harbor is iconic<\/h2>\n![\"cinque](\"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/cinque-terre-riomaggiore.jpg\")
The red tower house in Riomaggiore\u2019s harbor is iconic, photo by Karin Mallory<\/div><\/div>\nPastel-colored buildings stack upon one another on hillsides that plummet to the sea. Unfortunately, too many visitors stop here: in the villages. In high season they are wall-to-wall tourists.<\/p>\n
Little do visitors realize that the hillsides, rich with history and even better\u2014solitude\u2014are waiting to be discovered just a bit further afield.<\/p>\n
Before tourism, the Cinque Terre was a community of farmers<\/h2>\n![\"Terraces](\"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/terrazzamenti-783x490.jpg\")
Terraces of the Cinque Terre, photo by Alessandra Spairani<\/div><\/div>\nIn the 11th century, locals moved down to the sea and built homes. They began the daunting job of transforming forests and steep slopes into cultivated terraces, constructed dry stone walls and planted grape vines, olive trees and vegetables. Farming was a way of life, necessitated by isolation. Italians call wine growers in the Cinque Terre \u201cHeroic Winemakers<\/strong>\u201d in reference to the physical intensity of their lives. In the past men and women carried grapes down the hillsides in baskets on their heads!<\/p>\n![\"Heroic](\"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/grapes_and_heroes-021-e1579543619842.jpg\")
Heroic Winemaker in Cinque Terre, Photo by Alessandra Spairani<\/div><\/div>\nI\u2019ve helped with the harvest and can tell you with absolute certainty that maneuvering the heavy baskets up and down narrow, precarious stone steps for short distances is enough of a challenge! A monorail system<\/strong> installed in 1980 is used to help the wine growers transport grapes and equipment up and down the hillsides. Other than this trenino<\/em>\u00a0(little train) wine growers are operating as they have for the past hundreds of years.<\/p>\nDry stone walls<\/strong> create terraces providing a system of support that to this day keeps the Cinque Terre from washing into the sea. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of work to maintain these walls. The walls, muretti a secco<\/em><\/strong> in Italian, are an engineering masterpiece.<\/p>\n![\"muretti](\"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/muretti-a-secco.jpg\")
muretti a secco, photo by Alessandra Spairani<\/div><\/div>\nThe traditional method uses no cement to hold the stones which are strategically placed together like a giant artisanal puzzle. They are humble by nature, majestic in their simplicity, and vital in their role of preserving the Cinque Terre.<\/p>\n
The wine growers<\/strong> of the Cinque Terre are the only people responsible for maintaining these walls and the work involved is staggering.<\/p>\nGrapes & Heroes: The Wine Growers of the Cinque Terre<\/h2>\n![\"Grapes](\"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/grapes_and_heroes-203.jpg\")
Grapes & Heroes: The Wine Growers of the Cinque Terre, photo by Alessandra Spairani<\/div><\/div>\nDuring the 2018 harvest an idea was born: Grapes & Heroes. A social action crowdfunding campaign to help raise funds to offset the financial burden for four wine growers in the Cinque Terre. 100% volunteer, and 100% a labor of love. The goal of the campaign: tap into the millions and millions and millions of people who love the Cinque Terre.<\/p>\n
![\"Grapes](\"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/grapes_and_heroes-785x490.jpg\")
photo by Alessandra Spairani<\/div><\/div>\nAsk for their support, and in exchange, offer fabulous and one-of-a kind \u201cperks\u201d to thank them for their contribution including:<\/p>\n
\n- The opportunity to \u201clive like a local\u201d in Riomaggiore for 9 nights<\/strong>. Days are a combination of time in a cantina helping to make the revered dessert wine of the region: Sciacchetr\u00e0<\/em>, the vineyards maintain the stone walls and free time to explore on your own.<\/li>\n
- A full day helping to maintain the dry stone walls<\/li>\n
- Private hikes<\/li>\n
- Panoramic picnics<\/strong> (where your mode of transportation to the top of the hillside is that monorail I was talking about \u2026. a big deal as it is typically only used by wine growers!)<\/li>\n
- Custom designed t-shirts<\/li>\n
- Photography and postcards<\/li>\n
- Gigi travel guides from Italian Fix<\/li>\n
- Wine<\/strong> \u2026 obtaining wine produced in the Cinque Terre from anywhere outside of the Cinque Terre is extremely difficult! This is a very big deal!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"Cinque](\"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/vino-delle-cinque-terre-800x490.jpg\")
Cinque Terre Wine, photo by Miriam Rossignoli, via Flickr<\/div><\/div>\nHow do I get involved?<\/h3>\n
Pastel-colored buildings stack upon one another on hillsides that plummet to the sea. Unfortunately, too many visitors stop here: in the villages. In high season they are wall-to-wall tourists.<\/p>\n
Little do visitors realize that the hillsides, rich with history and even better\u2014solitude\u2014are waiting to be discovered just a bit further afield.<\/p>\n
Before tourism, the Cinque Terre was a community of farmers<\/h2>\nTerraces of the Cinque Terre, photo by Alessandra Spairani<\/div><\/div>\nIn the 11th century, locals moved down to the sea and built homes. They began the daunting job of transforming forests and steep slopes into cultivated terraces, constructed dry stone walls and planted grape vines, olive trees and vegetables. Farming was a way of life, necessitated by isolation. Italians call wine growers in the Cinque Terre \u201cHeroic Winemakers<\/strong>\u201d in reference to the physical intensity of their lives. In the past men and women carried grapes down the hillsides in baskets on their heads!<\/p>\nHeroic Winemaker in Cinque Terre, Photo by Alessandra Spairani<\/div><\/div>\nI\u2019ve helped with the harvest and can tell you with absolute certainty that maneuvering the heavy baskets up and down narrow, precarious stone steps for short distances is enough of a challenge! A monorail system<\/strong> installed in 1980 is used to help the wine growers transport grapes and equipment up and down the hillsides. Other than this trenino<\/em>\u00a0(little train) wine growers are operating as they have for the past hundreds of years.<\/p>\nDry stone walls<\/strong> create terraces providing a system of support that to this day keeps the Cinque Terre from washing into the sea. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of work to maintain these walls. The walls, muretti a secco<\/em><\/strong> in Italian, are an engineering masterpiece.<\/p>\nmuretti a secco, photo by Alessandra Spairani<\/div><\/div>\nThe traditional method uses no cement to hold the stones which are strategically placed together like a giant artisanal puzzle. They are humble by nature, majestic in their simplicity, and vital in their role of preserving the Cinque Terre.<\/p>\n
The wine growers<\/strong> of the Cinque Terre are the only people responsible for maintaining these walls and the work involved is staggering.<\/p>\nGrapes & Heroes: The Wine Growers of the Cinque Terre<\/h2>\nGrapes & Heroes: The Wine Growers of the Cinque Terre, photo by Alessandra Spairani<\/div><\/div>\nDuring the 2018 harvest an idea was born: Grapes & Heroes. A social action crowdfunding campaign to help raise funds to offset the financial burden for four wine growers in the Cinque Terre. 100% volunteer, and 100% a labor of love. The goal of the campaign: tap into the millions and millions and millions of people who love the Cinque Terre.<\/p>\n
photo by Alessandra Spairani<\/div><\/div>\nAsk for their support, and in exchange, offer fabulous and one-of-a kind \u201cperks\u201d to thank them for their contribution including:<\/p>\n
\n- The opportunity to \u201clive like a local\u201d in Riomaggiore for 9 nights<\/strong>. Days are a combination of time in a cantina helping to make the revered dessert wine of the region: Sciacchetr\u00e0<\/em>, the vineyards maintain the stone walls and free time to explore on your own.<\/li>\n
- A full day helping to maintain the dry stone walls<\/li>\n
- Private hikes<\/li>\n
- Panoramic picnics<\/strong> (where your mode of transportation to the top of the hillside is that monorail I was talking about \u2026. a big deal as it is typically only used by wine growers!)<\/li>\n
- Custom designed t-shirts<\/li>\n
- Photography and postcards<\/li>\n
- Gigi travel guides from Italian Fix<\/li>\n
- Wine<\/strong> \u2026 obtaining wine produced in the Cinque Terre from anywhere outside of the Cinque Terre is extremely difficult! This is a very big deal!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nCinque Terre Wine, photo by Miriam Rossignoli, via Flickr<\/div><\/div>\n
How do I get involved?<\/h3>\n
In the 11th century, locals moved down to the sea and built homes. They began the daunting job of transforming forests and steep slopes into cultivated terraces, constructed dry stone walls and planted grape vines, olive trees and vegetables. Farming was a way of life, necessitated by isolation. Italians call wine growers in the Cinque Terre \u201cHeroic Winemakers<\/strong>\u201d in reference to the physical intensity of their lives. In the past men and women carried grapes down the hillsides in baskets on their heads!<\/p>\n I\u2019ve helped with the harvest and can tell you with absolute certainty that maneuvering the heavy baskets up and down narrow, precarious stone steps for short distances is enough of a challenge! A monorail system<\/strong> installed in 1980 is used to help the wine growers transport grapes and equipment up and down the hillsides. Other than this trenino<\/em>\u00a0(little train) wine growers are operating as they have for the past hundreds of years.<\/p>\n Dry stone walls<\/strong> create terraces providing a system of support that to this day keeps the Cinque Terre from washing into the sea. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of work to maintain these walls. The walls, muretti a secco<\/em><\/strong> in Italian, are an engineering masterpiece.<\/p>\n The traditional method uses no cement to hold the stones which are strategically placed together like a giant artisanal puzzle. They are humble by nature, majestic in their simplicity, and vital in their role of preserving the Cinque Terre.<\/p>\n The wine growers<\/strong> of the Cinque Terre are the only people responsible for maintaining these walls and the work involved is staggering.<\/p>\n During the 2018 harvest an idea was born: Grapes & Heroes. A social action crowdfunding campaign to help raise funds to offset the financial burden for four wine growers in the Cinque Terre. 100% volunteer, and 100% a labor of love. The goal of the campaign: tap into the millions and millions and millions of people who love the Cinque Terre.<\/p>\n Ask for their support, and in exchange, offer fabulous and one-of-a kind \u201cperks\u201d to thank them for their contribution including:<\/p>\nGrapes & Heroes: The Wine Growers of the Cinque Terre<\/h2>\n
\n
How do I get involved?<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/Karin-Mallory-270x200.jpg\")
Author: Karin Mallory<\/strong><\/p>\n