THE »PERGOLA VALDOSTANA« AND HEROIC VITICULTURE IN AOSTA VALLEY (ITALY): A CASE STUDY ON A TRADITIONAL WINE-GROWING SYSTEM

In order to preserve the Alpine vineyard landscape on the Piedmont, Aosta Valley and Savoy border sides, the ALCOTRA Interreg Project (“VI.A. STRADA DEI VIGNETI ALPINI”) included a series of activities and studies among which the authors were involved and this work illustrates some first results. A socio-economic survey was implemented on a small sample of micro-farms in Aosta Valley that still practice viticulture according to the typical “Pergola Valdostana” systems, in order to assess the critical points of this much less competitive cultivation system compared to the classic espalier. The first results confirm the need to enact at an institutional level various types of support (not only economic) to preserve a unique landscape in the context of heroic viticulture.