Val di Cembra is much more than a hinge between the capital Trento and Val di Fiemme and Val di Fassa. Other than a passing valley. Here we are in an enchanted territory that manifests and develops harmonious and virtuous integration between the territory and its industrious inhabitants, the Cembrans. Three tangible connotations: the Avisio stream, porphyry (known as red gold), viticulture. In Val di Cembra, viticulture is the main agricultural activity. The plots are small and located between 600 and 900 meters above sea level. 700 km of dry stone walls draw a unique landscape, all to be discovered.
Müller-Thurgau, king of the Cembra Valley
Heroic work that of the winemakers, forced as they are to work vineyards arranged on slopes that seem (and perhaps are) excessive. The help of mechanical means can be of little help in this territory: here the work in the vineyard, the cultivation of the grapes and the harvest phase are manual jobs. To understand the great industriousness of the Cembrans, their farsightedness and their aptitude for living the present understood as a laboratory for the future, let’s focus on the tiring post-war years, let’s even say the 1950s. The small vineyard, the small cellar for a production able to satisfy the needs of domestic consumption. The grape was the Schiava, a simple autochthonous vine. And so on for the following decade. In the 1970s, the people of Cembra became aware of the richness that a viticulture could give that placed the identification of the best vines according to the different areas of the valley as its cornerstone.
Valle di Cembra, the king Müller-Thurgau
It is the beginning of viticulture and the consequent valorisation of the Müller-Thurgau vineyards. The reversal of the divisions between black berried grapes and white berried grapes is clear: from 80/20 black white, to 80/20 black white. The ampelographic map and its consequent varietal structure have been completely redesigned, with the successful consolidation of Chardonnay, Müller-Thurgau and Riesling.
In Val di Cembra viticulture is the main agricultural activity
The advent of Pinot Noir is an important and interesting phenomenon, in line with the opening towards the brilliant sparkling wine production. Born between 1882 and 1891 from the crossing of Rhine Riesling and Madeleine Royal by the hand of prof. Hermann Müller is a vine that ripens best in the mountains and which has found its ideal habitat in the Cembra Valley. The wine has a pale straw yellow color with greenish reflections, a very evident aromatic component, with hints of aromatic herbs, elderberry, tropical fruit and citrus fruits. Savory, mineral, with pleasant acidity: typical characteristics of mountain wines.
The Müller Thurgau Exhibition in Cembra
Last week, the thirty-sixth edition of the Müller Thurgau Review was held in Cembra: technical meetings, masterclasses, both free and guided tastings in the elegant rooms of Palazzo Maffei but also visits to the most spectacular vineyards, dinners under the stars, fascinating itineraries between art, music, street theatre, food and wine and much more.
Here the Müller Thurgau takes on a dual role for the overall development of the Cembra Valley. The first role belongs to it de facto: it is the vine that most characterizes the territory and it is the wine that expresses, also thanks to the intriguing organoleptic facets among the various producers, a high quality standing capable of making it attractive on the world wide market.
The Cembra Valley between the Winter Olympics and Farm to Fork
He assumes the second role on behalf of the Cembrans: he is ambassador of the Cembra Valley in the world. But, of course, attention: Ambassador. He can and must talk about himself, but he also takes on the noble task of communicating the existence of the other excellences of the Cembra Valley. This is made possible, as we said at the beginning, thanks to the Cembra people, to their living the present as a laboratory for the future! In this regard, two important events will affect the Cembra Valley. Short term: 2026, the Winter Olympics in Cortina. Territory not immediately adjacent but still not distant. Unrepeatable opportunity to give the Val di Cembra that incremental visibility it needs and that equally necessary distinctive positioning to make itself attractive towards the emerging world wide tourism flows.
Average time: 2030, Farm to Fork (F2F), the strategic project of the EU, in turn a key component of the ambitious European Green Deal, is completed.Farm to Fork is the ten-year plan developed by the European Commission to guide the transition towards a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system.
Heroic viticulture in the Cembra Valley
The emergence of a new economic model, made possible by the web and the consequent digital society, leads us to the so-called circular economy, the leap of intermediation, maximum respect for the environment and nature, recycling, reuse , to abhor waste. Farm to Fork is a congenial objective for the Val di Cembra. The amiable kindness of the people of the Val di Cembra, their innate sense of hospitality, their industrious culture, the evident affection for their land, the attitude to include rather than exclude lead to an exciting and very pleasant feeling: immediately feeling friends .
F2F = Farm to Fork. Yes, but in Val di Cembra F2F stands not only for Farm to Fork, but also for Friend to Friend. And it is thanks to this precious intangible asset of Friend to Friend, the naturalness and spontaneity of teaming up and working together, that the implementation of the three objectives, however daring, is feasible and feasible. Val di Cembra, laboratory of the new normality for a quality of life to be made accessible to the many who know how and want to appreciate it.
