Heroic viticulture finds one of its most authentic examples in Val d’Ossola, thanks to those who have chosen to cultivate vines on steep, challenging slopes, just like our winery.
A winery founded in 2016
Located in the municipality of Domodossola, specifically in the hamlet of Borgata Baceno, Azienda Agricola Edoardo Patrone produces “heroic” wines in the truest sense of the term. The business is run by Edoardo and Stella, a young couple who, in 2016, started a winery with the dream of enhancing the valley and its wines, thus becoming among the pioneers of wine tourism in Ossola. From the outset, the aim has been to create truly distinctive wines from Alto Piemonte, capable of telling the story of a region that is still little known.
Vineyards on slopes exceeding 30%
The winery’s vineyards fully meet the criteria for heroic viticulture recognised by CERVIM: they are located on slopes exceeding 30%, at an altitude above 500 metres, and are spread across terraces painstakingly built over the decades. The high-quality grapes are 100% hand-harvested and selected from vineyards nestled on the steep slopes of Ossola: work that requires time, care and in-depth knowledge of every individual plot.
International recognition
The difficulty of this work also translates into tangible recognition: Valli Ossolane Rosso Vigna Vagna 2019 was awarded the silver medal at the World Competition of Heroic Wines, confirming how the effort of cultivating these slopes can result in wines of genuine quality, recognised internationally.
The value of hard work in the vineyard
If you happen to drink a “heroic” wine, try to appreciate it even more by thinking of the hard work of winegrowers in particularly challenging conditions, on land that is complex to manage yet, at the same time, generous with its fruit: it is precisely this contrast between effort and quality that makes the heroic viticulture of Val d’Ossola unique.
Discovering heroic viticulture up close
To get to know these vineyards and the work behind every bottle first-hand, the best opportunity is to visit the winery: book a tasting to discover the terraced vineyards of Val d’Ossola and the wines they produce for yourself.
The wines born from these vineyards
Heroic vineyards at our winery give rise to labels such as Valli Ossolane Rosso Vigna Vagna, Testa Rüsa and other selections bearing the names of the individual terraced plots from which they come: a choice that reflects the attention paid to each individual vineyard, typical of those who work with small, non-standardisable areas. Each label therefore tells the story not only of a vintage, but also of the specific section of terrace where it was born.
What it means to visit a heroic vineyard
Walking among the rows of our winery means seeing first-hand what it entails to work on such steep slopes: there are no tractors or mechanical vehicles that can move easily between the terraces, and much of the work, from pruning to harvesting, is still carried out manually today, step by step. It is an experience that helps you understand why the term “heroic” is not an exaggeration at all, but the most honest description of daily work made up of effort and dedication.
This attention to detail, vineyard by vineyard, is probably the aspect that best distinguishes heroic viticulture from that carried out on flat, mechanisable land: every decision, from pruning to harvesting, is made by closely observing the specific conditions of each individual row.
It should be added that the winery, like many producers involved in heroic viticulture in Ossola, actively participates in initiatives and competitions dedicated to this type of production, as a way of engaging with other international producers that share the same challenges, from Cinque Terre to Costa Viola and the terraced vineyards of Valtellina, in a constant dialogue between different regions united by the same production philosophy.
