Sciacchetrail

A race, a wine, a territory and its people

Trail running is the most authentic way to enjoy the beauty of nature and, at the same time, the allure of adventure.

Trail running means, among others things, running for miles and miles in solitude, which stimulates inner growth.  A new dimension is added to running with the infinite variables of nature.

Running along the ancient mule tracks leads us back to the origins of the various territories, through their histories and economies.   Rediscovering all of this through hard effort also has a moral value that brings us back to reality, outside of financial bubbles and technologies in which we are losing ourselves.

The growth of trail running in recent years has been promoted by territories that have understood that this discipline brings tourism sensitive to environmental issues and sustainability.

Not secondary remains the economic aspect that a manifestation of trail running is able to generate, with the possibility of deseasonalizing tourism flows, and at the same time facilitating tourism more attentive to the territory and local hospitality.

A wine

Sciacchetrà is a sweet passito wine, produced in the Cinque Terre from Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino grape varieties.

Although the origin of the name seems shrouded in mystery – for some it derives from the Semitic “shekar” which, in Palestine 3,000 years ago, described fermented beverages, for others it comes from the dialect verb “sciacàa”, or “crush” used here to indicate the operation of crushing grapes – it is certain that this fine wine has become the symbol par excellence of the Cinque Terre.

A fruity floral aroma, reminiscent of the essence of the Mediterranean: hints of dried fruit, apricot jam, yellow peach, vanilla, chestnut honey and spices.
A warm and intense color: from golden yellow to amber, tending to topaz.  Sweet but never too much so, warm, full-bodied, velvety and smooth, well-balanced, with pleasant and light tannins.

With an average yield of 25 liters per ton of grapes – the grapes are left to dry until November and are then picked from the stem by hand to select only the best – and very high quality guaranteed by the Denomination of Origin (DOC since 1973 like the dry wine type), Sciacchetrà is a niche product that can evolve for ten, twenty and even thirty years.

A wine loved by poets and writers.  Pliny, Boccaccio and Petrarch spoke of it. Carducci described it as “the essence of all the Dionysian ecstasy”, Giovanni Pascoli asked that a few bottles be sent “in the name of Italian literature”, Gabriele D’Annunzio described it as “deeply sensual.”

To fully understand Sciacchetrà means to not only savor its organoleptic qualities but also to appreciate the traditional body of knowledge related to the culture of the land. It means drinking a wine that with every sip tells a story of the long and sometimes controversial relationship between man and nature.

A territory and its people

Years ago the Cantina Sociale launched a promotional campaign with the slogan “a territory, a wine”.

The Cinque Terre were not yet an international touristic destination.

The National Park did not exist.  The future was to find a job out of the area.

Everything changed rapidly and we witnessed something incredible: in less than 10 years the agricultural society became a tourist economy that is the driving force in the province of La Spezia.

A change so sudden could not come without pain. The social dynamics of the new economic system has created fractures within the community, and is changing the relationship between the always decreasing number of residents and the growing number of tourists.
Tourist flows have enriched certain sectors almost exclusively, leaving just a marginal role for agriculture, a sector that is the cornerstone of the environmental system of the territory of the Cinque Terre, in both historical and social terms.

A culturale action is needed to place agricultural production again at the forefront in the role of primary sector, transferring resources from tourism to agriculture.

Sciacchetrail

The path to revive the soul of this territory is to exalt hard work as a moment of research, analysis and union.

From here came the idea of a trail race that unites the community and exalts the territory and the hard work required for its cultivation.

The name “Sciacchetrail” is the union of the words Sciacchetra’ and Trail Running.