Landscapes, Geosites And Wine Production Areas

Each wine has its own natural and cultural landscape. The present landscape is the result of the interaction of many natural and cultural components. Some Italian areas show an alternance between special natural land features and characteristic cultural arrangements; for example, many vineyards represent a a specific use of specific portions of land and, as such, may be considered to be a very important kind of geomorphologic heritage. These areas require special management aimed at safeguarding both the natural and cultural aspects of the landscape and implementing well-balanced programs for local development that promote the typical production of the wine and its special link with the landscape. A very useful tool for such territorial planning and management is the “Carta della Natura”, a project (Italian Law 394/91) that studies Italian territory following a holistic and multi-scale approach (1:250,000: Landscape Units; 1:50,000 Habitats; 1:10,000: Ecotopes) in order to obtain complete knowledge of the territory and evaluate the state of the environment. By integrating many different types of information, it is possible to analyze the link between vineyard cultivation and landscape within the framework of geomorphological settings. Moreover, it is possible to recognize and identify a number of distinctive landscapes for submission as a protected geoheritage. KeywordsLandscape–Maps–Geoheritage–Vineyards–Italy