Surely at least once we will have heard of heroic viticulture and we will probably have imagined the superhero version of Marvel's winemakers. We haven't actually gone that far and let's see why! The viticulture practiced on particularly impervious terrain is called heroic, where it is impossible to use machinery for work in the vineyards, and subject to extreme conditions linked to the climate, the very nature of the land and the altitude at which the vines are located.
A difficult type of viticulture that requires a lot of effort, commitment and tenacity, but which allows the production of truly exceptional wines from a qualitative point of view. CERVIM (Center for Research, Studies, Safeguarding, Coordination and Enhancement for Mountain Viticulture) establishes the necessary criteria for viticulture to be defined as heroic:
- a slope of the land greater than 30%;
- an altitude higher than 500 meters above the sea level;
- a viticultural system developed on terraces and steps;
- positioning on small islands.
One of these characteristics is enough to have the definition of heroic. In our beautiful peninsula there are many examples, from north to south. In Val di Cembra, in Trentino, the vineyards of Muller Thurgau are located on land whose slopes exceed 40%, forcing the winegrowers to carry out all the work in the vineyard manually. The same happens on the Prosecco hills where Glera is grown. Even in Valle d'Aosta there are climatic and altitude conditions such that we can speak of heroic viticulture. Just think of the vineyards of Morgex and La Salle located at about 1.200 meters high on terraces built on steep terrain. Characteristic are the 4 meter high dry stone walls that protect the vineyards where almost all the work is done manually. 
Another example is that of Valtellina and its vineyards that reach considerable slopes. Here we find the largest terraced area in Italy with vineyards supported by numerous walls, which can only be reached by man on foot with considerable difficulty. In some points the slopes become such as to make it difficult to harvest the grapes and force the transport of the panniers containing the grapes through small helicopters. In the rugged and sometimes wild territory of the Cinque Terre, man has made the cultivation of vines possible through an architecture made of dry stone walls, steps and terraces overlooking the sea, locally called “cian”. Here too the slopes make grape harvesting and transport to the cellar difficult. To overcome this problem, the winemakers have built metal rails that connect the top to the base of the slopes. 
Similarly, on the Amalfi Coast the vineyards are located on small terraces enclosed by dry stone walls (called "macère") torn from small patches of land overlooking the sea, or in narrow gorges. Each terrace is no more than 5 meters long and usually contains 4 or 5 rows. Vineyards where you can only get there on foot through very steep roads and where harvesting is done manually by means of a tracked wheelbarrow. And, finally, we close this excursus, which also represents a journey through Italy, with the vineyards along the steep slopes of Etna and with those of the island of Pantelleria, where the vines are grown low with the classic sapling shape in holes dug in the ground, to be able to shelter them from the iodine-laden winds that lash the island. 
From north to south, the vine can give us a landscape heritage made up of fascinating glimpses that are a monument to the stubbornness of man's work.
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