LE SPINE
The beers are selected by Giulio, who, before deciding to resign and take part in ReStartAlp 2015, had been working in production for three different Italian craft beer makers, over a period of five years Two out of five lines are dedicated to local breweries Argo (Lemignano di Collecchio) and Turris (Borgo Val di Taro). The other three cover, in turn, the entire national scene. “Every time a keg finishes, I change ‘label’. I have chosen to create a direct relationship with the breweries. I also sell bottled beers, but draught beers draw more interest” points out Giulio. In the original project, Le Spine was going to be a brew pub, with its own production line: “We also own one and a half hectares of arable land, below the terrace – he explains – For the moment, there is a vegetable garden, but I would also like to grow hops and barley when the time is right for us to start our own production”. In addition to beer, our list also includes apple cider, made by azienda agricola Tre Rii, using fruits from the Alta Val Baganza and Alta Val Parma valleys, as well as liqueurs, distillates and bitters produced by Liquoreria Friulana, based in Spilimbergo, in the province of Pordenone – a homage to Mica, who was born in Friuli.
Craft beer
As from 2016, craft beer can be described with reference to a specific provision of law, that is article 35 of Italian Law No. 154/2016, which states that: “Craft beer shall be defined as beer produced by small independently-owned breweries that has not undergone any pasteurisation or microfiltration treatment during production. For the purposes of this sub-paragraph, a small independently-owned brewery shall be a brewery that is legally and financially independent from any other brewery, uses equipment that is physically separate from that of any other brewery, does not operate under a licence for use of intellectual property rights belonging to a third-party and does not produce more than 200,000 hectolitres of beer per year, including any quantities that are produced on behalf of third parties”. In Italy, the craft beer movement was born in the mid-Nineties, with the creation of the first independently-owned establishments. The market, however, began to develop from the beginning of the 2000s.
Future projects at Le Spine include serving hot food “although we plan to always proceed in small steps, understanding the local ‘response’ to our project – says Mica – Coming from Milan, we chose this area because it is lively and vibrant”. In the Lombard capital, Mica was working for a publisher and was an active participant in Intergas, the network of ethical purchasing groups. Out of six families who live in Cavazzola, the couple explain, three are new arrivals. The municipality of Berceto is part of the associazione Borghi autentici d’Italia, (Authentic Villages of Italy Association) and has been labelled as a “Hospitable Village”. Mica cooperates with the Piccolo festival di antropologia della montagna (Small Festival of Mountain Anthropology), seeking to encourage anthropologists, authors, artists and musicians to talk about the mountains. Since 2019, Le Spine too has been organising its own little festival “Sorsi di Scienza” (Sips of Science), in which authors are invited to talk about their science-based books in front of a pint of beer. In 2020, the Festival was able to take place, despite the Covid emergency. The last event, on 12 September, featured Giorgio Vacchiano, a researcher and lecturer of Forestry Management and Planning at the Milan State University, who was named in 2018 as one of 11 emerging scientists worldwide by Naturemagazine.
Hospitable Village
The Authentic Villages of Italy Association runs a project called “Hospitable Community”, promoting a model of tourist development whereby participating villages stand out from conventional holiday destinations for the welcoming attitude of local hosts and the special experience that can be enjoyed by guests. The goal is that visitors should be able to take back a bagful of stories and emotions that are difficult to forget and easy to retell. A Hospitable Community is a place where guests can feel like temporary citizens, fitting right into the gentle rhythm of village life, getting to know and appreciating the physical and non-physical products of the land, absorbing new cultural inputs and emotional influences. A Hospitable Community enhances the value of its territory, preserving it from the risk of standardisation that is typical of a consumerist marketing approach, focusing only on profit maximisation. Participating villages – like Berceto – get organised to welcome visitors, stress the value of their identity, and deliver a tourist experience that does not rely on the invasive action of man over the environment, but, rather, on age-old gestures that are suggestive of a great wisdom and care in conserving the local heritage.
