Sleeping Beauty awakens in the vineyard: visitors typically wind their way north from Ticino in several kilometres of congested traffic between Locarno and Bellinzona. Few appear to be aware of the alternate route along the small cantonal road that passes through Gudo, Sementina and Monte Carasso. Though, perhaps they should be ...

On the road less travelled, they might make another discovery: a small revolution underway across the canton is most readily in evidence right here.

The steep southerly slopes to the left show off a patchwork of carefully tended vineyards.

Forget the conventional expanse of orderly parallel rows extending into the horizon. These vineyards fill unexpected and irregular spaces between rocky outcroppings and village hamlets, on slopes often too steep to build on.

Divided into narrow terraces by jagged rows of retaining walls, they cling to their overhanging balcony like so many parallel planter boxes, meant to preserve the scant remainder of topsoil against forces of wind, weather and gravity.

The vineyards are anything but new. But twenty, even ten, years ago a good many of them were all but abandoned. Finding their cultivation no longer profitable, the owners had moved on to more prosperous occupations. What has changed ?

The art of cultivating wine

All across the canton, new vintners are kissing Beauty out of her long sleep. The result: nothing less than a rinascimento in the vineyards of Ticino, a renewal of past traditions to shape a different future. Recently the same vintners--united as the Associazione viticoltori vinificatori ticinese, the Association of Winemaking Vine-growers of Ticino (AVVT)--have given their efforts a showcase, a unified publicity project presenting the growers and their wines.

A local artist, Gianluigi Susinno, contributed portraits of each of the winemakers. These accompany inspired texts on the birth and growth of each winery by Fabio Guindani, semiotician, wine-lover and scion of an old Ticino family. Together with descriptions of the wines the ensemble forms a trilingual portfolio for each winery--and a collective catalogue of Ticino's wine-renaissance.

These AVVT winemakers share a passion to coax the best out of soil and vine and bring it to cellar and table. But 'good' is not enough: they want to be recognised for products that express a geographic identity, using grapes grown exclusively in their own vineyards. Only such passion can account for this exceptional cooperation among otherwise fiercely independent producers.

Made in Ticino

With this passion in mind, you may wonder why many of these growers label their bottles with no further indication of origin than the words "Swiss Table Wine", or Vino cla tavola della svizzera italiana.

But 1997 regulations for the Ticino appellation--here called the Denominazione di Origine Controllata or DOC--claimed for DOC wines, alone, such basic identifiers as geographic origins and even names of the classic grape varieties.

Many independent growers, however, felt shut out of the regulatory process and bitterly disappointed at the lax nature of certain other regulations. In their view, the DOC became an instrument to enhance the market share of Ticino Merlot and serve the interests of large-volume houses that put other growers' grapes in the bottle.

Ironic as it may seem, then, a number of the most reputable vintners opted to drop mention of their wines' geographic identity rather than participate in the regulatory system that the DOC imposed. However, the sour aftertaste of controversy may have outlived some of its causes.

"The DOC is very young and still evolving. But the objective is an internationally recognisable quality guarantee, and we've made real progress since 1997," says one of the most prominent DOC producers. Many AVVT members also produce fine wines under the DOC label, but interested visitors should know that some of the region's best wines carry modest label designations.

The next generation

But the more important story is not that of publicity projects or labelling intrigue. It is the story of a rehabilitation of viticulture that is, at the same time, the restoration of a landscape and therefore a reinvention of local culture. This story wants telling. Better yet, it should be experienced by getting to know the vintners and their wines.

Such a discovery tour might begin chronologically with a visit to Werner Stucky in Rivera. The debt that Ticino vine-growers owe to this modest pioneer from across the Alps is all but unanimously acknowledged. And his wines, grown in vineyards above Gudo, deserve and receive no less acclaim. A similar 'historical' perspective might be gained by visiting his long-time friend and fellow transalpine pioneer Christian Zundel, who tends his vines in the Malcantone, bringing them to cellar in the tiny village of Beride.

But another route tells the story in a different way, beginning with the Ticinese of the so-called 'new generation'.

Coming from the north, we stop in Biasca, where the mighty mountains of the Leventina first begin to open out onto warmer, more southerly climes.

In these parts you will have to ask where to find the vineyards. The tiny parcels of land are hidden behind the ancient houses and walls of Biasca and the surrounding communities.

A good many of them are grown in the old and now-rare pergola style, in which all the work is done by hand. Such is the vintage operation of the Meroni Brothers, who operate 22 different parcels on a mere 1.2 hectares. Working in the tradition of these ancient vineyards, the Meronis produce five distinct Merlot wines that far surpass traditional style and ambitions.

The twin brothers, old timers by their reckoning--"The two of us are over 100 years old!"--shrug off admirers with self-effacing humour. They simply haven't the time that the "young folk" do to plant anew and wait for the vines to mature, Vincenzo says with a smile.

Heroic viticulture

Similar experiences await the visitor to Ticino's 'Cote d'Or', along the slopes between Locarno and Bellinzona. The Marcionetti family in Monte Carasso shows off its small and beautifully preserved 18th-century cellar with justifiable pride. Here their new French-oak barrels lie on wooden supports. But hewn granite blocks still jut upwards from the cobblestone floor: in past centuries, these supported much larger casks used by the priest to make wine for his parish.

At Cantina Pizzorin in Sementina both cellar and winery are nestled in an historical landscape that recalls romantic paintings. The river roars by in the gorge below. On the rocky escarpment opposite stands the medieval church.

The path to the winery leads first through the arched stone gate of the old fortification walls and then up a steep, stony path along the wall itself. It might seem surprising that this is the sole entrance to the family home, until you've seen the surrounding vineyards. What Giancarlo Pestoni practises on these steep slopes is referred to by his own fellows in the trade as viticoltura eroica: heroic viticulture.

Only seven years ago, Giancarlo was still a bank employee. Like the Marcionettis and most others in the new 'Ticinese Generation', his return to the land was inspired by the successes of the first pioneers from German Switzerland.

"We owe them a thousand thanks," says Vincenzo Meroni, more than once. Others, too, need no prompting to tell of the generosity with which the older masters encouraged and shared their commitment to natural methods, judiciously supported by modern winemaking techniques.

Neither Stucky or Zundel counts himself a young man today even though their adventure in the vineyards of Ticino dates back only twenty-some years--just long enough to pass the staff to the next generation. It is a transition that they seem to have accomplished along with fellow old-timers Daniel Huber in Monteggio and Adriano Kaufmann in Beride.

The enchanting quality of their wines notwithstanding, it's this accomplishment that may well prove their greatest.

Go on, give it a try!

Meroni Brothers: Biasca, Ticino Merlot DOC, SFr 22

Giancarlo Pestoni: Pizzorin, Ticino Merlot DOC, SFr 32.50

Werner Stucky: Tracce di Sassi, Vino da tavola della svizzera italiana (Merlot from old vines above Gudo) SFr 35

Christian Zundel: Velabona, Vino da tavola della svizzera italiana (Chardonnay from Betide) SFr 30

Terraferma, Vino da tavola della svizzera italiana (Merlot from Beride) SFr 32

The best way to find these wines is to visit the wineries or try local shops in Ticino's villages and major centres. Some include:

Lugano: Bottega del Vino, via Nassa

Locarno: In Vino Veritas, Piazza Grande

Bellinzona: Renzo Bartolotti (across from the Tourist Office) or Enoteca Castello

AVVT growers & wines: www.viticoltori.ch

Next month the wine tour moves to French Switzerland