nd the wine ? Even though the production and the quality of the local wine is almost insignificant, vines are still a remarkable presence in the rural landscape, in the rigorous geometry of the "rive" (lines) at Mugnai and Fonzaso, as well as in the small vines around the piedmont areas. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Peronospora and Phylloxera diseases interrupted an old tradition of good grapes such as the qualities "Boa bianca" and "Boa rossa" from the Fonzaso area. The re-implantation of hybrids from "Clinton" and "Americana" vines were not sufficient to revive the local oenology's dignity, which today has to be satisfied with a simple wine, good in summer, but very distant from real wine.

uckily, some intelligent farmers, supported by enthusiastic technicians, seem to have recently taken the right direction towards the re-use of old glorious species of vine. We cannot conclude the subject of the traditional cuisine without mentioning "grappa". The grappa of the Feltrino area, with no label, the authentic one, today not much used due to its too strong taste, the one judged by Paolo Monelli as one of the best grappe in Italy "distilled in the shade of the Tomatico", pure and frank like the character of the mountain population. In the past it was present in every house, used as a panacea, to comfort against cold weather, fears and anxieties, but in particular it was good, good, good !

Corrado Bosco