The tradition of dry-stone walls. Silent and tireless guardians of a humble and precious heritage.
Liguria is the greatest guardian of a World Heritage Site defined as intangible: the dry-stone walls, which in local slang are called maixei. Hundreds of thousands kilometers of ancient stones interlocked one on the other, in bonds strengthened by time and by the daily work of generations of people.
“It took patience, patience in the blue, to erect all these walls” wrote Francesco Biamonti, a Ligurian poet.
Created in order to tame our land and protect it from landslides and rains, dry-stone walls have originated breathtaking landscapes. Our winegrowers are their silent guardians as they are constantly restoring the maixei that collapse and fall apart. They still cultivate by hand, renouncing mechanization that would require these walls to be sacrificed.
In this way, they keep alive not only historical pieces, shaped by the ancient Ligurians and a symbol of the place and tradition, but real elements that safeguard the environment, defending centuries-old crops.
Maixei, then, means land containment and preservation of ancient memory. We keep on believing in dry-stone walls, exercising the patience of ancient man who used to say “less is more”, experiencing the joy of having a genuine product on the table, followed by us from its birth.
Vinification in purity, manual work, artisanally managed vineyards.
Our wines are unique due to the choice to vinify in purity: a tradition of the Ligurian Western Riviera that Maixei respects, handing down the techniques of manual work and artisanal vineyard management.
What does vinification in purity mean?
Our red wines are made solely from Rossese grapes and white wines only from Vermentino and Pigato grapes, grown on our territory. Wine purity does not only mean absence of blending: it also means absence of foreign elements and impurities, authentic flavor and respect for tradition. We ensure that the must transformation processes are minimal and authentic, to return a wine ready to offer its very personal bouquet.
Our cooperative, full of stubborn, passionate and determined spirits, was born and works to enhance the characteristics of our territory with its particular and unique combinations of climate and soil: our terroir. If we were asked to give up our viticultural techniques, we would no longer be Maixei!
