The Gulf of the Island, with its enchanting towns of Bergeggi, Spotorno, Noli and Vezzi Portio has always been a land rich in history, culture and traditions. But it is also a territory that knows how to look to the future, innovating and enhancing its natural resources. An example of this is the birth of Rapuggia, the first line of cosmetic products created by Francesca Carmona e Matteo Bonello, managers of the Nova Luna et Stellis Spa in Bergeggi.
The name Rape, which in Ligurian dialect means “grape marc”, immediately reveals the soul of these products. They are born from the love for the territory and the valorization of one of its main elements: the vines, which also find space on the slopes of the Gulf of the Island. An example for all is the Sancio winery in Spotorno, which cultivates the rare little lumassine, a native white grape variety of this territory. Francesca and Matteo, on the other hand, looked a little further, valorizing in their cosmetics the grape marc of the Innocenzo Turco farm in Quiliano (SV). Combined with mud and salts from the Dead Sea, the marc creates a unique synergy, exploiting the antioxidant and regenerating properties of the polyphenols contained within the grape skin. The Rapuggia line is composed of three products: body scrub, mud and bath salts, which complete the treatments of a company that already in 2016 had proposed wine therapy. An important choice to tell how the territory of the Gulf of the Island is also hinterland, as much in the cuisine as in the wines and in 360-degree well-being.
La Granaccia: a story of land and sea
Granaccia, however, is more than just a grape variety: it is the protagonist of a story that is still shrouded, at least in part, in mystery. For some, its presence is the result of a trade that was already flourishing in the Middle Ages with Spain, which supplied itself with paper from local paper mills. According to others, however, the name Granaccia immediately brings to mind the French Grenache and therefore refers to the Provençal roads. Or, again, to the historical link between Liguria and Sardinia, where the original Spanish vine, Alicante, arrived and settled perfectly, to then become known as Cannonau. However, it is of little importance to know its precise origin, but rather to recognize its Mediterranean projection, of a vine that has traveled on almost all the shores of the Mare Nostrum to then land in Savona and from there quickly climb up the hills surrounding the Gulf of the island.
An invitation to discover the Gulf of the Island
Even beauty products become an invitation to discover the Gulf of the Island. You can start from Bergeggi, where the Spa Nova Luna et Stellis is located, the creator of this happy union. From there, you can visit the coastal villages of Spotorno e Noli, to then enter the first hills, from the hinterland of Spotorno to Vezzi, on the trail of an ancient winemaking tradition. Together with theolive (whose season has just ended), to the mushroom and chestnut picking, viticulture represents one of the many peculiarities to discover at the table during an autumn visit to the Gulf of the Island.
