Sciacchetrà Wine and Focaccia col Formaggio in Recco
Cinque Terre's food identity is quietly extraordinary: a sweet amber passito wine made from Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino grapes grown on near-vertical terraces, and a wafer-thin cheese flatbread that has its own EU protected status. Neither should leave the region without being tasted.
Sciacchetrà: The Terraced Wine
Produced in tiny quantities — the entire Cinque Terre DOC yields less than some single Tuscan estates — Sciacchetrà is made by partially drying harvested grapes before pressing, concentrating sugars and floral aromas into a rich, amber dessert wine.
The best place to try it is at Cantina Sociale Cooperativa di Cinque Terre in Via Discovolo, Manarola, where you can taste alongside local anchovies cured in salt and a wedge of aged Parmigiano. A 100 ml pour costs around €5.
Bottles are expensive (€25–€60 for 375 ml) but make the most distinctive souvenir from the region — far more memorable than a limoncino magnet.
Focaccia col Formaggio in Nearby Recco
Technically just outside the park, the town of Recco (40 min by train via Genoa) is the birthplace of focaccia col formaggio — a paper-thin unleavened dough filled with fresh Stracchino cheese and baked at ferocious heat until blistered and molten inside.
Manuelina restaurant on Via Roma has been serving it since 1885 and holds IGP certification for the dish. Order it straight from the oven, cut into squares, with a glass of cold Vermentino.
If the detour feels too long, most Cinque Terre bakeries sell a decent version; look for it labelled focaccia di Recco con formaggio and eat it within minutes of purchase.
Sciacchetrà Wine and Focaccia col Formaggio in Recco on video
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