There are certain experiences in life that resonate with each one of us. These experiences generally require an open mind and the ability to savor every moment.
Although I am referring to a particular time period living in Europe, I am also referring to the incredible pleasure a great glass of wine can bring to us.
Great wine and great food will unite a table of friends and foes. It will make an uncomfortable situation fun, and it can surely make a dull evening one to remember.
So why wine? Why submerse yourself in hours upon hours of work in the fields and winery? Why worry about importing and exporting with foreign currency? A consuming passion.
The passion that it takes to work around the clock during harvest tending to the grapes and winery. It is contagious. As I worked a harvest in Italy, I saw it and I caught it. I am officially hooked for life.
As I was picking grapes in little Montaldo, Italy (a town of only 120 people), I was taught how to prune vines for the following year. These vines were planted by the winemakers (Fabrizio Iuli's) grandfather. Fabrizio's father, Lorenzo, was the one teaching me how to prune these vines.
So there I was with three generations of wine makers and vineyard workers literally in one bunch of grapes in my hands. Covered in grape juice and the Indian Clay soil prominent in those vineyards, I was mesmerized.
Working 16 hour days in the vineyard and winery surrounded by people who have done nothing else in their lives but that, is astounding. Seeing their drive to continue what their elders have started is simply beautiful; patrimony is a rarity and it is what makes a glass of wine so exciting.
It is for these people that we write this blog and why we offer Grapes & Grains to you. We want to highlight what these hardworking people have created. We want to show you that there is so much more to wine than what most stores and people offer; there is life and passion in every bottle, it is our job to show you.
The winery that I was working at is called Cascina Iuli from Piedmont, Italy. http://www.iuli.it/eng/index.html
This is a magical place with magical wine. We are fortunate to sell some of the wine that I helped make.
We will surely be blogging about it soon...
Salute, Grapes & Grains