Saturday we experienced a truly wonderful event. We were given the opportunity to harvest grapes at a local vineyard. Volpara (the little fox) is owned and run by an elderly Dutch couple who have more experience living in multiple countries than anyone I know (Holland, Germany, France, many countries within Africa, and Italy to say what I remember). They are such a sweet pair and they allowed us to help harvest and begin to process their grapes, fed us lunch, and gave us a wine tasting at the end of the day.
So, our day looked something like this: we boarded the train from Orvieto at 8:30 and got off at the next stop 15 minutes later from where we walked for about 20 minutes to get to their house. We introduced ourselves and then got down to work. We picked grapes in both their old and new vineyards for about 3 ½ hours meaning that we had to cut off the bunch from the vine, check to ensure that there was no mold on it, and then taste at least one grape from every bunch to make sure they were sweet. Now, this may not sound too bad, chilling in the sun, eating grapes, but trust me, we ate A LOT of grapes and that can make your stomach feel slightly off. Then we took a break for lunch and then went back, finishing picking at 4:00, and moving on to de-stemming the grapes by pouring them into a machine that pulled the juice down into the cellar below. Then we sat down around the table to taste three of their different wines – a cheaper one, then moving up the scale to moderate, and then their most expensive, all red wines (all of which I wasn't a huge fan of). After this we said our goodbyes, walked to the train station, and boarded a train for home.
7 commenti:
Well the adventure at the vineyard sounds like a lot of work, but wonderful at the same time. What an experience. I can picture you now. Not the I Love Lucy one though. I am glad you did some wine tasting. Oh so cultured now. Hugs sweetie. Time to start a journal of all these times in you life. I can see a book now...hehehe
Sounds like you're quite a wine connoisseur now - I bet you won't want to look at a grape for awhile - it is so fun to hear (read) of your adventures - God Bless and stay safe
That is a lot of grapes to eat in one day! ... sounds like you are having so many adventures... don't forget to take mental pictures :P
Oh it was a very cultured experience. I'm going to come back such a cultured person you all won't even know me ;)
And, yes, grapes are not a high priority on my list of foods I want to eat right now.
I also took a couple visual pictures and so did some other people, so I'll try to get those up soon!
Love you family!
Slightly behind the curve here, I just read of your adventures at the vineyard. Sounds intriguing. I'd have to agree, that's a lot of grapes to eat in a day! How great, to have such an experience and meet such people. We are so happy for you! Can't wait to hear of London :)
im still having problems imaging you drinking wine. but im sure when the image finally appears in my mind, that im going to love it. i can not believe we are turning 21 soon! everyone at my work is working extra hard because of the conversion, so we are actually having a wine testing retreat when the whole thing is over. we are taking a limo drive down to temecula to visist a few there. i know they wont be anything like itlay but ill still be thinking of you when im there.
Felicia, I think you may have missed the part where I said that I didn't actually like any of the wine...taste it, yes, enjoy it, no. :)
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