While I typically learn quite a bit when I’m on my treks I must admit this trip has to rank as one of the most informative of my travels. I guess in part that has to do with the fact that much of my time on my other treks has been spent getting from point to point. Different type of information acquisition lol.
Fontefico is the name of the winery it is family owned and operated by the three children of the original owners (who are still alive, lovely people) Nicola, Emanuele and their sister (sorry sis haven’t been able to find your name) have been running the family vineyard for about twenty years now. The grapes are all organically grown and only grapes grown on the property carry their label.
Speaking of labeling a unique character of Fontefico is that Emanuele is an artist and develops a unique label for each vintage year. The winery produces roughly 5,000 cases a year so is considered to be a small winery. Typically I’m not a big fan of “organic” wines, but these folks have got it down. Their wines are delicious.
Using small gardening shears we clipped the grapes from the vine and dropped them into bins. Having experience picking berries in my youth it was easy to get into the vines, find the ripe clusters and clip them for the bin. I wouldn´t want to do it for a living but for thirty minutes or so, it was fun. Fabrizio teased me that about wanting to go to work for the vineyard because I nearly filled my bin LOL.
We then retired to the winery where Nicola explained the wine making process utilizing a combination of stainless steel and concrete (yes concrete) tanks to make the wine (concrete can allow a tiny bit of oxygen to interact with the wine if that is needed). My takeaway was that wine making is truly an art and the talent of the wine maker is an essential ingredient to the creation of good wines.
Our vintners seminar completed, we adjourned to a lovely afternoon lunch on the property. (Photo below courtesy Fabrizio Italia Sweet Italia)
An interesting appetizer or “antipasto” (which in Italian literally translates to “before meal”) were egg and cheese balls which look like meatballs but are meatless. They were served with a lovely wine called Cerasuolo which is kind of a cross between a rose and a young red wine such as a Beaujolais…very tasty.
A fun piece of regional culinary technique. If one wanted their pasta sauce to be a little spicier one snipped fresh chilies onto their pasta and mixed.
After a lovely lunch, which included a birthday cake for Nichola from Fabrizio, we adjourned to our hotel to rest and prepare for the evening’s patron saint procession.
Patron Saint celebrations are truly an event in Italy as you have seen previously. Tonight was the culmination of that celebration as the statue of St. Michael the Archangel was returned to it’s church from the cathedral of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph) to the church of Belvedere San Michele Arcangelo. Belvidere, an older car model or city in northern Illinois in the states, is a derivation of belvedere which broken down into its root words in Italian is belle vedere which translates to beautiful view as one can see below.
It was about one kilometer from church to church uphill. So, not knowing which route the procession would take I went down to see the beginning of the procession.
After getting all the way down there I realized that I had a much better vantage point for the procession from my hotel balcony so I beat feet back to my place one click back up the hill at a quick march….glad I have shed those fifty lbs (roughly 22kg for my metric friends). Prayers were being chanted along the procession and I thought it was interesting that interspersed within the procession were gentlemen carrying speakers which were connected to their phones so that the priest’s prayers could be heard along the length of the procession. The videos below will give you a flavor of the end of the procession from my hotel balcony.
The procession ended at the church where there was a crowd needless to say.
There were fireworks in the bay at midnight and I thought I had taken some pictures but alas there are none to be found. More fun tomorrow as we go to an olive oil mill and an art agritourism. Ciao per ora! 🙂
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