WINE AND VALUES

Armed with a glass of wine, I am ready to do battle in the cultural wars over the issue of “values”. Forget the role of wine in the new testament, since it is clear that only really crazy people take the bible literally, and some of them still use grape juice in their sacraments. I will make my case solely on my own personal experience which, with all humility, I consider to be very valid.

Wine to me means family. As a young boy I helped my father and grandfather pick the grapes in our vineyard. I wish I could say that I stomped around on them in my bare feet, but alas, that pleasure was denied me. I did however play in the huge upright barrel that remained from the commercial wine making days; access was through a small door that opened near the bottom. I remember it as huge, but it was probably about 8-10 feet tall and 5-6 feet across. But I digress.

Like so many first generation Italian-Americans, my father made wine every year, even long after the grapes were gone. In fact he did so his entire life excluding the few years his health prevented it. There were always 5-6 barrels of wine in our cellar. In later years the wooden barrels were replaced by 5 gallon glass and plastic vessels. A gallon of red wine was a fixture in our kitchen, often on the floor by my father or grandfather at dinner time and the wine was sipped from small juice glasses, never the wine glasses we see today.

When aunts, uncles, and cousins came to visit they never left without first having coffee, wine, and more often than not, food. For many years I would visit my uncle Ferrar and the visit always began with a glass of wine along with some bread, cheese, and perhaps peppers and/or salami. Of course he made his own wine, as did my uncle Ren (Communardo, but everyone called him Ren...quite understandable.) who left the farm and moved to Long Island and soon had his own grape arbor in the back yard.

Wine means the warmth of friendship and sharing. I do enjoy a glass of wine alone, at the end of the day, but I enjoy it more when I am sitting with one or more friends and neighbors in our kitchen or on our porch. It is a quiet way of saying, “I am glad your here with me”. It is a gesture of friendship and hospitality.

Family, friendship, hospitality...sounds a lot like love to me.

Ferrar, Ren, and Spartico (my father) sometime in the 1980s

the same three as they were way back when..

A partial family gathering at Uncle Ren's. The grape arbor can be seen on the right.

WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY

The best experiences in life are usually unplanned. First, some background:

It has become a tradition on my trips back home (Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey) for me and my dear friend Obie (Wilmington) to travel to south Philadelphia early Sunday afternoon to visit my cousin Danny and his brother Joe who comes down from central NJ. After a few glasses of wine, some cheese, bread, and other goodies, we go to our favorite cafe at 6th and Bainbridge for the best martinis and crepes east of the Mississippi river. I called Danny a few weeks ago to let him know I would be back east this past weekend and we arranged for our usual outing. Before leaving on Sunday I called Danny to let him know that our friend Hal would be joining us. It took only a few minutes of phone time for me to know that he had forgotten about our visit, and had planned on a dinner at home with Linda (Danny’s saintly wife), daughter Michelle, Joe, and their sister Emily and one of her friends from the convent.

After letting him hang on his own forgetfulness for awhile, I declined his invitation to join them and said that we would be coming for a brief visit before going off to the cafe and would not disrupt his family plans. Now I knew all along that Linda would not allow us to leave their house, and was not surprised - or embarrassed- when she insisted we stay for dinner, telling me she had already started cooking for us. I only hope I can do justice in describing what followed.

First, there was the usual wine, bread, hot peppers, and cheese. But in addition she set out a plate of broccoli rabe that 48 hours later still haunts my taste buds. Just when I thought it could not be any better, a platter of small lamb chops, broiled in olive oil and balsamic vinegar appeared, and then I knew...yes Virginia, there is a heaven.

And the day only got better. For about two hours we enjoyed the company, the wine, and Danny’s vodka martinis. (Danny, Joe, and Emily’s parents are both gone. Their father was my mother’s brother, and they lived together with 2 other brothers when they were teenagers how that came to be is another story.)

Then the call came, Linda telling everyone to find a place at the table, and the serious dinning began. Before us were bowls of ravioli. fettuccini, meatballs, pork and beef from the gravy, and salad. And the feast began, with Pavarotti and others filling the room, the conversation and laughter flowed as easily as the wine. It was truly a most wonderful day. I do believe that their was love in everyone's eyes as we relished Linda’s food and each other’s company.

FONTERUTOLI IN CHIANTI

We flew from O'hare to Milan, Milan to Rome, and drove 3 plus hours from Rome to Tuscany. There, nestled on a hillside along side of the Chianti highway, we found our Village/winery which was to be our home for the next week.



Looking at Fonterultoli

This village of 3 or 4 streets consists of a few private homes and a winery and estate that has been in the same family for 400 years. Like many other farms and wineries they offer accommodations for tourists, usually for a minimum rental of one week. Our apartment, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, kitchen and large dinning room and living room was located on the second floor of one of the orignal winery facilities on Via Puccini.


the apartment...our bedroom, second floor window on the left


looking down Vial Puccini, our apartment on the right. The homes on this timy street are private residences.


Looking out the livingroom window. The building on the left is the owners home. They live here from May to November and in Florence for the remaining months.

The farm produces Chianti wine, olive oil, and lavender toiletry products.