Vendemmia 2011!

The end of 2011 was such a whirlwind that I have not had the time to finish my blog on Italia year 1. Sorry friends! I promise to post about my last few farms by the time I leave for year 2, which is next Thursday. 

Vendemmia (grape harvest) was one of the major reasons I wanted to be in Italy in the month of September and to be on a farm that had a vineyard. I was lucky enough to be at Collina Cerreto in Godiasco (near Voghera) with a vineyard full of Barbera grapes. In this small "town", all the neighbors pitch in to help each other harvest all the grapes. 

One of the best parts of this harvest was that my friend Reva was there with me! We met in Siena in March when she first arrived and we were able to plan to meet up together and WWOOF on this farm in September. What a great treat to have a friend with me! 

We began the harvest in the early morning light while it was still "cool".  

Interesting fun fact: there is wild mint growing in the middle of the rows between the vines. The smell is delicious- mint and grapes are a beautiful combination. 

Together we harvested 500 kg (1,100 pounds) of Barbera grapes! It was myself, Reva, Stefano, and Pauola (Stefano's mom who could run circles around us all!)

 With this many grapes, they will be able to make approximately 200-250 bottles of wine for them to use in their agriturismo restaurant and to sell to guests. This is a very small scale production! 

 I learned that it is very important to wear tight fitting gloves.

 Stefano & Dani harvesting as a team. It was easier to have a partner on the other side of the vine so between the two of you, an entire vine could be seen as you walk up or slide down the row.

Enrique is the 80 year old neighbor who insists that everyone should harvest and press according to his rules. He was very opinionated and had a lot of knowledge to share. He was also so excited to get his picture taken from foreigners so he could be seen all over the world!

The team on another day after harvesting (me, Enrique, Dani, Reva, Stefano and Michael) 

And here is my shining moment! I felt like Lucille Ball! I just went for it! Took off my socks and shoes and started stomping!













A word to the wise, it is highly acidic in that grape juice so don't shave your legs before you stomp. It is also very sweet and there are bugs in those grapes... they will come out and crawl up your legs.

What a BLAST! 

The end product... for now at least!

If you don't stomp your grapes (and no one actually does this- just me- because I am a silly American tourist), then you need to put them through a de-stemmer and press.

The de-stemmer does just that... it removes the stems from the grapes and then pushes the grapes through a rotating press. The juice then drains (see the hose in the back) and goes into a large vat to ferment.

 You must be very careful not to get your hands in that de-stemmer, it could be dangerous.

This is the old school/basement method of making wine. You take the grapes and dump them into this wooden press. Then you hand crank it down (with a large wooden disk on the top), pressing the grapes and allowing the juice to flow out of the bottom. It runs into the bucket which you then empty though a sieve and let ferment in large glass "barrels".

The end result of hand cranking. These are the pressed grape skins and stems. This is what you could now make grappa from.

 Michael is cutting out the "grape leftovers" to be added to the compost. 

 Grape juice turning into wine... basement wine!

And that's it folks! Vendemmia 2011 for this girl was a great learning experience. Looking forward to 2012!