I Like Big Grapes And I Cannot Lie. Blog # 2

The other day, we had the chance to go visit an Agriturismo which was run by an old classmate of our professors! For starters, an agriturismo is a property of land that has been helped by the government to turn people's farmland into a bed and breakfast in which all of their foods are grown their on their farm. Not only do they produce all their own organic foods and olive trees which they get their olive oil from, they also have their own grape vines and winery. Unlike the wine that is produced there from their grapes, their olives are sent off somewhere to have the actual oils made and returned to them.

On to the important stuff! We were then taken into their gardens to see their grape vines and how they’re grown. Each plant is pruned in a way that the vines grow sideways and are supported and suspended on wires that go down the rows of grapes. As amazing as the wines and grapes are here in Italy, they aren’t entirely Italian. Each grape vine has gone through a process called grafting. Every vine at one point has been grafted with a stem of an American grape vine due to the fact that the American plants are more resistant to certain pests. After this has taken place, it allows the grapes to grow since the pests start at the bottoms of the plants and work their way up. Since the American species is more resistant, the pests die off and allows the grapes to grow. Throughout the year, the government allows farmers to spray a certain pesticide called the Bordeaux mixture, a copper sulfate solution, which helps kill off any pests. Since this solution contains a heavy metal, it can only be sprayed two times a year for every certain amount of hectares.

After we were done visiting the gardens and learning about their grape vines, we of course had to go see where the wines were fermented and finished the day off with tasting their wonderful products! This was probably the best part of the day for sure.

Stay thirsty my friends, Love Moe