Montepulciano

This week we had a wine tasting in Montepulciano, a region famous for its wine. It was the first region to get a special licensing known as DOCG which stands for "Designation of controlled and guaranteed origin". This specific type of wine is called Nobile di Montepulciano. This designation has very strict guidelines through every stage of the wine making process until the wine is finally bottled. Throughout the process the wine is referred to as "on its way to Nobile di Montepulciano". If any errors occur then the value of the wine drops steeply and may not be sold as Nobile di Montepulciano. 

The facility used to store and age the wine was formerly a castle owned by a rich family. The cellar deep below the surface is ideal for storing wine barrels because it retains nearly the same temperature all year around. The cellar has incredibly high gothic ceilings which the owners believe was a private church for the inhabitants. 

At the wine tasting we tasted four wines. Traditional wine & cheese tastings go from lightest flavors to most intense. For this reason the wine was served white first, lightly aged red, well aged red, and then sweet dessert wine. The first was a Chardonnay which was followed by a Sangiovese. The third was a reserve wine which was well aged and tasted very oaky. The dessert wine served was a Vin Santo, a classical sweet Italian wine with a very high sugar content.

Wine is a subject that Italians take very seriously and it is an important part of everyday Italian life. From the farming of the grapes to the aging and bottling processes winemaking can be a highly regulated venture. Italians want to retain the integrity of their ingredients and processes and because of this we have the regulations in place today. 

-LJC

Puff Puff Pass the Medicine

While browsing a café in Montepulciano, I came across some peculiar chocolate. It was titled “Cioccolato Al Latte Con Cannabis”. The chocolate possessed cannabis seeds, which contain almost no THC, the cannabinoid that has psychoactive traits, or CBD, the second most common cannabinoid. However consuming the resin that is excreted by the female plant is what contains the most potent amount of cannabinoids. 

Consumption of cannabis has many beneficial effects on the human body. Humans have two different types of cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2. They are affected by the body’s own endocannabinoids and the phytocannabinoids produced by the plant. The endocannabinoid system is significant in an assortment of homeostatic process involving pain regulation, memory, and appetite. The CB1 receptor is the most predominant neurotransmitter system in the brain, and the nervous system. The THC molecule fits like a key in a lock with the CB1 receptor. The CB2 receptor possesses a similar mold for the cannabinoid, Cannabinol, which helps mitigate anxiety and improve sleep. Some other benefits of cannabis include reduce seizure frequency and improve epilepsy, provide anti-nausea and appetite improvement in debilitating diseases, improve lung capacity, improve insulin sensitivity, ease chronic pain- without making people feel high, reduce the severity of inflammatory and auto-immune diseases. With all these benefits and very few bad side effects, it baffles me that cannabis is still illegal, while other more harmful drugs, like alcohol and tobacco, are legal and also socially promoted within our society. 

REM

Beautiful Bougainvilleas

As our summer semester in the beautiful Italy sadly concludes, I decided to take a moment to reflect on my time here, think back on some of my favorite sights, and go through all of my pictures. While I shuffled through my camera, I noticed that I took a similar picture in most of the towns we visited out of the twenty plus places on this trip. It appears that most towns, especially ones nearer to the coast, had several instances of a bright purple vine growing along a wall. I, admittedly, may not always notice horticultural elements of a place, but I always seemed to be in awe of these purple flowers growing on the walls and how well they accented these already beautiful towns. On the last day of class, I finally decided to show our horticulture professor one of my pictures of the vines, asked him what they were called, and further did a little research of my own. They are apparently called Bougainvilleas and are considered evergreen, woody vines with spines. Their vibrant color comes from the bracts that surround the flower. Bourgainvilleas were named after a French explorer who first found them in South America. Being a plant native to this area, the Bourgainvilleas are popular in areas with generally warm climates year round, which is why they bloom so well in Italy. They can survive in direct sun exposure or in the shade, but do not do as well in the winter climates. Furthermore, I was surprised to hear that this beautiful vine can actually grow well and survive in places in Texas where the climate in generally warmer like Houston and San Antonio! I will definitely be on the look out for these beautiful purple Bougainvilleas when we return to the states as they will always bring me back to our time in Italy!

-EEE

Scent of a Dream

On Saturday, June 20th, we visited a coffee exhibit in Venice. The exhibit is named “Scent of a dream. A journey in the world of coffee.” It displays 75 black and white photos taken by Sebastião Salgado that he feels truly capture the journey of coffee and the people who contribute to that journey. Salgado traveled to 10 countries to take these pictures, including Brazil, India, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Columbia, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Tanzania.

Upon entrance to this exhibit, there is a board that displays a quote from Sebastião Salgado himself. He explains his story, his background with coffee, and how he has combined his love for coffee and his love for photography to create this unique exhibit. At the end, he says something that really put things into perspective for me. He says “It is my hope that the resulting images convey my pleasure in returning to the world of coffee, one that for the most part lives in silent isolation in remote mountain regions of developing countries. For the peasant farmers or day laborers, whom I sought out in ten countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia, coffee defines their livelihood. They are the men, women and children who grow, pick, clean, dry and select the coffee beans. For coffee drinkers in Venice and beyond, they may barely exist, yet we should never forget that the grains in every cup of coffee were once touched by human hands.”

I was extremely intrigued by his work, so I came home and did some more research. I read a short biography on Salgado and found that he has written several books and that his work goes far beyond coffee. I read a quick excerpt of a book he wrote called “Migrations.” The very beginning says this: “More than ever, I feel that the human race is one. There are differences of color, language, culture and opportunities, but people’s feelings and reactions are alike.” This made me realize that Salgado’s motivation to do what he does goes beyond just showing people where coffee started. It’s about bringing people together in a way; it’s about making people realize that your indulgence might be someone else’s hard work.

This experience definitely changed my views on coffee. Seeing Salgado’s highly expressive and emotive pictures caused me understand this subject on a much deeper level. It was much more effective than seeing this process on a collection of slides, while they helped in understanding what was taking place in each of the pictures. I hope to, like Salgado says, never forget that the grains in every cup of coffee were once touched by human hands!

SDP

Biking in Lucca

On our way back to Castiglion Fiorentino from Cinqueterre, a small group of us made a short stop in Lucca. We rented bicycles from a man at the train station and proceeded to bike the city wall. Once inside the city wall, we were surprised to see such a developed city with tall buildings and many restaurants. We then climbed a ramp with our bicycles and were instantly awed by the beauty of the path on top of the city wall. A canopy of old, tall trees arched over the path shading it completely in most areas. There was a good balance between bikers and pedestrian traffic along the path and people were seen frequently stopping to take pictures under the beautiful canopy of trees. As we continued along the wall, we were met by a stretch of the path which was bordered by much smaller trees, which were unfortunately not big enough to create the awesome shaded canopy we had seen before. We decided as a group that we would wait until we came upon another completely shaded stretch of the path to take pictures and document our trip to Lucca. As a horticulture major, it is very refreshing and awesome to see friends and acquaintances appreciate the importance of landscaping and how important it can be to everyone. The difference between the atmospheres of the path under the tree canopy and the part that was not shaded was drastic and it was very apparent to me that most people appreciated and enjoyed the shade provided by the larger, older trees, and this definitely enhanced many peoples’ experiences in Lucca.

Jackie Amdor

Cuckoo for Cacao

To be completely honest, I don’t care for chocolate that much. But on the other hand, I do enjoy a little dark chocolate with a twist every once and a while. What I mean is I like trying different percentages of pure cacao, as well as different chocolate combinations. Some of my favorites include bars with chili pepper and orange flavorings.

De' Ricci Winery

            Until last week, I have only come across products such as chocolate gelato, chocolate filled croissants, and of course, plenty of Nutella (which actually doesn’t even meet the requirements of cacao content to even be called “chocolate”). But when we visited the De’ Ricci underground winery, which is several centuries old, in Montepucliano I was given a great gift. It was a piece of dark chocolate containing vanilla and visible sugar crystals. I adored it. It was smooth, airy, and made of 45% cacao. Of course I bought a bar to take home and share with my chocolate loving family.

Barrels of wine at De' Ricci Winery

It is made by Antica Dolceria Bonauto, and is named “Cioccolato Alla Vaniglia” in Italian. As it turns out, the Cacao plant, Theobroma cacao, is native to the Americas. And this chocolate bar is apparently made using ancient Aztec techniques and ingredients passed on to Europe by the Spanish. This explains it’s intensely delectable taste as it is known the Mayan and Aztec civilizations believed the cacao plant was sacred, and regarded its usage highly. No doubt they would be the ones to figure out how to extract such good flavor from them.

Cioccolato Alla Vaniglia

        The production of cacao solids used in chocolate like the kind sold at De’ Ricci’s winery is done be fully fermenting the fleshy beans that are contained in pods (fruits), which grow on the truck of the plants. The mainly purple colored seeds are taken from the pod, dried in the sun, roasted brown, de-shelled, and ground with other ingredients to produce the chocolate we consume. And Italia, as it turns out, is not, and would not be a very good producer of the plant. Leading the worldwide production is actually the Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Indonesia. This is because the plants need to be grown in hot, rainy climates around the equator.

Interestingly to me as a Biology major, there is speculation that raw chocolate and dark chocolate containing more cacao percent cold have cardio-vascular health benefits due to the high levels of antioxidants they contain. I know they benefit my taste buds for sure. I am thankful to have visited such a beautiful Italian cultural place only to learn about and be connected to the other side of the world. The world continues to show me how it is simultaneously so large, but also so small. 

Kaylee Platz-Panico

Coastin'

Bougainvilleas in Sorrento

On June 13th, we went to Sorrento for a weekend trip. As soon as we left the train station, I saw a huge bush of purple flowers climbing over a wall. I took a picture, and I didn’t think much about it after. A couple of weeks later, we went to Cinque Terre. The day after we arrived, June 26th, we hiked from Levanto to Monterosso and later walked through the other four towns (Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore). In each town, I saw the same purple flowers I first saw in Sorrento.

These flowers are called Bougainvillea. They are native to South America and can be evergreen or deciduous depending on if there is a dry season. Bougainvilleas grow well in warm climates because of their drought tolerance. They also have high salt tolerance which is why they’re commonly used for color in coastal regions. This explains why they were all over Sorrento and Cinque Terre both of which are coastal regions.

The purple Bougainvilleas are probably my favorite flowers I’ve seen in Italy. Their vibrant color really catches the eye, especially when they grow along white/gray walls. I also love how the bracts surround the flower. It lives up to its nickname “paper flower”. Despite their obvious beauty, Bougainvillea is slightly toxic. The sap of Bougainvilleas can cause skin rashes similar to that of toxicodendron species (i.e. poison ivy). Nevertheless, Bougainvilleas are still gorgeous.

-WB

Bougainvilleas in Corniglia, Cinque Terre

Bougainvilleas at a train station in Cinque Terre

One Last Pizza Italy

This past weekend, the majority of us went to Cinque Terre after the day trip to Siena. While staying in Levanto, we ate at a restaurant called Bar Franca many times. Someone ordered pizza, and it got me thinking. Although I have eaten Italian pizza many times, it has varied a lot throughout different regions of Italy.
When we went to Pompeii and Sorrento, the pizza had more sauce and was generally more "wet" than the other pizzas I have had. They also used a lot of olive oil, especially compared to the pizza from Northern Italy. This style of pizza also used a lot of Ocimum basilicum, otherwise known as basil.
When we went to Venice, the pizza was generally more light and didn't seem as heavy. There was still the wonderful Italian tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, but it seemed slightly drier than pizza from the south.
This weekend, both pizzas from Bar Franca and the beautiful town of Vernazza seemed to encompass the best of both styles of pizza. It was still light and didn't have quite as much tomato sauce and olive oil as the Napoli pizza, and the dough was more dense than Venetian pizza. You could also really taste the flavor from the ovens they were baked in.
Despite the differences in pizza in various regions throughout Italy, one thing is certain. Pizza in Italy, no matter where it's from, is better than pizza from the United States. I will definitely miss Italian pizza when I am back home, and I will never look at pizza the same way again.

-BW

Cinque Terrace

This picture is of the slopes surrounding the town of Manarola. The hills are home to a terraced vineyard. We hiked through this vineyard as we made our way from Manarola to Riomaggiore. Because of the steep slope of the hill, the vineyard would not be able to exist without the use of terracing. The terracing of the hills mitigates runoff and soil erosion and makes the vineyard more accessible to workers. Terraces can be found throughout Italy due to the hilly terrain that is so prevalent in this country.

Although terracing facilitates agriculture on steeply graded land, it is not without its challenges. One such challenge is irrigation. Note the black tube in the far right of the picture. This appeared to be a part of an irrigation system for the vineyard. The tube ran all the way up to the top of the hill (about a 30 minute hike). This system was certainly difficult to install, and its maintenance is made less convenient by the precarious slope on which it is situated. And, depending on the local water pressure, mechanical work might need to be added to cause the water to reach the top of the slope.

Another challenge that comes with terraced agriculture is the lack of automation. Terracing precludes machinery from being used to harvest. Instead, fruits must be harvested by hand. Manual harvesting is less efficient and, in the case of olives, more dangerous than harvesting with machinery. Terracing is not without its drawbacks, but it makes agriculture possible in areas that would not yield crops without it.

JPE

20-mile trek through Cinque Terre

Hiking from Monterosso to Vernazza

We decided to work our way from our hostel in Levanto, at 9am, to the first of the five towns closest to us, Monterosso. This trek alone was 2.5 hours and five miles up steep hills and through shaded forests until we reached the coast line at Sant ‘Antonio with a view of the remaining peninsulas ahead of us. Once we arrived to Monterosso we begin walking down a declining road with purple bougainvilleas until we came to the expansive beach. We took a quick swim to refresh and then continued.

From Monterosso, we paid to enter the famous blue path to Vernazza. We saw the town in site and it looked beautiful! Here we got some great brick oven pizza and then went on our way. The trail was open from Vernazza to Corniglia, though the remaining paths were closed. We even met three friendly Norwegian ladies on our hike!

Vernazza

From Corniglia we took a more difficult, roundabout trail up cliffs and around hills through terraced vineyards, since the typical trails were closed. We noticed many conveyer belts running up and down the mountains that must be used to transport the harvest to one central location. When we finally made it to Volastra, we had to walk down seemingly never ending steps to Manarola at the very bottom of the cliff, at sea level.

At 7pm in Manarola, we decided to finish the hike to Riomaggiore, event though we were exhausted and losing daylight. We had to climb rocky stair like structures up a hill until it flattened out and then had equally rocky slopes back down to the town. We finally made it to the last of the five towns, 12 hours, 330 flights of stairs, and 20 miles later!

Hiking through vineyards to Manarola in the background

-JLN-