Searching for the Veritas in the Vino.

I wake up in the dark of the night, out of breath and in a panic.  Failure is on my mind and for the rest of the night I toss and turn in and out of sleep.  Some people motivate themselves by building themselves up, by telling themselves they can and will achieve their goal and then they begin to believe it.  That’s never worked for me.    I motivate myself by living and re-living the shame of failure over and over again, night after night in what should be sound, peaceful rest.  It’s the sort of spur I need to keep me plowing through the studying.  It’s the guardrail that keeps me from skirting too close to failure. 

I am studying for yet another sommelier exam.  It was just last March that I received my certificate and tastevin from the Associazione Italiana di sommelier.  The certificate and tastevin are carefully stored, but it is almost as though I don’t feel that I know enough yet to wear them.  I have done a couple of tastings wearing my full uniform, but I hid my beautiful shiny tastevin in behind my apron.  It is a prize that I still don’t feel qualified to wear.   It sounds easy enough doesn’t it?  Becoming a sommelier is not a degree; I don’t have to defend a thesis.  I just have to have encyclopedic knowledge of all wines ever made on the planet and the grapes from which they were made, the character of their terroir and their aroma and taste profile as well as best vintages and be able to tell you all of that in a blind taste test. It is no wonder there are barely over 180 Master Sommeliers in the world!   That's about the same number as there are astronauts in the world!

So for whatever deep psychological need that I may have to be more knowledgeable, for whatever shortcoming I may have that I am trying to compensate for, I’ve signed myself up, at quite a financial cost, to write the introductory course for the Court of Master Sommeliers in Torquay, Devon on December 4 and 5th.  If I do well enough on the introductory exam, I will be invited to write and perform the exam to become a Certified sommelier with this most distinguished of wine service examining entities.  This is not the Master Sommelier certification to which I referred.  There are two other exams that must be written, recommendations submitted, and 5 years experience under one’s belt in the wine business to be able to even consider writing and performing that exam.

And what do I hope to achieve with all of this?  I think it all started as one of those “one thing led to another scenarios”…. we wanted to buy an Italian vineyard; we had better know something about wine, especially Italian wine … check.  Now, what?  Why the self-imposed torture of memorizing wine control laws, and details about wine areas in the old world and new?  No one is depending on me to learn this really well. What do I want to get out of this?

I really don’t know the answer to that question.  What I do know is that wine is as complicated a body of knowledge as anything that I have ever studied at university.  I feel compelled to better understand it.  I know that in order to wear my tastevin with pride, I need to know more. If in vino veritas, then surely that should also be true of your sommelier.

But this time...I'm really scared.  

"All My Life's a Circle"

I look at the photos and the day replays itself as if it is a slow-motion movie picture.  I can’t believe this is my vineyard, and I can’t believe sometimes that this is my life.  My friends’ faces are lit with dappled sunlight as they bend to cut the bunches of grapes through the vines and people everywhere are smiling and laughing.  The day is playing out as I had hoped:  the weather is balmy, sunny, my friends are relaxed, and their children are running freely as kids do when they visit the countryside.  

There are more than 30 of us on this day, our second vendemmia or grape harvest since we bought our vineyard.  All of us except for Filiberto are Canadians living in Naples as well as 5 friends from way back who came from Toronto and Norway specifically to participate in the harvest: a juxtaposition of faces, times and places that is not lost to me as I move from vine to vine, so filled with joy and excitement, that I can barely speak, but I enjoy listening to their conversations and banter.

The day was made easier by my friends who camped out at the vineyard in true Canadian style the night before in order to get everything ready.  Colorful curtains were hung  “Bedouin style” to add to the air of festivity.  Barbeques were ready for the firing, fire pits blazing, tables and chairs set for the grand feast –our recompense for a day of work well done.  The new outhouse that Ron and Joey built was painted and ready just days before. 

My friends Carole and Ted organize the guests as they as they arrive, directing them as to where to park, sorting out their cutting tools and gloves, and showing them how and where to cut.  Our friends Sharon and Randy are in charge of barbequing the baby back ribs, and setting out the food and tables.  Friends, Karen, Scott and Angela take pictures to capture the day.  Filiberto, my faithful Italian friend, neighbor and vineyard advisor, dedicates his entire day and tractor to us even though it is his 15^th day of collecting grapes.  As busy as he was, he took time to give every child there a ride on the tractor.  At the end of the day he invited his family over and with them came home made sausages, Filiberto’s home made wine, his wife Pina, his brother Michele and his wife Giovanna and both of their children.  Their presence means a great deal to us.  It means that we have and ally and a friend.  Above all else, that is what is important to him, which is what his wife Pina tells me.  Communication is not always fluid between us, but somehow, I feel as though he cares deeply for us. 

The day was grand:  our grapes were upgraded this year and went into the “superior” blend.  That was indeed a nice surprise but the highlight for me was being able to share this day and this place , to host friends new and old, Canadian and Italian on our vineyard in Solopaca. 

 On this day, the vineyard, and why we bought it suddenly started to make sense. In the words of Steve Jobs, “As you get older, and you look back on your life you begin to be able to connect the dots and it all begins to make sense.”  The vineyard to me is a dot, that once connected to the others, must make up the perfect outline of a circle:  the presence of new friends and old friends coming together in this place—this place which is a return to my Italian roots and a return to working the soil and the legacy of my “mezzadri” ancestors who worked Italian soil for landowners; they left for Canada, and in a sense I’ve brought part of them back.   My circle is made up of dots of places, and people, which all suddenly became poignant for me today.

The day ends with traditional Italian hospitality, which has been so much a part of my upbringing: sharing in the breaking of bread and too much food. 

The cycle on the vineyard is complete for another year.  The vineyard’s cycle has now become part of our cycle.  It has brought wholeness to my life.  In training grapes to make good wine, I've reminded my soul to remember who I am and where I've come from.  My vineyard has brought me full circle---it brings others and me a lot of joy, I love sharing it with all of you.  It’s our way of giving back what all our friends and family have given us.  

My circle is the symbol of wholeness and unity...I'm overflowing. 

I Am a Sommelier…Finally

I am finally a card-carrying, bling-wearing, uniform-sporting, sommelier. I began this journey at the urging of one of my Italian teaching colleagues, Eleonora, who helped me find the course, found out the details for me, and gave me the courage to start on this journey. It was only fitting that she and her husband attend the graduation ceremony with us. Most graduations are significant as defining moments, but this is my re-defining moment. I have always been defined until recently as a teacher of languages: French and English. My recent studies have enabled me to inform about the language of wines. My major, you could say is Italian wines. Tassels and mortarboards were exchanged for tastevins and corkscrews.

The AIS graduation ceremony was held at the Feudi San Gregorio winery in Sorbo Serpico, Avellino, an hour and half drive from where we live. A half hour through Naples traffic, taking the A1 autostrada Bari/Salerno exit to the A16, and finally a 20 minute ride up and around rolling, and lush countryside. As you approach the winery from the parking lot your only access inside is through what looks like a rusted out space age cubicle, which had all of us, puzzled about what could await us on the other side. The entrance is definitely meant as a statement--“this is no ordinary Campanian winery”. There will be no castle, no antique old presses in the yard. The only thing aged here is the wine.
As you make your approach, the sliding doors open “Get Smart style” to finally reveal the conception of the Milan based, female architect, Hikaru Mori. At this point the statement made at the entrance begins to reveal itself as prose: a man-made brook and small pools accompany you on the paths through the herb garden, and the rose garden all surrounded by pastoral hills of vineyards folding into one another, a little reminiscent of Cote d’Or in Burgundy. Even their vines are kept short and close to the ground as they are in Burgundy, perhaps because of the elevation and coldertemperatures in Avellino.

Here is a photo by Tom Hyland, used with permission, of part of the estate or the Cutizzi vineyard. http://learnitalianwines.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/best-italian-wines-and-producers-2010/cutizzi-4/

Hikaru Mori is known for integrating nature into buildings and those man-made brooks somehow meandered their way inside the winery where it is said they keep the barrels moist.

The wine and the winery, however, are not the only draw to Feudi San Gregorio. There is a lot of competition among winery owners to get people to their winery and Feudi seems to have the drawing card: their Michelin star restaurant, Marenna’. Our 3-year-long sommelier course culminated with the perfect pairing of 6 of Feudi’s wines with a 7-course meal. Each plate was subtle yet flavourful in a room that was equally as understated. I did not take any tasting notes that evening, and photos were an afterthought but none of the wines nor the food, were a disappointment. Careful thought by chef Paolo Barrale went into the pairing of each course on the menu that night with the wines to masterfully highlight the best in both. The menu was as follows:

Antipasti of local goat cheeses and homemade salumi. This was served with the DUBL Falanghina 2007, Metodo Classico. Winemakers at Feudi, Riccardo Cotarella and Mario Ercolino teamed up with French champagne maker Anselme Selosse to produce this dry, persistent citrusy sparkling wine.

Homemade breads and breadsticks with a second Sparkling: DUBL Greco 2006, Metodo Classico

Zeppola di baccala' con verdure in carpione e pepe limonato served with Pietracalda 2009 Fiano di Avellino DOCG
(sorry I ate it before thinking to take a photo)

Risotto al pomodoro, ghiaccia di basilico e Olio followed by Ravioli di ricotta, fave e guanciale Extravergine d'Oliva di Ravece all topped by Taurasi 2007, Taurasi DOCG

Controfiletto di vitello affogato al Taurasi e cipolle di Montoro followed by Il Maialino...peperoni e patate in concert with Montevergine 2004, Taurasi Riserva DOCG.

Predessert and Caffe' e nocciola were crowned with Privilegio 2008, Campania Bianco IGT.










After this meal, which is one of the finest I’ve ever had in Italy,…no make that anywhere… came the speeches and finally the presentation of diplomas and tastevins.

So here then is Cathy re-defined in simple terms: teacher of languages and wine, vineyard owner, and sommelier.
http://www.feudi.it/en/

Of interest to viticulturists:
Pierpaolo Sirch, a transplant from Friuli is Feudi’s in-house “agronomo” (vineyard manager). He runs a one-of a kind vine pruning school held at Feudi: Simonit and Sirch’s Scuola Italiana di potatura della vite.
Their philosophy is to maintain the integrity of the vine using a combination of modern and traditional pruning techniques in order for the grape to show off its true character.
www.preparatoriuva.it

A Year Later.

The date today is January 26th, 2011: the 1st day of the last quarter moon before it begins to wane. It will be a good time to finish the winter pruning in the vineyard. The new moon begins on the 3rd of February, so we will have to get it done by then. Coming around full circle to where we started in the vineyard, one year ago is a good time to reflect on what we’ve done, what we should have done, and what we have yet to do. The vineyard is a quiet, contemplative place through the winter. There are no tractors in the distance, not even the sounds of insects buzzing. On our vineyard today, there is only the sound of my clippers, cutting away last year’s growth leaving but two new arms on each trunk. I remember how unsure we were pruning last year. We are in control of the vines now. It may seem pastoral today but the past year was in fact more akin to a roller coaster ride. The waxing and waning of the moon had a lot less to do with it than did our lack of knowledge of vineyard maintenance and Italian agrarian/property laws which at times led us barrelling and stumbling through unknown, unexpected twists and turns. Mistakes were made.
Last August, I made a big mistake by not trusting Filiberto. He was away on holidays with his family through the month of August and September when the betrayal occurred. Before leaving, he advised us not to become members of the local cooperative winery as he would find a buyer for our grapes: “Non preoccuparti. Mi occupo io”. He assured us we could get considerably more for our grapes per kilo by selling them privately.
Our summer holidays came and went and our sons returned back to university. We began visiting the vineyard in earnest again, but come September on a vineyard there isn’t much more to do but wait. Our grapes were ripening and were hanging heavily from their stems. With no more work to do on the vines at this point, I did what comes naturally to me. I worried. I hadn’t heard from Filiberto since June. What if Filiberto doesn’t find a buyer, or what if he’s washed his hands of us? I thought of calling but I didn’t want to disturb him with my preoccupations during his holidays. I waited a bit longer, to the middle of September, and still no word from Filiberto. That day, worry gave way to action . I had no clue how to find a buyer for our grapes, but I decided to visit a local winery. In conversations with Filiberto, he explained to me, that he had a cousin who worked at this particular winery and there might be a possibility that they would be interested in buying them. It takes great courage for me to approach people in Italian, but you can imagine my trepidation in approaching an established winery and asking if they would like to buy our grapes. How do you even start a conversation like that? I drove up to Santi Martini Winery and asked to speak with the manager. The place was empty except for the young woman who greeted me at the locked door, and the manager that I could see through a glass door, who was busy with someone else. She asked what my business was with him, and I foolishly explained the whole story. She had a doubtful look on her face, but recognizing the desperation in my eyes she kindly offered an optimistic “maybe” to my query of “do you think he would be interested in buying some of our grapes?” The first 10 minutes of our meeting began with him asking me how I know Filiberto, and where exactly is our property, and complimenting me on the land as he knew it well, and what are Canadians doing here, and why the interest in owning a vineyard. Then he said something hopeful: Filiberto took me out to see your grapes…your grapes have fared better than a lot of people in the area who had a bad onset of peronospora at the beginning of the season.” “What a relief,” I thought to myself. “Filiberto had been thinking about us. That’s why I probably hadn’t heard from him…the grapes are probably already sold.” Feeling a little more courageous, I was finally able to blurt out why I had come, and blurt it out I did. The expression on his faced suddenly took on a look of incredulity, and then seriousness. He very quickly but delicately explained how these are difficult times in the wine industry, and I knew immediately where the conversation would go from here. I wanted to bolt not so much out of embarrassment but more from the feeling that I am running out of time. I had to sell these grapes, and I had to do it today. “You will have a hard time finding any wineries around here that would be looking for extra grapes. “We’re having trouble selling the wine that we have. People aren’t buying.” I walked away with what felt like our whole load of 51,000 kg of grapes on my shoulders, and the smell of them rotting everywhere. I scrolled down to Filiberto’s number on my cell phone, stared at it for a while but I really didn’t want to disturb him. We had gone to him for advice at every turn throughout the year…he was on holidays, and I felt it would just be too much of a “disturbo”.
From there I wandered somewhat aimlessly to the Cantina Sociale di Solopaca, the local Wine Coop—the group to which Filiberto warned me not to join. “You have to join for life, which isn’t fair. What if you and your husband want to make your own wine one day…you won’t be able to? They don’t market the wine well, and you are paid according to how much wine they sell. You can make double and more if you sell privately.” I walked through to their cool but empty air-conditioned sales room to ask about the looming dates for the harvest, which should be for any vineyard owner a much anticipated climactic high point. “Anytime during the first 15 days of October” was the reply. I was trying to play the part of a casual interested party and I couldn’t figure out how to segue into getting down on my knees and begging, “Is it too late for me to become a member? Will you buy my grapes? I’ll do or pay whatever it takes.”

I left the Cantina Sociale di Solopaca with its glistening crusher, polished and idle; I looked at the silos soon to be recipients of Solopaca nectar wondering how I could get my grapes in them. By now, I believed that Filiberto had not found a buyer, and that he didn’t have the heart to tell us what the manager at Santi Martini Winery had told me: “these are hard times for wineries. You’ll be hard-pressed to find any winery around here buying extra grapes. We can’t sell the wine that we have.” With these words echoing in my head I had made a decision. Within 5 minutes I arrived unannounced outside the home of a business man who had handled the legalities of me becoming a registered farmer. He had told me in the process that he was once the president of the Cantina Sociale di Solopaca and strongly urged me, to become a member.
I was greeted by 3 barking dogs and a woman who appeared from the upstairs window, calling out, “Chi è?” “It’s me…Catherine.” He wasn’t home at the time but she advised me to wait, she would call him on the telephone and he shouldn’t be too long. I waited awkwardly outside the large fence while the dogs continued their face off with me. A few minutes later, a Jeep arrived and the large cancello opened and allowed us both entrance to the driveway.
“Signora Caterina…come sta? Come va al vigneto?” Once again, it didn’t take long for me to get to the reason for my visit. I tried to work through my conversation with him so that he could fully understand my predicament. As I talked, he leaned back in his leather chair, in his relaxed dress and Dock Sider well-warn shoes, and watched me and listened to me intently with a strange bemused smile on his face. “So where is Filiberto?” he asked. “I thought he was taking care of things for you.” I explained that I didn’t want to disturb him during his holidays, and that I think it is time to take matters in my own hands. "Maybe I’ve depended on him for too many things." And then I just came out with it, “Is it too late for me to become a member of the Cantina Sociale as you had suggested we do from the start.” He didn’t reply, but asked me to wait a moment and left the room to go into an adjoining office, leaving the question hanging in the air like wet clothes on a clothesline on a cold Canadian February day. I wondered…did I say something wrong? Am I that inconsequential that he would just leave me here, and he’s now gone on to complete some other business? He returned after a minute and produced a piece of paper. It was my registration to become a member of the Cantina Sociale, already completed awaiting my signature. “I knew you would be back” he said smugly. “For people like you,” he said, “people who know nothing about grapes and making wine, this is what you need.” I wondered what he meant by “people like you” but relief and gratitude allowed me to recognize that I was not in a position to argue at this point. I felt immediately as though I was turning my back not only on someone who had helped, but worse, that I was betraying a friend. Filiberto never made us feel different, he never made us feel stupid…he recognized our passion, and our dedication and did everything in his power to teach us to be successful. He treated us like a friend or family…the highest compliment an Italian can bestow on a foreigner.

Within a week Filiberto had returned and I broke the news to him over the phone. He didn’t say much, but when I met him a few days later at the vineyard, he seemed at first to be insulted and angry , but then I realized it was “hurt”. “I had your grapes sold” he said. “My brother and I…we went to the trouble of bringing someone to the vineyard…I had your grapes sold. You could have got over 30 cents a kilo, but now you will only get under 16 cents.”
I tried to explain how I panicked and I didn’t want to disturb him during his holidays. “It had nothing to do with betrayal…I panicked…that’s all…I panicked.” His reply, “I thought you trusted me….I helped you because I wanted you to succeed.”
I am, as a result of that mistake, a lifetime member of the Cantina Sociale di Solopaca. I cannot, even if I had the means to, make my own wine with my grapes, or sell them to anyone else. Rigid rules to which Filiberto did not want to see us confined to.
In the end, Filiberto realized how the situation had evolved. He forgave us, and helped us bring 51,000 kg of grapes to the Cantina Sociale. As members, we get wine on tap. I don’t know who was more proud that day, he or we as he dumped our grapes from his tractor into the crusher followed by a toast among friends and family who had helped us pick. All eyes were on Filiberto followed by the gaggle of us, foreigners, snapping photos at every turn. I heard him say to a passing member who was staring at our shenanigans that day, “this is really good publicity for us you know…to have foreigners come here. We could use a little more of this.” He was still trying to protect us.
We have come full circle in the yearly cycle of the winery. Filiberto is leaving us to do our work in the vineyard and will come by when it’s done with his tractor and tools to help us mulch, and fix some posts. As we work our way through the vines once again, pruning last years’ growth and leaving only two new arms, the vines are more agreeable to being disciplined. They are listening to our good council. They grow and bend the way we want them to. Even though our grapes get mixed into the bunch with all the other producers in the area we want to grow the best quality product that we can. For this, I find myself looking up to the moon for the optimal time to prune, and to Filiberto, for his good sage advice….the kind that only comes from friends.

Green Pruning, Red Tape

After a one weekend break from the vineyard we’re back at it again. Filiberto saw us drive by, and came to tell us that he had done one more spray application and that it was now time for la potatura verde or green pruning. “Si deve liberare I grappoli”:you have to free the bunches of grapes before they get too big. He spent no more than ten minutes with us, giving us a lesson in what needed to be done, and how it should be done. In five minutes he managed to work half-way down one row, all the while explaining and talking about what we were trying to achieve and why. He explained that this is done to rid the plant of unnecessary foliage, to free the bunches, to allow air to circulate around them. The bunches will also be a lot easier to pick if positioned this way come harvest time. The thinning is only done underneath the bunches, but not above them. The canopy on top is maintained in order to protect the now dangling bunches from the hot sun, and from hail in the event that it should fall. The ideal canopy allows for a dappling of sun to hit the bunches. He explains that we also must be mindful of next year’s shoots. If we trim some of the shoots that are hanging over into the rows, we must remember that at least two of them will make up next year’s new cordon. Next year’s shoots need to be kept at least 5 buds in length. “allora fate attenzione”…so, be careful, don’t cut them too short. Filiberto left, and the 3 of us began making our way through the 38 rows, one vine at a time. We could not come close to keeping up with Filiberto’s pace. There were too many decisions to make: pull this, keep that, “oh no…those were grapes I just pulled off and not leaves; is this a shoot I’m going to want for next year? How long should I keep it?” To give you a better idea of what we were up to this weekend here are some before and after photos:







Alittle while later, Filiberto’s brother Michele and his wife Giovanna drove by. I went over to greet them and they got out of their Jeep. They apologized for being hot and sweaty, as they also had been doing the potatura verde. They made sure to give us the same lesson that Filiberto had given us about an hour earlier. We didn’t mind, as they really seem to care that we do things well. Michele asked if I had registered my vineyard yet. This is a bit of a worry for me, but I told him I was in the process of getting it done. In order for me to be able to sell the grapes,( legally), I need to make my way through the maze of Italian bureaucracy. Italians themselves complain to no end about government workers, but I’ve rarely seen an Italian lose their patience with one. This surprises me, because Italians are not known to maintain their decorum when frustrated just for the sake of politeness. I’ve asked a few people about this and they say, that you must treat these government people with kid gloves because if you get mad at them, they can easily sabotage what it is you are trying to do. With this in mind, I realized I was in way over my head, as I didn’t have a clue about what I needed and which government agency I needed to report to. I needed help and I hired, a local geometra, who just happened to be in the grape business, and who just happened to be the person who cultivated the land that we bought as the former owner had died and his wife allowed him the rights to cultivate it. Already too complicated for me.

I made an appointment to see him, but I was not sure what I was going to ask of him, and what it is, if anything he could do for me. All I knew is that he had some papers that were in his name that needed to be transferred into my name. As he mentioned all kinds of officious documents that I would need, documents I couldn’t even remember the names of let alone understand what they might be, I was filled with despair, but convinced that this was a person that I shouldn’t aggravate, and who might be able to help. So I apologized for knowing nothing, and asked him to repeat what exactly I needed to do. I would stop him in conversation and ask him to repeat the name, and I would write the words down. If I could get the correct names of the papers that I needed I could go home and them up on the internet to come to some sort of understanding of them. I know I must have looked pathetic, but even at that, I didn’t get the impression I was arousing any sympathy. The list went on, and I continued to ask what it was called, and where I would go for it. There were no straight answers. I pressed on. He finally offered to do it all for me on my behalf. I didn’t have all the words that I needed in Italian to express the relief and the gratitude that I felt for him in that moment. "You mean, I could hire you to do all of this for me?" “Siiii” he responded with a smile. I am not sure of this man, and it is clear that he is not sure of me. The relationship is not yet one of trust as I would like it to be. He’s a person whom people speak sotto voce about when I mention his name, and then they speak in dialect to each other about him and I can’t understand what they are saying. I can’t be sure of his trustworthiness, but no one has really come out and said anything against him. I know that he lives in a rather large stately home in Solopaca.
He wrote up a document that he asked me to sign identifying the actions that he would take on my behalf. I went home and I looked up every term that I had written down during our conversation. This is what I understand he will do for us, and what I understand the terms to be based my on internet searches:
(1) He would transfer the declaration of the area under vines(la dichiarazione della superficie vitata) into my name. Curiously, this doesn’t happen automatically when one buys a property.
2) He would get a VAT number for me which essentially means a business taxation number. (accensione di Partita IVA)
3) He would register the business (and I needed a business name) with the Chamber of Commerce (la Camera di Commercio). As a business name we chose Azienda Agricola Cerasella (little cherries for the cherries that grow around the property).
4) He would transfer my name to the Fascicolo Aziendale which is a set of documents and information that summarizes the business situation held by the regional government.
5) He would register me with INPS (Istituto Nazionale Previdenza Sociale or the National Social Security Institute which issues pensions, unemployment benefits and other types of aid administered by the Ministry of Welfare….I’m guessing a pension plan) as a “coltivatrice diretta” literally I’m the person who directly cultivates the land: the farmer.

I had to first of all become a farmer. I found out there are two types of farmers: an impreditore agricolo, and a coltivatore (or in the case of a female a coltivatrice) diretta. No one, could tell me what the difference is. I went onto the internet going from site to site, reading different threads of people asking the same question as me. Though there was discrepancy in the answers that I found, I think I basically know what the difference is. The Coltivatore Diretto or “direct farmer” has to pay a registration fee (120euros/year)and is issued a partita IVA (VAT) number. The coltivatore can sell his product for up to 7000 euros a year. The coltivatore diretto may hold another job and doesn’t need to have any professional training nor does he need to keep accounting unless he makes more than 7000 euros. This person is registered at the Coldiretti I haven’t found out what that is, or where it is. I think it is some agricultural association or government division. My guess is that this category is for hobby farmers. They can pay into INPS (Istituto Nazionale Previdenza Sociale or the National Social Security Institute.....Issues pensions, unemployment benefits and other types of aid administered by the Ministry of Welfare.
The second type of farmer is an Impreditore Agricolo Professionista who is a person who has had some sort of training in agriculture, the raising of animals, or in the care of a forest. It is also someone who dedicates at least 50% of his work time to this endeavour and derives 50% of his income from it. This is an agricultural business, and accounting is formally kept and dues are paid to the INPS and INAIL (Workmen’s Compensation – Istituto Nazionale per l’Assicurazione contro gli infortuni sul Lavoro.)

I don’t know how much I will be charged for these services either. When pressed, I got an answer like, “well, it wouldn’t be much”.

As I left his office and proceeded down his long driveway I felt conflicting feelings. I was relieved but still a little uneasy. For some reason, I felt compelled to turn around and look back when I noticed my geometra /appointee was watching me leave. He had both hands on his hips, and he still wore the suspicious look.

Dinner Tonight: Zucchini Fritters with Romanesco Salsa, Peperoni in Padella col Pomodoro, and Ravioli con Ricotta e Spinaci col salvia

We had a lazy Sunday, and I was meaning to go grocery shopping today, we were meaning to go to the vineyard, and we never got to either place. So, dinner was the result of what we had on hand.

The zucchini fritters with the Romanesco sauce is a recipe that I got from my cousin in Toronto who took a cooking class. They are made by grating zuchini; I used 2 very large zuchini that Giacomino gave me yesterday, grating an onion, chopping up 1 clove of garlic, parmesan cheese, and adding to that 2 eggs, and flour. I squeezed the extra liquid out of them, formed little patties, and fried them in olive oil, because I didn't have any grapeseed oil on hand.

The salsa calls for tomatoes, a handful of almonds, parsley, de-pitted green olives, roasted red peppers n brine, all mushed up in the blender, oh...and a red hot dried pepper. I don't use quantities when I cook...you'll have to guess. Here's what it looked like on the plate. They were crunchy on the outside, and sweet on the inside with the sauce adding zest and flavor, and spice.

I also needed to finish off some green peppers that I had in the fridge, so I made a typical neapolitan dish: peperoni in padella col pomodoro (green peppers and tomatoes fried in olive oil and garlic). I vary the recipe, and some neapolitans may tell me that I've made it all wrong, but to my palate, it tastes the same. I cut up the green peppers and tomatoes, and fry them both together in olive oil and garlic. I didn't have a lot of tomatoes left, so I didn't get a lot of juice from it. It's best served on fresh pane a legna, a dense, heavy bread, sold by the 1/2 or kilo, cooked in a wood-fired oven.

The last dish was Ravioli filled with Spinach and Ricotta, with olive oil a little bit of butter, sage, topped with tomatoes and fresh Italian parsley. If you would really like any of these recipes please let me know, and I will do my best to come up with quantities. The wine? That was left over too--last night's Falanghina/Garganega. It all tasted so good.

Trying to Make Sense of New EU Rules Governing Wine and a couple of questions.

The EU has recently legislated new communal regulations regarding food and drink, and wines have not escaped the makeover. There was a lot of negativity in the industry, as you can well imagine, when the reforms were first proposed as every country scrambled to decode the regulations to figure out what the impact would be for them. Thankfully, the reforms also insure that traditional “best-practices” that currently offer such diversity in the Italian wine landscape for example, are preserved throughout the re-structuring.
I have read as many articles as I could find on the subject, which I have referenced below, and have summarized, and greatly simplified the amendments, which apply to the vineyard owner, the winemaker and the consumer.

The main reasons for the reform were to effectively deal with overproduction, to harmonize vineyard practices and winemaking rules, and to create more transparent labeling practices to make choices clearer for the consumer throughout all EU member states.
While Europe is still the biggest producer and exporter of wines, New World wines seem to be gaining greater market shares and this fact has led European winemakers and economists to squirm and look for ways to maintain and increase their foothold.

The first area that caught the eye of the Common Market Organization for Wine (wine CMO) was the wasteful surplus of wine due to overproduction. They have set out a plan to eliminate this surplus and equilibrate supply with demand. Every year Europe is left with large quantities of wine for which there is no market and they must then deal with costly decisions either to store or distill the surplus. Hence, they decided that a good way to discourage this practice is to eliminate distillation or storing subsidies and to encourage producers only to make wine in the amount that they can sell.

Overproduction is also directly related to over planting to which the following rules have been established with regard to the conversion and re-structuring of vineyards:
-grubbing up of unlawful plantings (literally pulling up vines) which according to the Official Journal of the EU “constitutes a source of unfair competitions and exacerbates the problems of the wine sector”. As well, there is a 3-year voluntary grubbing up scheme for producers who wish to turn their vineyards into other uses.
They have incorporated stricter rules and monitoring with respect to awarding planting rights or replanting rights
-maximum yields per hectare preserving the quality of the grape over quantity
-the grapes planted must be of the vitis vinifera species, the species native to Europe

The most salient regulation for winemakers seems to focus on the prohibition and/or limitation of the practice of chaptilisation (the addition of sucrose to a low-alcohol wine or use of concentrated musts in order to increase the natural alcohol strength of the wine) except in certain areas where achieving ripeness in the grapes (and thus minimum sugar content) is difficult due to climatic factors. In these areas, chaptilisation will have maximal limits: 2% for Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, and 1% for certain parts of France.
Why would this practice have come under the microscope? Well, some consider the artificial addition of sugar gives the wines a certain “blousy” unnatural effect (MacNeil, Karen: The Wine Bible). The regulations aim at improving the quality of wines.

Everyday consumers are often perplexed by the complicated and diverse labeling systems that don’t give the consumer a lot of information about what they are buying. Not only do rules governing quality vary from country to country, but some EU countries (France, Italy and Spain), label their quality wines for the terroir from which they come. In other words, the place of Origin and associated traditions and grapes varietals particular to that area, represent quality in some countries, while others govern their labeling purely on quality, unrelated to terroir, such as Germany.

Labeling rules have been simplified to allow more transparency for the consumer and must conform to the new labeling hierarchy as illustrated below. Each country will have the same categories.
The IGP wines (Indicazione Geografica Protetta, or PGI, Protected Geographical Indication) were formerly the IGT category of wines in Italy.
The DOP wines (Denominazione d’origine Protetta, or PDO, Protected Designation of Origin), which in Italy are the former DOCG and DOC wines, consolidated into one category.Before this reform, these terms only applied to food products such as cheese, some fruits and vegetables and olive oils. Now these terms apply to wines. IGP wines may also include the former table wines that had a Geographical indication. Table wines without the Geographical Origin would be delegated to the category of “Wines or wines without a geographical Indication”. Wines in this category will now be allowed to mention the grape variety and the vintage. The accuracy of this information will be monitored by authorities, and the list of grape varieties will be limited.
The new rules were legally adopted in March 2008, came into effect in Aug, 2008, but producers have until December 2010 to comply with the new labeling rules.

The question that comes to mind in all of this, and I admit that my research has been cursory, is how will the consolidated category of DOP wines make the distinction between the current 49 Italian DOCG's which are, as I understand, of superieor quality, to the more 300 DOC's?
And I have one more question related to this...how will future superior Italian wines distinguish themselves? Perhaps, I've got to get away from the old categories. Perhaps, this time it will be left to the consumer to decide.
I welcome any comments, answers or clarificatons.

You may read the reforms in English at the following site
http://www.apeda.com/apedawebsite/Announcements/LexUriServ_479.pdf - 61 pages

You may read the more concise and comprehensive EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mariann Fischer Boel’s explanation and justification for the reforms at
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/capreform/wine/infopack_en.pdf
Both of the above were sources used for this article as well as

http://reignofterroir.com/2009/06/21/the-wines-they-are-a-changin-the-new-eu-regulations/

While the Italian wine pyramid in this article is my own drawing, the original comes from the following Italian site
http://www.edagricole.it/terraevita/archivio/2010/18/TV_10_18_p022-24_OCM%20vino.pdf

http://www.calwinexport.com/files/Europe%20Wine%20Reform%202008.pdf