Working in an Italian Vineyard by Kritika Shenoy
This post was written by my friend, Kritika from The Wine Wombat. Be sure to view more of her stories at her blog https://thewinewombat.wordpress.com/
If you are thirsty for more, read my take on Wine + Wellness on Kritika’s blog!
This month holds great significance to me. A month full of anniversaries. It’s almost a year since I moved to Brindisi for my Internship with Botrugno Sergio Azienda Vitivinicola.
Ever seen Paradise? I have, in a small city in Puglia.
A house, on Strada Lobia surrounded by acres of vineyards, with a swimming pool, two adorable dogs and a wonderful family of 5. Paradise indeed, right?
I know how risky it can be to allow a stranger to stay in your house, but the Botrugnos welcomed me with open arms. Sergio, a second generation from a lineage of winemakers, was kind enough to pick me up from the train station, after my 12 hour ride from the North and his wife Fabiana took me in as one of her own.
It was peak summer, when Europe witnessed its worst heat wave till date with a scorching 42 degrees centigrade (108F), where it felt impossible to go out for even just an hour. In the first half of the internship I only worked in the vineyards. It is my belief and Sergio’s that wine is made in the vineyard. Meaning, great wine is determined by the degree of maintenance in the vineyard which includes, canopy maintenance, terroir, climate and many other factors.
I woke up before the sun every day and started work at day break. I was told one must always enter the vineyard a few minutes before dawn to witness and assess ways to proceed with the needs of the vineyard for that day. Working over 8 hours each day in the vineyard may seem brutal but with 33 hectares of scenic landscapes like these, you would wish you could’ve stayed a little longer and that's exactly what happened one evening to me until one of Sergio’s sons came looking for me in the vineyards to tell me it was enough work for the day.
I reluctantly went back home.
Home. That's what the place is to me. A home away from home. If I didn't work in the vineyards or the winery, I was at home, sifting dried oregano, filling gunny bags with grains, helping with the tomato farm or painting furniture. My favourite pastime was to make full use of the swimming pool. Al fresco lunches and dinners were the norm. I was given the full Italian experience.
The vineyards were close to the sea which meant the climate was super humid and humidity is not a friend of the grape. Excessive humidity can form botrytis on the grapes and cause it to rot and we wouldn't want that. Along with other insects Lobesia botrana, a species of butterfly, is a real pain. They feed on the grapes and reduce the yield. To overcome that hassle, pheromone traps are placed all throughout the fields.
The soil was of clay and a gravely texture which caused erosions. In many of their vineyards, the land had a slight slope which caused the rainwater to collect at the bottom. That led to excessive weed growth and it became nearly impossible to take them all out. I had never seen huge weeds in my entire life. Here’s me, 5 foot nothing trying to get rid of a 6 foot something weed. I had never seen anything bigger than a Parthenium.
Come August, we usually don’t meddle with nature and the vineyards much. I still worked in the fields, though I was just aiding to the vines to reach their optimum yield.
The love for his vineyards are clearly seen in Sergio’s eyes. If he isn’t working in the vineyards, he's supervising. During my time there, we witnessed an early onset of Peronospora, famously known as Downy Mildew. Mildew is like one of the unwelcome guests who barges into the party and silently spoils everyone’s fun. With the expertise of Marco, Sergio’s son, and Cosimino, the vineyard worker, we could work on 33 hectares spraying the right pesticides, fungicides and adopting control measures to groom the vineyard to our liking.
In the meantime, the winery had frequent visitors since the citizens of Brindisi knew what a good wine tasted like. Apart from selling just wine, they sold Grappa, Taralli made from wine, Pomodori (Marco’s freshly grown tomatoes), different kinds of pasta.
The winery is big on wine tastings. I witnessed a wine tasting hosted by the Botrugno winery for an Italian member of the Slow Wine community which was executed splendidly. People who come to visit the winery for tours and tastings always go back with a smile on their face and at least one bottle in their hands. Sergio’s other son Andrea organizes and hosts wonderful tastings.
The onset of harvest season was finally upon us and It felt like a festival I was waiting for to happen for years. When they casually said ‘Harvest tomorrow at 5.30am’, my inner child leapt with joy. Harvest started on the 6th of September until the 8th of October. According to the family, this had been the longest harvest period they had witnessed.
Vendemmia (grape harvest) ended at noon after which I had to go to the winery to help with the operations. Since I was new I was on sugar duty. Meaning I had to measure the sugar content in the must everyday. With new grapes coming in, I had more work in determining the sugar and pH in the must. Naturally present yeast on the grape would eat the sugar to produce alcohol but at times, natural yeast wouldn't be enough so, we’d add external yeast to help. White grape must didn't have a lot of work involved but red grapes had to be crushed, allowed to sit in with the skin to extract color, pumped over and then pressed before allowing for maturation. Remontage or Pumping over was done every day, twice a day for skin contact with the must. Wine was matured in cement vasks, steel vasks or oak barrels.
Another method of wine making was Carbonic Maceration. Alessandro, another son of Sergio, performed this technique flawlessly wherein, whole grapes which are carefully hand selected and brought into the winery in baskets are placed into huge airtight casks saturated with CO2. They are kept in for about two weeks before they undergo pneumatic press, after which they are stored in casks made of French or American Oak for maturation.
I helped with or executed many of the processes. It has been one heck of a journey so far. I learnt the value of family, etiquette, and hard work. I strive to be as headstrong as the Botrugnos. I miss them dearly and am longing for another opportunity to do harvest with them. Here’s hoping for sooner than later.
If you wish to have a relaxing summer surrounded by vineyards, they have two beautiful homestays - Botrus Divin Casa Vacanze. When times get better, I hope to see them again.