Vendemmia…check!
20 October 2009
And we’re done! With all hands on deck, the grape harvest at Spannocchia took a bit more than a hot second lasting only four (long) days. Interns, farm staff and even a few guests headed out to the vineyards to harvest our Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Malvasia, Colorino and Trebbiano grapes. Spannocchia was blessed with literally perfect weather for this group activity with bright blue skies, plenty of sun and a little chill to keep everyone alive and alert for the long days of harvesting. The week was finished off with a group lunch at the villa of gnocchi, roast beef and, of course, Sangiovese grape cake! Harvest this year was abundant, leaving Toby, Amber and Angelo lots of work in the cantina making wine for the upcoming year. A labor old as Tuscany, it is truly a joy to particpate in the Vendemmia…a presto!
We’ve started! Vendemmia (the big grape harvest) at Spannocchia comes a bit later than in some areas of Tuscany and is initiated by the picking of grapes for our Vin Santo. For those unfamiliar with this Tuscany libation, Vin Santo is a sweet dessert wine made from our best white grapes. 
Followers of this blog will remember our trip up to Genova for Slow Fish, a conference dedicated to sustainable fishing and issues surrounding food and oceans. This past week, Slow Food International put on one of its most personal events and Spannocchia interns and friends just had to make an appearance. Slow Cheese, like fish, is a conference/festival that takes over the whole of a small town called Bra, close to Turin, which also happens to be the headquarters of Slow Food International (something like half the town works for the organization). Bra is normally a sleepy little town with one main cobblestone street where you’ll find most everyone at a cafe called Converso. Every other September, though, a world of cheese lovers, fanatics and producers descends upon the city and takes over. Booths upon booths of cheese from all over Europe fill the main pizza and streets nearby with most every producer offering samples of their goods. The emphasis is on raw milk cheeses, a tradition that is still alive and well in Europe but threatened in other parts of the world, and farmstead cheeses. One of the coolest things about Cheese, as with many Slow Food events, is the presence of the producers themselves. The Spannocchia group endured rather torrential downpours to go from stand to stand and have the unique experience of learning about these top products from those directly involved in their creation. 
Cheese this year not only included an excellent enoteca with something like 1200 wines from Italy but also a Birroteca with over 50 beers from small producers in Italy. Beer in Italy is none too famous (and, generally speaking, for good reason) but more and more we’re seeing artisans try their hand at brewing and getting some shockingly good results. A few interns did a fantastic job of befriending a server, and student of gastronomy, at the birroteca who proceeded to spend hours teaching them about this new wave of great producers. And while we all love cheese, beer and wine, some additional sustenance was needed and provided by a variety of vendors selling high-quality ’street food’ like farinata from Liguria, olive all’ascolana from the Marche, sardine and butter sandwiches (!!!!), bombette from Puglia, arrancini and cannoli from Sardegna, pane di Bra from a local baker and much more.