The Wine Harvest: The tradition of wine in Tuscany and in the Siena countryside
Posted on 17. Sep, 2010 by admin in Archive, Food & Wine
Vine-growing is a very ancient art; it is depicted in a wall painting in a Thebian tomb from the XVII dynasty or 2000 years B.C. which shows two farmers picking bunches of grapes from a pergola.
Over 6000 years ago, Assyrian bas-reliefs show slaves who draw wine from large dishes to serve to guests in overflowing goblets. We can also find reference to wine in the Old Testament in which the Jews attribute the planting of the first vine to Noah representing “one of the most precious gifts of Man” (I. Book of Kings). With the birth of civilisation, vine-growing developed along the coastal region of the Mediterranean to be brought later to the Western world by the Greeks and the Phoenicians. The Greeks considered wine a gift from the Gods; they attributed to Dionysus — the God of wine — the introduction of the vine and its cultivation to Man. Even the Homeric poems contain citations to the importance of wine in the Hellenic civilisation: “Polyphemus was made to drink wine which normally was diluted with sixteen parts of water”. We also know that in the hall of treasures of Ithaca, Ulysses kept chests of not only gold, bronzes and cloth but also “jars of aged wine to drink, pure sweetness to drink”. This is where the passion for good Tuscan wine comes from.
The first grape festival in Italy was held in Tuscany in Impruneta in 1926 during the Fascist period. In those days, the local government wanted to give visibility to the local products through the organisation of a series of festivals and fairs which are still held today. Indeed, from the end of September and the beginning of October the Italian countryside is brought to life with a series of festivals associated with the traditional grape-harvest period. For example: in Scansano (were Morellino is produced), to Castelnuovo Berardegna, Gaiole in Chianti, the Isola d’Elba (where Moscato and Aleatico are grown), to Carmignano (where you can visit a museum dedicated to both the vine and wine), Montepulciano (the traditional Sangiovese production area), Castellina in the heart of Chianti, or in Greve in Chianti were every year the Expo del Chianti Classico is held. The most characteristic event to understand how the farming community elaborates the grape to produce wine is in the little village of Mensano near Casole d’Elsa. This is a veritable journey back to times gone by.
Inhabitants of the village dressed in traditional country costumes carry baskets of grapes by hand and then proceed to press the same by using their feet, a process known traditionally as “pesticcio”. Historically, all members of the family, from the youngest and oldest members would be involved in the harvesting of the grapes; a veritable chore for the entire family. This work has also become a typical occupation of students and adolescents who, at the end of the summer, would toil in the fields to put together some money to buy a motorbike or to go skiing in winter. When the period is right, the grapes are gathered in large wooden vats. But the most fun moment — and perhaps the most tiring moment — is when the grapes are pressed.
To press grapes means to trample them so that the individual grapes are crushed and the juices can be extracted. The pulp made from the pressed grapes is known as “vinaccia”. Today it is more common to use a mechanical instrument known as a “torchio” for this process. This machine presses the vinaccia to extract the unfermented grape juice, known as “mosto”. The mosto is then poured into glass containers such as a bottle or large demijohns and left to ferment. The containers are left open in a well-aired space so that the mosto can liberate any toxic gases and the wine is left like this for a month, after which the containers are sealed. By November the mosto has become wine.
For more info about the “wine festival of Mensano“: click here
