In the Vineyard, Summer 2018
Trang M. Crider
A month or so after we settled in our new home in Italy, I signed up for a job to work in the Due Santi vineyard for the summer. Unlike the previous years, when the job of maintaining and harvesting the vineyard was left to the in-house crew, it was also decided that a professional would be consulted for this year’s crop. You see, the university was getting more serious about its wine business, given that the wines had been improving over the years, and now was the time for a leap forward.
An agronomist came out for an inspection in my early days on the job, and he was full of advice and instruction, remarkably in both Italian and English. The crew he met that day was quite diverse. There was me, an eager gardener and amateur who just wanted to be out in the sun, toiling in the vineyard. There was another new hire, Elisabetta, an overworked but sweet professional sommelier and talented personal chef, who was looking to do something different with her life. There was also the young Giacomo, brought in because of his connection to the staff, who was a curious, pleasant and jovial graduate student in criminal justice, in need of a part-time job during the summer. There was Giovanni, the shy in-house gardener who rarely made eye contact and preferred to be left alone to ride around on his lawnmower, caring dearly for the campus’s plants and grounds, which were thriving because of his meticulous attention and tender touch. There was Fabio, with a deep and commanding voice, who had been in charge of ground maintenance for many years, having started out long ago as a young apprentice here. And there was Tiziano, the young and handsome vineyard caretaker with an enviable pair of perfectly arched brows, who took his job very seriously, especially when his boss, Fabio, was away on vacation, and was happy to have some extra help for the summer.
UD Rome's Vineyard, Aerial View.
Things got interesting when Stefano, the agronomist, a burly man with a penetrating stare, showed up with his young assistant, Lorenzo, to teach us about pruning. With his shirt sleeves rolled and a pair of shears in his hand, he was ready not only to give orders but indeed to launch a revolution. Having surveyed and inspected the vineyard the day before, he couldn’t hide his disappointment at how it had been cared for in past years. Shaking his head in disapproval, he made it clear that he thought the vineyard was in horrible shape and it was high time to turn things around in a big way. Turning to us, his hope for the future, he proceeded to demonstrate how we should trim the vines, as he carefully marked the diseased ones with a yellow tape and decisively cut off one bunch of bad grapes after another in order to save and protect the good ones. We in the crew looked upon him in wonder, a bit like students watching an engaging teacher. Stefano then stood back and observed each one of us starting in, making sure that we had learned our lessons well.
It had been raining for two weeks before we got started, and as I discovered, that isn’t very good for the grapes at all. They need water to mature but sunshine to ripen. Too much rain causes grapes to get moldy and rotten. I was practically in tears when we were told to cut so many grapes off the vines. I stuffed my pockets full of not-so-good grapes, as much as I possibly could, to bring back home with me when I was done for the day. They were not dry enough to make wine but were certainly good enough to have after lunch and dinner. Defying orders, I tried to save as many grapes as possible. To my delight, I was not the only one who did so. Tiziano was not impressed with the professional instructions: “That’s not how it’s supposed to be done; my grandfather would turn over in his grave!”
Since the heat can get intense here in the summer, we were supposed to start early in the morning — well, all except for me. Not a morning person myself, and needing only to walk down the stairs and cross the walkway to the vineyard, I tended to linger in bed a little longer in the morning. However, once I started in, it was difficult to stop. We each were assigned a row to work on, and sometimes we overlapped. When that happened, conversations started. I would hear lively chatter that I could barely follow, then Giacomo’s distinct laugh. When they saw me in the vicinity, everyone wanted to practice their English with me. Every day, a coffee break came around 11:30 a.m. Conversations stopped, laughter ceased and engines halted. Everything became quiet except the clipping sound of my own shears and the falling grapes. Since I arrived later than anyone else and am a tea drinker, I remained in the vineyard and continued to work. I found myself alone, letting my thoughts wander under the beautiful blue skies, only to be disrupted occasionally by the crowing of the confused neighborhood rooster making his voice heard at every time of day except early morning. Break-time over, the crew returned, and Elisabetta came back with a cup of hot tea for me. We became friends from that first day on, our friendship strengthened by our daily ritual.
UD's Merlot Grapes.
After a few months, harvest time finally arrived in September! Our work in the vineyard came to an end when an outside crew arrived with loads of colorful plastic crates to carry the grapes away in their big truck. The vines became bare without the hanging, juicy dark grapes that we so carefully trimmed, selected and saved for this moment. Elisabetta and I hugged, snapped a few selfies and said goodbye, for now.
Looking back, I am grateful for my unexpected and delightful experience in the UD Rome vineyard last summer. We are lucky to wake up every day to this beautiful campus — well-cared-for, well-loved and well-managed by the permanent crew. What I’ve learned from working in the vineyard is that the whole process — from planting to harvesting — is complex and delicate. It involves science (checking for balance among the sugars, acids, tannins and flavor-compounds), weather (determining a grape’s qualities based on heat or rain), location (affecting the delicate balance between the right amount of sun and air), and trained workers (knowing the art of pruning the good grapes and discarding the under-ripe or rotten ones). When everything goes well, the Due Santi vineyard not only contributes to the overall aesthetic of the Rome campus, but also blesses us with good wine to celebrate life — here and in Irving.
Cin Cin!