Gearing Up for the Home Winemaking Season (Vino Fatto in Casa)

It's great to see that home winemaking remains alive and well.

Oak barrels (Botte)

Today, many Italian-American old-timers make wine in garages and basements from grapes trucked from California.

Home winemaking is an important pursuit among Italian-Americans in many US cities with a sizable Italian community.

Winemaking is such an important part of the Italian community that many cities support several winemaking supply shops, wine competitions etc.

In addition to the raw materials (the pre-pressed must or the whole bunches of grapes), these winemaking supply stores sell the entire range of home winemaking supplies - different sizes of oak barrels going up to a capacity of 50 gallons, demijohns (damigiani) in case one prefers to ferment in glass, small basket presses, grinders and so on.

                                                                                        Grape Press (Pressa)

Whether you’re driven by quality, quantity or efficiency — or by the high-tech joy of using the latest home winemaking toy — these stores will help you decide what to buy. They will help you sift through the overabundance of specialized winemaking equipment to find tools and gadgets that match your budget, annual wine production and goals.

Corks in all shapes and sizes (Suri)

   

 We will be making our wine in a few weeks.  Stay tuned....

alla SALUTE!!

Under the PERGOLA - Sotto la Pergola

For my parents and many Italian immigrants, dining al fresco meant home-made pizzas, home-made wine and long chats under the shade of a pergola (a practical and affordable garden structure).

Family and Friends Easter 1974


Dining al fresco, also meant whole families gathering under the pergola in the summer to enjoy a meal and on occasion reaching upward for a bunch of plumb grapes for dessert.

Entertaining Italian Relatives 1981


This pergola  was built by my father in 1965.  It was built with old scrap tubing which he carried home piece by piece since he did not drive.

Today, the simple charcoal grill on the patio or the shade created by a hand-made pergola is no longer enough to provide the entertaining atmosphere some of us are looking for.  Now-a-days people are looking for that WOW factor that can not be found with the styles of the past.

Charcoal grills

Today, dining al fresco has translated into furnishings that create outdoor living spaces. Our backyards have become kitchens, fire pits for kids to toast marshmallows and eating areas with cushioned chairs and mosquito-zapping lamps.

WOW outdoor spaces

My parents' Pergola


Today, my parents are gone to a better place but their pergola lives on quietly but full of memories.


Will these WOW, outdoor spaces create memories that warm the heart?

Dialect Abruzzese for Under the Pergola is Sotto la Capanna. 
I invite to listen to the music of  N'duccio" called "Sotto La Capanna" on YouTube