Cefalu

8/22

I have been getting up and running in the morning as the sun is coming up. It’s nice and cool and there’s a kind of peace and quiet here in the morning that I have never felt back home. The only time I have been anywhere more quiet was after the freefall when I went skydiving. Which, by the way, I have been looking into. One of my roommates wants to come with me. I think we might go in Palermo soon!

At work, we tasted wine from an experiment Laura has been doing with Nerello Mascalese. Now that the wine is finished, she is using micro oxidation to round it out and express the tannins from beginning to end, instead of just at the end of the finish. It has worked well and the wine continues to improve daily. It is great that Regaleali is big enough to have the support it needs to make great wine, efficiently, but still small enough to not mass produce or follow any protocols when it comes to the winemaking. Instead, it is very hands on and alive. Laura compares the winery to a hospital. She says that each tank is a patient who is changing and getting better each day. She has a goal or "plan" for each one and would like to see them have a particular outcome. She watches each one carefully, giving them the unique support to reach their goal, but realizes that although she would like them to progess down a certain path, everything might not go as planned. In this case she might need to go to a different tank to obtain that particular result she was looking for. I like tasting with her everyday and seeing how the juice changes. For example, if the juice starts to smell bad it is because the yeast is struggling and giving off an odor. It needs to be "fed" so that it can thrive and reproduce in order to convert the sugar in the juice to alcohol. When Laura tastes everyday, she decides what each "patient" needs or if they need anything at all.

8/23

We have the weekend off before the busy harvest begins so we went to the beach today! We headed up to the northeastern part of Sicily to a city called Cefalu. It was absolutely beautiful. The sea was like bath water. It was so warm I couldn’t believe it. The water is shallow for a long distance so you can swim pretty far out and you're still able to stand. I bought a raft and floated around for a few hours until I realized I was getting burnt and retreated to a chair under an umbrella where I read a book for the rest of the afternoon. Around 5 we went into the medieval town of Cefalu. The long narrow streets were lined with gelateria’s (ice cream and pastry shops), trendy stores, osteria’s, enotecca’s, ect. In the middle of this busy town was the Piazza Duomo which houses one of Sicily’s most beautiful Cathedrals. Right as the sun was setting, we reached the marina where we sat and enjoyed the magnificent view with our pistaccio gelato.




When we got home we made dinner and polished off 5 bottles of wine as we talked about everything under the sun. My roomates and I went back and forth asking each other questions and trying to gain an insight into each other's real lives. They filled me in on everything from their president (who apparently sleeps with lots of women) to their slang words and gestures, the best places to visit in Italy, the best food (Sicily wins!), their belief’s, the mafia, ect. I think we both learned a lot from each other and about what our culture’s are like. Our plans to go out turned into a drunken, 3 hour chat and at the end we were exhausted.

Me and the Boys

8/21

There’s a popular Pop radio station that mostly plays songs in English so we pretty much listen to the same music in the car here as I did at home (which is a shame). I have noticed that it is “cool” for the younger people to drive down the street blasting this radio station. They play anything and everything from Lady Gaga to Phil Collins and the people driving most likely don’t even know what the lyrics in the songs mean. Its pretty funny.

Last night we went to the next closest (a nicer!) town for dinner at a pizzeria. We didn’t get there until 11 and it was packed. Everyone eats late here. They have a big lunch around 2:00 and then take a nap until about 4. The town starts to liven up around 5 and you can find cars parked everywhere in no particular fashion. Some pull up against the curb while others just pull in facing it. Like I said, there are no rules here. Everyone comes out of their homes to sit outside their house or at one of the bars until 12 or 1 am. Even the kids! In fact, the ones who take the orders at the bars are usually the 9 or 10 year old children of the owners. Oh and all of the kids here are absolutely beautiful here.

I found out that my roommate, Lisa, will be working at our other winery, a few towns over, for the rest of harvest. I am really sad she is leaving. At first, I was bummed I had to share a room and now it is going to seem so empty without her here. She has made me feel so welcome and has been my savior since I got here. But before she left, we shaved our roommate, Stefano‘s head . He had a bit of an afro going on...much better now. Well I guess it’s just me and the boys from now on. Wish me luck!

8/20

I got to work in the lab a little bit yesterday and it was really interesting. The man who runs the lab is like your typical mad chemist. He is out of his mind and always on edge and stressed out, but he is obviously very smart.

On the drive to work today I was a little disappointed to see that what I had previously thought was a beautiful river that flowed through the vineyards (from the pictures online and the banners on the wall at the Nora‘s) was just a small pond for irrigation. Oh well. We were greeted by 12 samples to crush and get to the lab. I like to tasting all of the grapes before we crush them. It is neat to see how the wine begins and compare the different grapes. After collecting only 2 samples I was sweating profusely and sticky everywhere. I spent most of the morning covered in juice and surrounded by bees. Yup…definitely not in Vegas anymore!

I visited some of the vineyards today and was able to see the soil and grapes on the vines. There are 400 hectares of vineyards here with almond and olive trees alternating between them. 12 hectares of this is composed of alberello vines (some 40 years old) which are pretty rare in Sicily. The vineyards range from local varieties like Catarratto, Inzolia, Nerello Mascalese, Nero D’Avola and Perricone to Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Syrah, and Cabernet. They also own an island with vineyards of Grillo and Malvasia.

We also visited Case Vecchie where the estate’s garden is. Basil, tomatoes, arugula, ect. are all grown here. It smelled great! Probably because of the tomatoes that were drying in sun (yum!) All the antiques from the winery are also kept here. We got to stay home after lunch today and we have tomorrow off since we’re not that busy yet. Most of the grapes will not be picked until next week or the week after. This is nice since we will be working 10 hour days, 6 sometimes 7 days a week, starting next week.

We went to dinner at the best restaurant in town tonight. It was up on a hill and overlooked the countryside. Very cute. I was shocked at how cheap it was. I spent $10 euro on a great meal that included wine. Our entertainment for the night was the town football game. Men from the age of 16-30 all get together to play a game of soccer and everyone in town goes to watch. The weather was perfect. It is warm during the day, usually around 90, but it cools down at night. Everyone in town is outside, relaxing or walking after dinner.

10 things I LOVE about Sicily

1. The food!!! All my roommates agree (even the ones from the North) that the best food in Italy is found in Sicily. And when there is food on the table, there is wine. Life is good :O)

2. The people are the heart and soul of this place. They are more kind, generous, helpful, welcoming, fun, good looking, fashionable…the list goes on and on…than I could have imagined (But all of you who have bets going that I will get married and never come home…Not gunna happen!) I am so lucky to be living here and not just on a short vacation because I don’t think you can really experience Sicily without getting to know the people.

3. The sky is so clear at night that I think I could see every star in the sky. Absolutely breathtaking.

4. The Sea is like bathwater and the waves are small so you can actually float on a raft and relax without being tossed around like a rag doll.

5. For me, Sicily is Europe, Africa and Asia on one island. The influence from Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Byzantines, and Romans can be seen in everything from the fountains, theaters‘, and churches, to the food, language, and culture. And even though the history is long and tangled, the pride Sicilians have (for the good and the bad) moves me.

6. Sicilians take time to enjoy life. Friends, family, and good food and wine is more important than working long hours to make as much money as you can. Here there is no rush. And the people here always have something to say. Instead of being on the computer or watching TV all the time, they talk to each other and are always finding something to laugh at.

7. Like in the U.S, the ringtones are popular songs (usually American) . Except here they substitute the singer for what sounds like a 3 year old girl. For example, I just saw a commercial for the Pitbull song. You know the one…”I know you want me, I know I want cha…1, 2, 3, 4, uno, dos, tres, quattro!” Now picture that coming out of a cell phone and being sung like a tune from Tellitubbies. Too funny!

8. The restaurants and bars are pretty inexpensive. The exchange rate kinda ruins it but you can spend $10 euros and have a great meal with a carafe of wine. Not as much in the big cities but where I am staying drinks at the bar are only about 2 euro’s. I could get used to this!

9. Sodas and water come in large bottles and are drunk out of little plastic cups. Like the ones you rinse your mouth out with at the dentist. After a long day of work, it takes about 8 cups of water to quench my thirst, but I think I will miss these when I come home.

10. So far the men have been gentleman, not aggressive and pushy like I was warned about and prepared for. those ones are out there I'm sure, just like everywhere else in this world, but so far nothing but good peeps!

Let the Work Begin!

8/17/2009

This morning when I woke up at Nora’s, I was welcomed with an espresso and breakfast pastry. I knew this hospitality, along with the convenience of a walking talking translator, probably wasn’t going to last for long. This was a good thing though and I knew that what was ahead of me was going to make me a better person. I was looking forward to learning so much and was excited to venture on this “journey of a lifetime.” I Thought I expected what was to come, but I had no idea what I was about to get myself into. No one was kidding when they said I would be in the middle of nowhere. We drove about an hour and a half from Nora’s home town. I was almost car sick since about an hour of it was up an extremely windy road, far into the countryside. On the way, we chatted about Sicily and Nora told me a few stories, while her brother proceeded to tell me that I was basically about to put myself through something that a nun would do right before she went into the monastery, some kind of penance, and that after these few months I would be “St. Morgana.” Nice right. Finally we passed through the town of Vallelunga, which is about 10 min outside of the Regaleali vineyards. Although I didn’t get a full tour, I couldn’t picture myself spending much time here since it didn’t seem like there was anything to do. When we arrived at the vineyards, I realized exactly how ginormous this place is. The vineyards seem almost endless as they roll up and down the beautiful hills.



First, I met the director of the winery and was pleased he spoke a few words of broken English. I was not as pleased with the first words that came from his mouth though, “Poor Morgan.” So at this point it seems like everyone feels bad for me and doesn’t seem to understand why I, the American who barely speaks Italian at this point, would come to this remote place in Sicily for anything longer than a short visit. But nonetheless, I am happy to be here and I know that I am going to benefit from this experience, even though it won’t be a piece of cake.

Next, I met the director's wife and the winemaker, Laura, who is really friendly and spunky. She doesn’t walk but rather trots around the winery with her glass, tasking samples of juice from different tanks. On her way, she showed me around and introduced me to everyone who works in the winery. I met a 26 year old winemaker named Lisa who’s assisting Laura and currently working her 9th harvest. Previous ones included New Zealand, Chile and all over Italy. She is smart and really nice. I will be shadowing her for the day and we got right to work. Apparently I will not be working in the fields like I thought, probably just in the winery but there will be pleanty for me to do. There are also two other male interns here now and two more arriving tomorrow. It was almost time for lunch at that point, and it was then when I realized that I would not be living on the winery after all. We would all be staying in an apartment in that little village of Vallelunga. I guess I will be spending some time there after all!

We drove into town where we would make lunch (surprisingly, the BOYS cooked). I share a room with Lisa and we all share a bathroom. Not the most ideal circumstances but actually pretty comfortable. It reminds me of living in Pi Phi a little bit. Except my bed is half the size and probably about 100 years old cause it is nice and bouncy…just the way I like it. The towel that was folded on my bed was not so appealing though. It was also about 100 years old and feels more like an extra large piece of sandpaper than a towel. So, I have resorted to using my robe as a towel for now.

Lisa has done everything possible to make me comfortable here and I am learning a lot from her (and she loves that she can practice her English with me). I think we will be good friends. After Lunch we returned to the winery. Our first task was to bottle juice from 16 different samples of vine cuttings and take it to the lab for them to conclude the acidity level, amount of sugar, and so on to determine if /when the grapes would be ready to be picked (I hope I get to work in the lab sometime while I am here. Those stupid O-Chem classes might actually come in handy!) Neways the best part about this is that the method of retrieving the juice is by…wait for it…your feet! Yup, you put on a pair of rainboot-looking shoes and smoosh the bunches of grapes over a large sifter to separate the seeds and skins from the juice that is collected in bucket below. Of course the bees are attracted to this and are everywhere. I have already gotten used to it and don't even flinch anymore when they land on my hand. After taking the samples to the lab, we went to the 5 steel tanks that are full with juice so far and calculated the density and temperature of each one to make sure that fermentation is on the right track. Most of the juice is chardonnay right now that will be used for their sparkling wine. Let the work begin!

Let the work begin!

8.17.2009

This morning when I woke up at Nora’s, I was welcomed with an espresso and breakfast pastry. I knew this hospitality, along with the convenience of a walking talking translator, probably wasn’t going to last for long. This was a good thing though and I knew that what was ahead of me was going to make me a better person. I was looking forward to learning so much and was excited to venture on this “journey of a lifetime.” I Thought I expected what was to come, but I had no idea what I was about to get myself into. No one was kidding when they said I would be in the middle of nowhere. We drove about an hour and a half from Nora’s home town. I was almost car sick for about an hour of it was up an extremely windy road, far into the countryside. On the way, we chatted about Sicily and Nora told me a few stories, while her brother proceeded to tell me that I was basically about to put myself through something that a nun would do right before she went into the monastery, some kind of penance, and that after these few months I would be “St. Morgana.” Nice right. Finally we passed through the town of Vallelunga, which is about 10 min outside of the Regaleali vineyards. Although I didn’t get a full tour, I couldn’t picture myself spending much time here since it didn’t seem like there was anything to do. When we arrived at the vineyards, I realized exactly how ginormous this place is. The vineyards seem almost endless as they roll up and down the beautiful hills.

First, I met the vineyard director and was pleased he spoke a few words of broken English. I was not as pleased with the words that came from his mouth though, “Poor Morgan.” So at this point it seems like everyone feels bad for me and doesn’t seem to understand why I, the American who barely speaks Italian at this point, would come from America to this remote place in Sicily for anything longer than a short visit. But nonetheless, I am happy to be here and I know that I am going to benefit from this experience, even though it won’t be a piece of cake.

Next, I met the winemaker, Laura, who is really nice and extra spunky. She doesn’t walk but rather trots around the winery with her glass, tasking samples of juice from different tanks. She showed me around, introducing me to everyone who works in the winery. Then it was right to work. I met the 26 year old winemaker named Lisa who’s assisting Laura and currently working her 9th harvest. Previous ones included New Zealand, Chile and all over Italy. She is smart and really nice. I will be shadowing her for the day. There are also two other male interns here now and two more arriving tomorrow. It was almost time for lunch at that point, and it was then when I realized that I would not be living on the winery after all. We would all be staying in an apartment in that little village of Vallelunga. I guess I will be spending some time there after all!

Lisa has done everything possible to make me comfortable here and I am learning a lot from her (and she loves that she can practice her English with me). I think we will be good friends. After Lunch we returned to the winery. Our first task was to bottle juice from 16 different samples of vine cuttings and take it to the lab for them to conclude the acidity level, amount of sugar, and so on to determine if /when the grapes would be ready to be picked (I hope I get to work in the lab sometime while I am here. Those stupid O-Chem classes might actually come in handy!) Neways the coolest part about this is that the method of retrieving the juice is by…wait for it…your feet! Yup, you put on a pair of rainboot-looking shoes and smoosh the bunches of grapes over a large sifter to separate the seeds and skins from the juice that is collected in bucket below. After taking the samples to the lab, we went to the 5 steel tanks that are full with juice so far and calculated the density and temperature of each one. Most is chardonnay right now that will be used for their sparkling wine. Let the work begin!

Hello Sicily

I have been writing these blogs as the days go by (even though i could not post them until now)

Well my first day in Italy is finally here. The flight went well. I slept almost the entire time…surprise surprise. Even though I have traveled to Europe before, this was the first time where the primary language was not English. Everything was written, spoken, and done in the Italian fashion, english coming in second. I felt like I was already in Italy, as soon as I stepped on the flight. I woke up just in time to watch the bright orange sun rise on the horizon as we descended into the beautiful island of Sicilia. Bellisima! Nora and her sister and brother in law generously picked me up from the airport which is about a half hour from the actual city of Palermo. She was so kind to do this because I just found out that yesterday was a national holiday, "Ferragosto" (from what I understand, everyone goes on vacation and it is celebrated in the similiar fashion that we celebrate 4th of July ), and they had spent the previous day at the beach and had came into Palermo to stay the night just to pick me up. I appreciated this so much. We headed to her cousins beautiful house that overlooks the city, where we had espresso and biscotti on the patio. We all then headed to Nora’s home town, Canicatii to have lunch with the rest of her family. On the ride there I found myself in the back seat between two Sicilian women, who were of course having a normal, yet animated conversation basically right through me. There were loud words, hands flying, and fingers pointing across my face. Meanwhile, I notice that the lines in the road that separate the lanes must only be used as guidelines here because we spent most of our time driving in the middle of the road, not sticking to either lane. There are no rules of the road here. Everyone does as they please without much regard for anyone else. On the way we stopped to buy "pane" (bread) out of the back of a car parked on the side of the road. It might have been the best bread I have ever had (and I have had alot)!

When we got to Canacatti we went to Nora’s gorgeous villa right outside of town. In Italy, almost everyone has an apartment like home in town and then a larger villa with a garden about 5 min outside of town, where they stay during the summer. All of her family is basically next door to each other so they all spend a lot of time together. We picked figs from a tree in her backyard and took them to her brother’s house where we had lunch with Nora’s family and the priest that married Marcello and Bianca :O). There was LOTS of food and even more wine, followed by a bottle of grappa, espresso, gelato…ect. It seemed never ending and was awesome!! Then Before laying down for my afternoon siesta, we went to the local mall to get an Italian sim card for my cell phone so that I would not be charged the ridiculous roaming rates. It's far from the malls that I am used to...but it did the job!

When I woke up from my siesta, it was almost dark outside and I realized the power had gone out. It had gotten dark by the time we walked back to her brother’s so we headed down the narrow road with our flashlight guiding us as the cars zoomed by. We sat outside by the candlelight and relaxed before dinner which was pizza from the local pizzeria. I thought the pizza in NYC was good. This place kicks NYC’s ass!

To top it off, on the walk home I saw a shooting star. The sky at night here is absolutely ridiculous. You can see every star in the sky clearly. It looks like God just placed them there perfectly. To say the least, today was an enchanting day.

Day 1- NYC

I feel like I have already experienced New York like it's supposed to be experienced and I have only been here for 24 hours. It took 45 minutes just to get off the plane, I waited 20 min for a shuttle that had to be at least 100 degrees inside with 100% humidity to grand Central where I dragged my suitcases down the street to hail 3 cabs which were all stolen from me by grown men, and while waiting for the next cab a random man in a Mercedes offered to take me anywhere I needed to go for $10 (don't worry I said HELL NO!), then I saw 25-20 cop cars in a row flying down the street with their lights on, which I saw again today at about the same time but on a different street. Very strange. Then I dragged 2 heavy suitcases up 5 flights of narrow stairs in a building with no air conditioning that smelled like a mix of onions and trash. Then we drank $3 margaritas on the patio of a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant. This place came up with the perfect drink. Half Sangria, Half Margarita, and a Coronita! What more could you ask for!? After cuddling with Lily in her non air conditioned room I was awakened to the beautiful sound of honking cabs. I LOVE IT HERE!