3 concerts in 3 day: My trip in Umbria and Tuscany, Mark Knopfler at Perugia jazz, ZZ Top at Lucca and Robin Eubanks at Montalcino Jazz

I had a whirlwind tour in Tuscany a couple of weeks ago, starting at Perugia jazz where I was able to hear  a married couple from Texas via New Orleans, Kim Prevost and her husband Bill Solley, then off to

hear Mark Knopfler who may just be the laziest performer I have ever seen live.  He got off his stool just once, but the man can surely play guitar!  Day 2 I was off to Lucca to hear Jeff Beck and ZZ Top, but not without 1st stopping at Gaiole for a visit to the Chini butcher shop where you are assured of getting top quality Cinta Senese (black pig) salami, prosciutto, guanciale, etc.  He and his brother and nephew slaughter just 5 a week and then spend the week preparing the cured meats which I think are some of the best in Italy, right up there with the culatello of Spigaroli near Zibello.  Then it was off to the Parco Scolture di Chianti which is a sculpture park on 15 acres of forest land which years ago housed wild pigs which were raised for meat. Sculptors from 5 continents have contributed works to the park and nearby is an art gallery run by the couple who started this dream years ago.

 It is up a long gravel road from Gaiole or you can reach it from the road to Valiagli up from Siena.  I didn't want my day to be empty, so the next stop was Fattoria Corzano e Paterno where you can find some of the best pecorino cheeses in Italy.  Everything from a creamy concoction called Lingotto to a blue, fresh ricotta or aged and fresh regular pecorinos.  It is well worth a trip, but be sure to arrive before 13:30 and ask for Sibilla who was in the Slow Food master class in gastronomic science the year before Raffaele and me.

 Finally, errands complete, I arrived at a wonderful little B&B between Lucca and Pisa called Marta Guest House where I met a charming couple who helped me plan an excursion, however brief to Lucca before the concerts.

 Lucca was pretty much left untouched by the Siena-Florence battles and has an intact wall you can walk, jog or bike around as well as some interesting towers, churches and shops.   Be sure to try out the restaurant Cantine Bernardini run by an old ducal family of the same name with refined cooking, a local wine list which will help you explore Luccan wines and they hand pick all the cured meats or cure them in house.

All the columns on the duomo are of a different design, mostly pagan, a view from one of the towers of lucca, the wall by night and the unforgettable ZZ Top

Day 3, I was off to Montalcino to visit my friend at Banfi, Claudia and her beau where we listened to the 1st night of the Montalcino jazz fest in the environs of Castello Banfi with the incredible trombonist, Robin Eubanks.

 It all came to an end early the next day as I had to return to Ascoli to check in with immigration at 11, but it was a nice break.

July 11 already! Today's topics, why italians yell, la cimatura, peaches and cream with tassles, fig newtons, l'oidio e la peronospera (the mildews)

I am embarrassed to see that almost 2 weeks have passed since my last posting.  Here at Nascondiglio di Bacco, we are full and have the full time job in the vineyard as well, so time flies.  I did get to spend the 4th with 3 other americans, some Brits and germans and italians and we had a grand old time, but no fireworks.
The vines are growing to the sky which means it is time for a cutting called the cimatura which involves cutting the branches which have grown passed  their ability to support themselves and the fall into the middle of the row, thus blocking my vision when I pass with the tractor and also shading the grape bunches too much.  We asked our neighbor to do that for us with his new vertical multi-blade attachment for his tractor and now we look pretty neat and tidy except for the grass which has not been mown for a month because of a broken mower.  This is a fine example of why people yell at each other in Italy as the part was supposed to be available inside a week, but we are now at a month and no part.  Also, our neighborly vendor who asked for 6 months notice for our order for a trailer to cart our grapes behind the tractor which I duly gave in March looked clueless when I went in for the 10th time since March to ask him if he had started on it as we need it for the harvest.  After explaining how the price of steel had risen sharply since he quoted me the price, blah blah blah, I was able to use my old expertise at hollering also with him.
We had a very few grapes (not whole clusters) with the dangerous powdery mildew and the downy mildew has been under control, but is also present.  With the former, I had a bit of panic as I have been dutifully following a 7-10 day treatment program with our permitted copper and sulfur products and was disappointed despite my best efforts, I can't keep this troublesome maladies at bay.  Our agronomo came and held my hand and told me our vineyard looks marvelous and healthy and not to worry, so I can sleep well once again.

Above are some of our merlot grape clusters.
Our first figs ripened this week, so I made fig newtons for our guests.  MMMM, good, just have to be careful and not eat too many.  The next harvest will be the little yellow plums which someone told me has the name mirabelle in french,  so more jam needs to be made.
The winery is now shelled in on the bottom and the supports removed for its roof or the floor of the upstairs if you will.  Time for the electicians, plumbers and refrigerator guys to get to work.  We have a tight schedule!

At left we see the room for the barrels and at right, Raffaele with the engineer for the electrical plant in the fermenting area.
Finally, here are some pictures of my little corn field of which I am very proud.

Italian vs. AZ immigration rules, Nocino, ongoing driver's license struggles, winery construction update

30 Giugno

The winery construction is coming along and the roof of the functioning part of the winery, which is the floor of the tasting and sales area is drying and they should be able to take the supports away by next week.  That will leave the lower space open for the installation of the refrigeration system and the electrical works.  So far, we are just a few days behind our tight schedule.

I have now failed the driver's license test twice, which means I had to pay again and re-apply, but I have to have some sort of license and they give me a patente rosa which is my legal paper to drive until I take the test again.  The 1st time I missed 6, this time 5 and only 4 are allowed for a passing grade.  It is a bit frustrating.  On the way home from my excursion to motorizzazione, the police pulled this blonde guy in the convertible z4 over to inspect my papers.  PROFILING!!  I am not sure how AZ will handle their new law and its enforcement, but I can tell you in Italy, you will see random stops by the polizie or the  carabinieri on many roads.  I made my annual trip to the immigration office and did the rounds to get my application for a new permit of stay completed.  I have to show earnings, a dwelling which passes inspection, a valid passport with every page photocopied,  my tax form showing I have paid into their system so I am covered by health insurance, a valid italian "SS# and then there are the little payments to cover their costs for the application.  It is a hassle, but I respect their right to control who lives here and be sure they are legal and can't see why the US states can't do the same. However,  I am not a fan of profiling, surely and hated the way the Leawood cops would pull over any black person driving through, even Lou Smith!  I hope it can be handled discretely and fairly.

We are down to our last 2 rows of vines to prune back, selecting only 1 branch when there are 2 coming from the same place and thinning out the rest, leaving only 5 or 6 per plant.  This allows the plants to concentrate their energy on fewer grape clusters and allows better passage of sunlight and air to help prevent the various fungi which plague us.  One row is taking 3 hours, so I won't be sad to finish this up;  then it is on to thinning grape clusters in the pecorino white grapes or in essence, starting over at the beginning.

I started the Nocino which is walnut liqueur on the 26th of June, so 2 days behind the normal starting day of St. John the Baptist or the 24th, but I picked on the right day.  I will leave the green walnuts, which I quartered in the pure grain alcohol for 40 days with spices and then dilute half with simple syrup and the other half with white wine, to see which I like the best.  Last year's batch was lost in an accidental container drop on day 43, but my tears helped rid the patio of the stickiness!

The last picture is Bacco with his new squeaky pig toy which was a wonderful gift from some return guests from Rome.  He is having a great time playing keep-away with his plastic maiale!

Annual Gola dell'infernaccio hike with Bacco and another mystery tree

22 Giugno

After a 13 hour work day last week, I decided to spoil myself and Bacco, who gets quite annoyed and acts out when I work too much and don't pay enough attention to him (who needs a wife).  We headed up to the trail head for Gola which is about 90 minutes from us in the Sibillini mountains, parked at the entrance and walked the 1st km on the road which gives access to the cattle ranchers who graze their animals up in the mountain valleys.  There is a veil of water which falls from the cliff to the left in the picture above to start you off on the trail.
The cool vapor and sent of greenness meets you (I smelled tomato leaves for some reason) and you hike up into the shear cliffs of the gola which have been eroded by the power of this little torrent over the millenia.

You then walk along the river enveloped in the sound of rushing mountain water, which I love on the same level as wind blowing through the pine trees in Rocky Mt. Natl. Park or in back of Nascondiglio di Bacco.  The 3 y.o. flat coat retriever never tires of submerging his black coat in the cool water and drinking his fill so he can mark the entire length of the trail as his property.

We hiked the hour and a half to the spring which in summer marks the start of the river.  We are just finishing up the snow melt here, so the springs were overshadowed by the water from higher up.  There was no one on the trail, a great place to clear your mind and enjoy the beauty of the mountains on either side, listening to the european goldfinches and european robins and european chickadees singing and once in a while the bellowing of the cattle higher up.

Now, here is the picture of the mystery tree which is full of hanging bunches of yellow flowers without any scent, but impressive nonetheless.  Kudos to whoever guesses correctly...I am just too lazy to search it out on google right now.

Finally, a couple of photos from the return trip and an update on the winery construction where just before our 1st serious rain in a month, the roof of the working part of the cantina was finished.  Now we are almost ready for those who do the inside work, such as the tubing for wine and must transfer, electricity, refrigeration, etc.  In the vineyard, we are still choosing which branches to keep and which to cut away and have just the montepulciano vines to finish, maybe another weeks worth of work.  Then, back to the beginning and we will start to cut away excess grapes, so our young vines can concentrate all their energy on just the 5 or 6 bunches we leave hanging.

The town is Montefortino as viewed from the road to Gola dell'Infernaccio.

Roof over our heads, roses, corn and tomatoes and What fruit is this?

10 giugno
I am underwater with work in the vineyard and our high season kicks in shortly at Nascondiglio di Bacco.  We are currently choosing which branches of each grapevine to keep and which to tear off for compost and have finished perhaps half of the vineyard to date.  I have been weed-eating in between the plants, row by row which is laborious, but the weeds are at least as capable as the vines at growing by leaps and bounds.
Here are the latest photos of the construction and I think by the end of the week or early next week they will have poured the cement for the roof of the cantina proper.  The rose is one of the prettiest I have grown and looks like it is made of velvet.  The tree you see with the green fruit is a mystery to me and I would appreciate any ideas as to what kind it is, perhaps some strange type of plum?  Finally, my peaches and cream corn row with my latest construction project behind to support my tomato plants should they survive.
We had a nice visit with the Butins from KC and they were nice enough to gift me some Bryant's and Gate's rubs for bbq'ing as well as much needed pure vanilla extract.  I am hopeful they had a nice Marche  experience... we were up against some tough competition with Rome and Paris on their itinerary!
dds

Bris type optimism in the vineyard at Nascondiglio di Bacco

30 Maggio

I am sure everyone knows about the joke concerning circumcision displaying the parents' optimism by allowing the removal of 20% before they know what he's got.   We are doing the same thing here at Nascondiglio di Bacco.  We are removing about half of the vines' branches to arrive at 5-7 which will put all the energy of the vine into those remaining branches and grapes and hopefully force a young 3 year old vine to make something a bit better and more complex.   We have flowering in the Pecorino-May 25 and Merlot-May 25-26 and Cabernet Franc-May 27 and Petit Verdot-May 28-29, one clone of Cab Sauv. May 28 and await flowering in the other 2 clones of Sauv and the Syrah and Montepulciano.  Also, the olive trees are flowering, we have a new litter of cats which has hidden in our out building, new baby pheasants in the land I left uncleared, new starlings in the roof tiles, strawberries etc... It is Spring fever here!  Oh, I should also say the spring has not been so good for the mice in my compost pile for obvious reasons..  Sorry if one of you was a future chef!

Cascata della marmora, 400th post

30 Maggio,

Remiss as usual with posting new stuff, but here is a photo spread of the beautiful waterfall in Umbria about an hour and a half (the way I drive) from Nascondiglio di Bacco.  I arrived one beautiful Monday morning to find it "turned off".  As Smirnoff would say, "What a country!"  I can't imagine arriving at Yosemite Falls, eg, and find myself waiting  2 hours for them to turn on the tap.  Anyway,  I have to say, it was cool to see the falls before and after they opened the dam upstream.  Here are some pictures and I will add, the falls is always "on" in summer.  It would be a nice day trip to have a picnic or to include with an excursion to Norcia or Castelluccio.  They offer 5 hiking trails, including one through a botanical garden and each has special views of the waterfall, flora and fauna.  Here is the series of events starting at 10 AM and finishing at 12:15.  The light would be better near sunset for photos, I hit the worst possible time with the sun overhead.