************************ 'Romping and A-Stomping' at Guglielmos'*******************SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 2008. SEE DETAILS BELOW:
BOTTLE YOUR OWN RED WINE: GUGLIELMO’S CORK EQUITY DAY #21,SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 2008 – 10 AM – 3 PM. ‘RAIN OR SHINE.’CORK EQUITY n: Definition: A method of saving big money by getting hands on involvement assisting in the bottling, corking and labeling of your own premium wine. Nearly six thousand wine lovers have turned up at our cellar door on Cork Equity Day looking for a great bottle of wine at a great price. Few have been disappointed! Don’t miss your chance to meet some friends, have some fun, hear some great Italian music, enjoy our complimentary bread and cheese, plus earn access to our Chef's Table featuring or famous grilled sausages with purchase of a case or more.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IVANO SAYS: AS USUAL THE ‘OLD RANCERE’ WILL ONCE AGAIN BE PRESENT TO SELL AND SIGN COPIES OF “LA NOSTRA COSTA” (OUR COAST), AND POSSIBLY SING A FEW ITALIAN SONGS OF OLD. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE.
GUGLIELMO ‘S
1480 EAST MAIN AVENUE
MORGAN HILL, CA 95037(408) 779-3166 http://www.guglielmowinery.com/
DIRECTIONS: FROM SAN JOSE TAKE HWY 101 TO E.DUNNE AVE OFF RAMP. TURN LEFT ON E.DUNNE AVE. PROCEED ACROSS HWY 101 OVER-PASS TO CONDIT RD.(2ND STOP LIGHT). TURN LEFT ON CONDIT RD AN PROCEED NORTH 0.8MI TO E.MAIN AVE.(NEXT STOP LIGHT). TURN RIGHT ON E.MAIN AVE. AND PROCEED APPROXIMATELY 1/2MI TO WINERY ON YOUR RIGHT. (LIVE OAK HIGH SCHOOL IS ACROSS THE STREET.)------
1480 EAST MAIN AVENUE
MORGAN HILL, CA 95037(408) 779-3166 http://www.guglielmowinery.com/
DIRECTIONS: FROM SAN JOSE TAKE HWY 101 TO E.DUNNE AVE OFF RAMP. TURN LEFT ON E.DUNNE AVE. PROCEED ACROSS HWY 101 OVER-PASS TO CONDIT RD.(2ND STOP LIGHT). TURN LEFT ON CONDIT RD AN PROCEED NORTH 0.8MI TO E.MAIN AVE.(NEXT STOP LIGHT). TURN RIGHT ON E.MAIN AVE. AND PROCEED APPROXIMATELY 1/2MI TO WINERY ON YOUR RIGHT. (LIVE OAK HIGH SCHOOL IS ACROSS THE STREET.)------
FROM: SANTA CRUZ-WATSONVILLE-SALINAS-GILROY, GET ON HWY 101 AND PROCEED NORTH TO E.DUNNE AVE. OFF RAMP. TURN RIGHT ON E. DUNNE AVE TO CONDIT RD (FIRST STOP LIGHT). TURN LEFT ON CONDIT RD. AND PROCEED NORTH 0.8MI TO E.MAIN AVE.(NEXT STOP LIGHT.) TURN RIGHT ON E.MAIN AVE. AND PROCEED ABOUT 1/2 MILE TO THE WINERY ON YOUR RIGHT.
BUONA FORTUNA E SEMPRE AVANTI. IVANO
4 comments:
Ei, best wishes for your latest wino fest. Ooops I meant wine fest.
It brings back memories of times when Baffi made his own wine. He bought a big vat, which he put in the garage at Bay St., plus a few smaller barrels.
The first year, he actually stomped the grapes himself, using a stout tree limb with 3 stubs of branches on one end, to help smash grapes. He used hip boots as a sanitary measure. (they were the same he used to clean the chicken house, but he washed them first.) He labored at this until the fumes made him dizzy.
In later years, he and Pete Dogliotti would hire an electric crusher to smash the grapes. I can remember the sound of that work going late into the night.
The first juice that would result, was the best tasting, to my palate.
Then, after a suitable period of fermentation, they would hire a press to get the last drop of juice out. I was allowed to operate the press occasionally. Some models had a long handle which had to be pumped up and down. Others had one that you pushed to and fro. I liked that one better. More like rowing a boat. The remaining grape husks would be packed so densely that they had to be chopped out of the press with an axe.
A question some folk might ask is: "How long do you let it spoil before you bottle it?" (A friend asked that in regard to beer, at the Olympia brewery, and got some dirty looks in return.)
My mother used to call the wine, "Gragnolino". A joking reference to the multitude of spiders that probably were a minor ingredient of the wine. After all, how can one keep all the dust and other impurities out of a half-ton of grapes? Baffi said that the alcohol disinfects it.
Saluti e stammi bene. Gino
Gino: My GodFather's methods regarding wine making were not that much different than Baffi's. As I write in "La Nostra Costa", Tony Marcucci (my Godfather) used to make is wine in his garage locate in back of his house. Since he did not own a car he had plenty of room to store all his rusty equipment and wine vat. I am sure the a few of those 'spaidas' you talk about got mixed into the purplish brew.
Bronco, my father, never liked Tony's wine; however, when asked by Tony, he would always say that it tasted great. To my brother and me he would say: "Assaggia di aceto!" (It tastes like vinger.)
Maybe it was all that rust and 'ragnos' that got in there. ivno
Another great time was had at Guglielmos. Roger (Ruggero)Princevalle once again assisted me in setting up and selling 'La Nostra Costa' books. ( We even sold one that had been blessed by the spillage of 'vino rosso' making it a special edition copy.)
Also met a young Italian couple from San Jose. The young man is a recent arrivie from Italy and spoke excellent (Toscano) Italian.
He complimented the "Old Rancere's"
bilingual abilities. After a short introduction (in Italian) to "La Nostra Costa" history he quickly purchased the book. Grazie Mille.
Also:
I brought along my new 'boombox' and played Italian sing along tunes. I think the crowd enjoyed them more than the paid accordianist. BTW: 'The Old Rancere' found a couple of young lasses willing to dance the 'tarantella' (of sorts) with him. As I said a good time was had by all. Why weren't you there??
The next onw is in November. Hope to see you then. ivno
This one is for Gino and Ivano. Up here in Canada all the Furlans and other Italians would order their grapes from California. They would order Zifandel, Alicante, Muscato, and in later years there would be new brands like Mission and Merlot. The grapes would arrive in train loads. All the Italians would ensure they received their orders usually purchasing large quantities amongst Paesanos so they could share in the labour of producing the wine. For the most part the wines produced were so strong they were more like a fortified wine in some cases alcohol content approaching 20%. Most of my Father's friends used equipment like an electric crushers that were so strong that the grapes seeds and stems were crushed making the wine very bitter tasting. The presses, as Gino mentions were so compacting that the grape skins were solid blocks. One of our friends had a grape press fitted with an hydraulic cylinder delivering too much pressure necessary to extract the juices from the grape skins. In the later years as people became more educated in the art of wine making the old equipment became obsolete for the newer more sophistcated equipment. Living in the Niagara area we are blessed with excellent climate for grapes and wine making, most predominant is the ice wine harvested during the winter months when the temperature falls way below freezing 32F. The Ice wine is sweet and used during deserts after meals. They crush the grapes outside in the vinyard in the cold when the grape is still frozen. They also produce award winning regular wines like Merlot, Cabernet, Pinot Grigio etc. But back in late 40's early 50's when my parents immigrated here from Friuli, the only grapes grown were Concord Variety which is basically a juice producing grape good for making jam or drinking juice not suitable for wine. The wine produced from these grapes required a large amount of sugar to initiate fermentation. And some of the paesanos made wine that would paralyze you and it was terrible tasting. However in the last 15-20 years a vinifera variety grape has been brought over from Europe suited for our climate and has resulted in the establishment of many many wineries with some winning world competitions. The California grapes that were once sent to Canada came from the hotter regions of California and were usually rejected by the local Califronia wineries. The majority of the grapes sent to Canada from California contained too much natural sugar resulting in very strong wine. I recall the first year I made wine using California grapes to make Zifandel Rose, and I used measurement equipment to record the sugar content of the juice prior to fermenting it. I was able to reduce the sugar content using a local grape brand with less sugar. I also used science to kill the wild yeast found on the grape skins and purchased a known yeast culture to control my wine making process. I also used air locks on my dobijons to prevent the wine from turning to vinegar during secondary fermentation. The finished wine, a Rose Zifandel and it was a great hit !! However my Father was contrary to my wine making methods. He was always telling me .. devi guardare la luna, e non sta metere tutte quelle cose nel vino !!! -- Translated to english "You have to go by the moon and don't add anything to the wine". Well that is the only way to ensure a good wine Dad !! Never mine crushing it with boots in a big vat, and boots that were used to clean the chicken coop !!! There is not near as much home wine making as there used to be, many sons and daughters of Italian families find it easier to purchase wine at the wine store. I still make my own usually going to a local winery that sells wine juice ready to ferment. I have never exprienced a bad batch of wine.
Take care
Ciao e Mandi
Doriano
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