Day 5 in Arezzo!!!

We got our first exam over with today and I’m really happy about that! I think I did “okay”, but will know my grade probably Sunday night. My teacher said he wants us to enjoy the week end and not obsess over our tests so he won’t post the grade until almost the end of the weekend. Anyone who knows me knows how agonizing it is to wait for a test grade… Good or bad. I just want to know ASAP so I can deal with my emotions, whether happy or sad and move on with things. I will just wonder and keep replaying the test over and over in my head again until I get the grade anyways. Good things come to those who wait…or something like that right?

After the exam this morning we got to go visit a vineyard close to where my apartment and OUA are at. It was maybe a 25 minute or so walk to get there, but it was really cool and totally worth it. They took us on a tour of the grounds and we got to go into the cellar type area, where a lot of the wine making processes happen. That was really neat to see. So, if you have no interest in the production of wine, then skip the rest of this paragraph. I happen to think it is really cool information. First of all, the vitner (wine maker) has to decide what kind of grapes are best for the particular kind of wine he/she desires to make. Once the correct grapes are grown (theoretically at their ripest), they are picked from the vines (I think that is pretty obvious?) either by hand or more practically by machine. The machines can pick an entire field in 2 days that would typically take manpower about 2 weeks or so to do! After that, sometimes (depending on the type of wine) the seeds are removed from the grapes and they are “pressed” with a machine VERY lightly to release the desired juices from the middle area of the grape. In some red wines a bitter flavor is desired so the stems, which cause bitterness are left in the grapes, but with white wine the stems are always removed at this point. After this process is complete, then the grapes are put into a huge vat where they are left for fermentation. The vats at the vineyard we went to today were about 10,000L! The vats will initially only be filled to about 80% to allow for expansion during the fermentation process. For red wine, which is what we tasted at La Stricia vineyard today, the grape pieces (skin, seeds, stems…) are left in the juice throughout this process and will rise to the top of the vat through fermentation. This is a problem considering that they use the pieces to get the coloring they want in the wine and sometimes the flavoring as well, so they have to mix the pieces back down into the bottom of the vat at least 2 times a day to make sure this doesn’t happen. For white wine on the other hand, the pieces are separated from the juice immediately, since no color is generally desired in these wines. The grapes go through a fermentation process with the vat at 80% full, and then through a second one, but this time filling the vat 100%. Any kind of clarification of stabilization occurs at this point, and then the wine is aged in a barrel. Once the wine has aged appropriately (often around 18 months), then it is ready to be bottled. Some wines are further aged in the bottle, and some can be released for sale at that point… So there is your "wine making" 101 for the day. Haha. I’m sure a lot of you don’t care to read this, but I also know a few who will be really interested in the information as well! J I guess it is note-worthy to say that I did not like any of the wines at the vineyard we went to today, but they were all reds which I have not found many of that I liked in the past…

This was the view while standing out in the middle of the vines...

 

The 10, 000 L vats used for mixing 

Aging barrels, which I think he said are called barricks?... 

Random pretty flower. :) 

After the vineyard we were free to go and do whatever we wanted for the day. I went shopping in town and found some really cute stuff I may end up spending entirely too much money on. The little shop ships to the US and she said it is inexpensive, although I think inexpensive is a relative term. I got a couple little things for other people that I’m excited to get to them when I get home! I have actually got a few things for myself as well for a change, and I have a couple things in mind I would also like to get before I leave to go back to the US. I went to dinner at a little place that had really good food. They had a bruschetta trio that I got for an appetizer and I tried a tortellini that had potatoes as a filling which was really good. I was so full by the time I finished I didn’t want to walk “home”.

I have accumulated a LOT of dirty clothes since I’ve been here so I decided tonight would be a good time to get some laundry done. It was an interesting experience, because I have never hung my clothes on a line before and that is the only option, since we don’t have a dryer. I was just worried my clothes would end up flying away off the 2^nd story balcony where our clothes lines are, but I guess they seem pretty secure… I’ll see tomorrow if they’re still all there! We are heading out to Florence tomorrow. I’ve been told there are really good places to shop  out there, so I hope people are correct. The shops here in Arezzo have a lot of cute stuff, but a lot of it is really over priced for what it is.

Anyways… there is my exciting day! I’m going to get off of here and call it a night early tonight.