90 Years of Winemaking

SALUTE

My indoctrination into amateur wine making began at an early age. As a young boy of 8 or 9 years old, one of my biggest thrills was to assist during wine season. My grandfather, Joseph De Franco, was the wine maker. My uncles would all get together to help my grandfather make wine. It was truly an experience shared by the entire family. All of my cousins and myself still have find memories of tasting the sweet grape juice than ran freely from the press. The extended family would all help, Uncles and cousins with Grand Mom making the special snacks.

Unlike in the United States, wine in most European countries was and is considered a food. Wine is enjoyed by everyone, children and adults alike being a basic commodity and served at most every meal.

The wine process began in the late summer with washing, cleaning and preparing the wine barrels. Wine cellar preparation began in late summer, right after tomato season. The wood barrels (used whiskey barrels) would be taken from the cellar into the yard and cleaned. In those days, a sulfur stick was burned in the barrel to sanitize the barrels. The use of burning sulfur is called Mechage by the French. One of the tricks used by my grandfather to help clean the barrels was to put a piece of steel chain in the barrel. This would help clean the inside as it was rocked back and forth. Although oak barrels were used, as they got older very often wax was melted and the entire inside of the barrel was coated with this wax. Since then, I’ve learned that this practice was very common in Italy were chestnut barrels were used to store wine. I was very fortunate to watch and learn from these experienced home winemakers. Very often, they did not know why certain steps were taken, the traditions were passed on from one generation to the next. My curiosity about wine and enjoyment was born during this time. Many years later, after reading many books on wine and winemaking, I’ve come to truly appreciate the old techniques used by my grandfather, great grandfather and I’m sure for generations before. I’ll get into the techniques that I was originally taught.

I was fortunate enough to have my Aunt Josephine De Franco from Voluturino, Italy recently visit and watch me make wine. During every step, she related how wine is still made in the small towns and villages in Italy. The steps she described were exactly how my grandfather made wine.