Grape Harvesting at La Vigna Agriturismo

Agriturismos are one of our favorite Italian experiences. They are working farms with bed and breakfast lodging on-site and they often have restaurants that serve dinner as well. They are subsidized by the Italian government to promote tourism in more rural areas. We love experiencing Italy's beautiful rural areas and we love local food, so we jumped at the chance to go to La Vigna, an agriturismo about 30 minutes from our home, to spend the day harvesting grapes and enjoying a traditional Italian meal. 

These are the grapes we harvested. I wondered what kind they were, but forgot to ask. So, I'd guess maybe falanghina, which is a local white wine.

Sydney cutting the grapes off the vine

Miranda cutting grapes off the vine (yes, we let her use a knife!)

Sophia enjoyed getting a closer look. Although this was not my brightest parenting moment, since look=touch=in the mouth, which means I was fishing a grape out of her mouth within seconds! 

 

Sydney was being silly, but in between bouts of whining and being silly, went right back to work with Dad.

Miranda was being silly while whining, but she gave up picking grapes early on. In her defense, it was in the 90's so pretty hot and uncomfortable, especially with rubber gloves on.

More silliness!

Sydney thought this bunch looked like an L--for Aunt Laura!

Here's Brian in his pack mule role yet again!

After picking grapes, we went around back to let the kids play on the huge playground. We learned the grapes are put into this machine to separate the stems. 

(By the way, the man behind the machine is 82; must be the Mediterranean diet!)

Then it was time to stomp on the grapes, I-Love-Lucy style, although on a little smaller scale. Stay tuned for these photos at Christmas...

Finally, it was time to enjoy the fruits of our labor! Or last year's laborers, I should say. I have really come to love authentic Italian al fresco dining. We ate under these vines and it was magical.  Or maybe what I was feeling was the wine. In any case, it was a lovely experience and we can check it off our bucket list! Not that I wouldn't jump at another chance next year.