A grape time

AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy--Willow Devine, daughter of Tech Sgt. Sean Devine, 31st Communications Squadron, helps pick grapes at an Italian farm near San Martino Di Campagna. More than 30 Airmen and their families participated in the centuries-old tradition of grape picking on Sept. 14. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Liliana Moreno)

A grape time

AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy--Airmen and their familes from AFN Aviano and the base multimedia shop work their way through a vineyard picking grapes. Once picked, grapes are toted back to the farm, where Italian farmers squeeze the grapes using their bare feet to squeeze the juice out of them. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Liliana Moreno)

A grape time - Aviano Airmen work in Italian vineyard

Published Sept. 28, 2007
By Senior Airman Justin Weaver
31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs

AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy -- Known to Italians as La Vendemmia, the grape harvest season in Italy is highly anticipated and celebrated like no other seasonal event in the life of Italian farmers.

Vines are the oldest cultivated crop on the Italian peninsula, and the harvest can take on an almost ritualistic and sacred meaning for the generations of Italians who participate.

It is also very much a family affair and as Aviano Airmen and their families discovered Sept. 14, it can be a lot of fun too.

"It was a gorgeous day, and for some reason working outside with plants just feels like honest work," said Tech. Sgt Amy Velasquez, Det. 8 Air Force News section chief detachment operations.

Elsa Pazienti, a local Italian who operates the vineyard was thrilled to have the help.
"It was a wonderful moment to spend time with Americans and to have them help me pick these grapes," said Mrs. Pazienti.

The tradition of picking grapes has been in the Pazienti family for generations and it is something they look forward to each year.

"Seeing the grapes growing and taking care of them is a very pleasing process," she said. "No words can express what it meant to have these children and families here to help."

For every bunch of grapes tossed into a bucket, it wasn't uncommon to see one ore two being taste-tested by parched grape-picking volunteers. By the end of the day, more than 12,000 juicy, ripe grapes had been loaded into buckets for delivery back to the Pazienti home.

"I learned that picking grapes takes a lot of work," said Airman 1st Class Michael Williams, host of AFN's Mid-day show, "The Crave." "The Italians take it very seriously and it was cool to be part of this experience."

Once home, Mrs. Pazienti begins the process of turning the fresh grapes into fermented wine.

"The process only takes about a week," Mrs. Pazienti said. "Once the grapes have been squeezed and fermented, you'll have a fine-tasting wine."

At the end of the day, Mrs. Pazienti thanked the Airmen and their families with fresh baked plum pastries and homemade red wine from her cellar. Understanding the amount of work that goes into making a good wine made her wine taste that much better.

For Sergeant Velasquez, the experience wasn't just about picking grapes, but building relationships and respecting the Italians culture.

"If we are going to spend years living in another country, we need to learn about their culture so we can respect them and what they represent," she said. "I have learned from the Italians to slow down and enjoy each day, each taste, each flavor, and each moment."