THE RITUAL OF THE GRAPE HARVEST RETURNS

In August, should you be walking in the Umbrian hills, you may come upon rows of vines as far as the eye can see: acres and acres of green carpet.
In August the first ripe clusters begin to make their appearance: .the grapes are almost ready for harvest, a harvest without a specific date from one year to the next but that usually takes place in September and October.
It is during these months that the Movimento Turismo del Vino organizes Cantine Aperte in Vendemmia (open house in the wineries), an event to celebrate the traditional feast of the wine harvest that in many parts of Italy is truly a ritual. Cantine Aperte in Vendemmia lets all wine lovers, and others too, become part of the different phases of the wine-making process from the harvesting to the crushing of the grape.
The word VENDEMMIA indicates the moment in which the grapes are harvested and brought to the winery for the transformation, first into must and then into wine, a process that covers a period from the end of August to early November depending on climatic conditions that precede and follow the ripening of the grapes.
In Italy the wine harvest has always been a time of celebration.
In the ‘50s the whole family was involved: everyone left with baskets, scissors and ladders to collect the ripened grapes. They were days of real celebration because, despite the hard work of collecting the grapes, the family members sang and laughed as they placed bunches of grapes in the baskets ready to be crushed in barrels by stomping on them barefoot amid explosions of grape juice and fun!
These days the work is automated but it is still possible to experience the traditional harvesting thanks to the event promoted in various Italian wineries. In Umbria, you can reserve your vendemmia experience at several wineries among which Lungarotti, Di Filippo, Goretti, Terre Margaritelli and many others.
The complete programme can be found on the site:w ww.movimentoturismovino.it
From the grape harvest to the must is a short step as is that between Cantine Aperte Vendemmia and the Festa della Canaiola di Pretola, Pretola a village attached to the City of Perugia where you can taste the canaiola or the grape must before it becomes wine from 28 September to 7 October. You can taste this sweetish drink that pairs nicely with roasted chestnuts. There will also be stands of Umbrian specialty dishes.
Soon after, November will usher in the triumph of the vino novello (le vin nouveau, the new wine).