First Day

I am sitting on the steps of the castle, looking out at my first Tuscan sunset as I write this.The night I arrived at Potentino, it was cold and rainy. But this morning when I opened the shutters, this was the view from my window.

We started work at 9 am. Eran, who is in charge of the wwoofers, handed me a pick axe and we got to work! Catie and I tilled, by hand, a row on the south side of the castle. Eran, who is Albanian and lives with his lovely wife Evelina, and their daughter Robbie and baby Fabio on the castle grounds, told me that I ‘worked like an Italian’. I still can’t figure out if that is a compliment or not!!

 

We then did some work in the cantina, or barrel room, where the grapes ferment in large wooden barrels. We helped Eran with the oxidization process, whereby the oxygen from the fermenting grapes is released from the barrels. We even got the taste the 2008 Sacromonte, which is made from the signature grapes of Tuscany, Sangiovese. Such a hard life!

We broke for lunch around noon, and since it was so nice, we ate outside on one of the side patios.

 In the afternoon, we planted lavender and rosemary, as well as some iris, in the row we had hoed in the morning. It was hard work, but it was a beautiful day, and it felt good to get my hands in the dirt!

We stopped work at five, gathered tenders for the fires, and I took a half bath in our wwoof flat. Then we went to watch the sun set over the Tuscan hills. There is a pretty spot on the northwest corner of the castle, where the wireless connection is best. The view is absolutely breathtaking.