12.2 The passion for wine
“I certainly inherited the passion for wine from my grandfather. Who knows, if I had not been born in a
family dedicated to wine, if I would have ever chosen this activity for my life? His
example, his passion, his total way of dedicating himself to grapes and wine did not
allow me to think of another job option. Inside me there remains a regret: not having been
able to spend more time working with him and fully grasp the secrets of his way
of doing and being”.
A funny memory?
“Of course. And it was when I washed him from head to toe with wine. We were racking a wine
from one tank to another. He was managing the jet to fill the tank, I instead had to
operate the pump. We were in different rooms, but between us there was an agreement: if he
said Bòn! (enough in Piedmontese) I had to turn off the pump, if he said Via, I had to
restart it. At a certain point I heard his voice and I understood Via, instead he had said
Bòn!. Naturally I found him in front of me all purple, smeared from head to toe. He had
taken a Barbera shower! His comment was laconic: in 50 years such a thing has
never happened to me!”.
Your grandfather's presence as the years went by? How did you perceive it?
“My grandfather was expansive, he sought the best possible for me. He was attentive to my needs.
Sometimes even in an exaggerated way. I remember there was a period when he would call me three or
four times a day, to the point that it seemed a bit exaggerated to me. I was in the middle
of adolescence when you feel like the master of the world and would like to be left free to make
your own choices…
I remember that at all costs he wanted me to have a work experience in Burgundy;
so I went looking for a cellar and when I told him where they had hired me, he started to
cry with happiness. It was the autumn of 2022, my grandfather was starting to not feel too
well and I also felt a bit uneasy about leaving the cellar in the middle of the
harvest, but he wouldn't hear of it. He told me that if I hadn't taken
that opportunity, maybe it wouldn't come up again and I wouldn't be able to do it anymore. And
he was right”.
