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The Italian Job
Anyone who has a passion for drinking wine would be familiar with Chianti, which is the most famous red wine from Italy. Named after a region in Tuscany, Chianti, like other commodities, is brought over to the United States where it is infiltrated into our custom of wine drinking ("Chianti" 2007). For the drinker, Chianti is just a representation of a fine afternoon when you can sit in the kind sun and sip away. For the laborers in Italy, the process of picking the grapes to bottling the wine is all but relaxing. While we take for granted the sweet taste of all that we consume, it helps to be informed of all the work that is put into producing what we call luxury. Because Chianti has many varieties and is marketed by many companies, I will be focusing on Chianti Riserva produced by Castello di Nipozzano. All the way from Italy, Chianti Riserva has made a significant impact on the American food and beverage industry and even the production of this red wine should be recognized for its aesthetic value. Throughout the course of my research, I hit many roadblocks as to having an interview with a buyer. Randalls and HEB managers would not talk to me or give me the number of a person who has adequate information that I need. The reason being is that I am not 21 and they "do not want to be liable and responsible for poisoning the minds of the underage by giving information about alcoholic beverages (Anonymous, per. com. 2007)." While time was running out, I would have been more satisfied to have an actual interview with someone rather than have to resort to all research. I was able to interview a family friend, Mary Li, who works for Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen and is very
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knowledgeable about wines and vineyards because she frequently visits wineries for wine tasting. When tourists visit Italy, seeing the famous vineyards is always a vacation attraction. The Nipozzano family has been around for 700 years producing Sangiovese grapes to make Chianti. It is this that gave the family and the region its worldwide recognition, since Chianti happens to be the best selling red wine in Italy. When you drive to the Nipozzano vineyard, you will pass by tall mountains where there are open, large fields growing up its slope. Grapes grown for wine are usually grown at higher altitudes, like mountains and valleys, in order to get more moisture and fresh air (Li, per. com. 2007). Climate also plays into the quality of the wine, where high temperatures and intense rain is not favored (Falconi 2007). Grapes stay on the vine until the winemaker (manager of the vineyard who organizes the whole winemaking process) feels that it is time to harvest, which is generally around September. The grapes are then picked from the vines (originally by laborers, but some vineyards have begun using machines) and gets skinned and unseeded. The grapes are then juiced and put into a fermentation process (by machine), where it allows the sugar level of the grape juice to fall as the level of alcohol rises. When it is done, the wine is stored in oak or stainless steel barrels at a low temperature until it is required to fill an order (usually around 8-19 months). It is then bottled, labeled, and corked and the bottle is put into a case of 12, the better quality and more expensive bottles are placed in boxes of 6. It is then shipped off and reaches United States grounds (Li, per. com. 2007).
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Wine distributors of the United States are connected to foreign wine companies, like Nipozzano, and have a license to sell the wine to retailers, such as supermarkets and restaurants. Consumers may either buy Chianti at supermarkets or drink it at restaurants. However, retailers have recently begun to sell their products online; purchasing bottle a of Chianti online is now an option as well. Chianti sold in the United States is priced higher than what it would have been priced in Italy because it is imported overseas, which the government regulates on trade (Li, per. com. 2007). As wine drinkers pour the orangey-red wine that smells like dried berry fruits into their glass, there is so much that he/she is unaware of as to who it is that produces this fine commodity for him/her to enjoy (Walton 2000:158). The region in Tuscany where Chianti is made is a high volume wine growing region. While we may use machines here in the United States for picking grapes, Italy uses people because labor is cheaper there. It all balances out because their job is not too hard either (Li, per. com. 2007). The Nipozzano family invests in their winery and hires the "right people" for the different paying jobs (Walton 2000:203). The people hired for picking grapes are typically lower educated, rural Italians to take care of a more physical job. On the other hand, the people in charge of the fermentation process and bottling are better educated in winemaking, rural Italians (usually more men) for this less physical responsibility. However, physical or not, every job has its health hazards. It has been noted that sometimes glass bottles might break when they are being filled, often cutting the bottler's hand. At other times, some workers have slipped down the mountain since a lot of the vine fields are planted on the slope of a mountain (Walton 2007: 204).
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As wine companies, such as Nipozzano, continue to produce good quality wine, there will always be room for it here in the United States, as it has become a "household item". With a commodity as versatile as wine, it could be consumed at any time and thus there would be more demand for it as compared to other commodities, such as diamonds. Wine is also consumed for personal pleasure and it is believed to enhance food contentment because certain wines make dining experiences more enjoyable (Li, per. com. 2007). Recent studies also shows that red wine can help prevent blood clots, lower the risk of heart disease, and help the body break down fats (Macfarlane 2007). Wine drinking has become a higher level of dining privilege and only those who could afford it are able to experience it (though some lower quality wines may be much cheaper) ("Chianti" 2007). Regular consumers may reserve drinking wine for special occasions, while wealthier and more sophisticated drinkers make wine drinking a part of their daily ritual (Li, per. com. 2007). For most of the time when the wine quality is good, most would consider the art of drinking wine to be a luxury shared by numerous Americans.
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Bibliography
"Chianti." Wikipedia. June 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chianti>. Anonymous. 2007. Interview with Randalls manager. Falconi, Marta. "Experts Say Climate Change Could Threaten Quality of Italy's Famed Tuscan Wines." The Associated Press 21 Feb. 2007. LexisNexis Academic. UT Library, Austin. 22 July 2007 <http://web.lexisnexis.com/universe/document?_m=27c3cd9c204e5039c10d9db4f86d207c&_do cnum=41&wchp=dGLbVtzzSkVb&_md5=e18751edd3ff611fae71b84ba25219ba>. Li, Mary. 2007. Interview with Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen buyer. Walton, Stuart. The Complete Guide to Wine. Ed. Linda Fraser. China: Anness Limited, 2000. 158. 203 - 204. Macfarlane, Jo. "Eat Onions, Drink Red W Ine and Be Merry. . ." The Express 1 Feb. 2007, 1 ed. LexisNexis Academic. UT Library, Austin. 23 July 2007. Keyword: http://web.lexisnexis.com/universe/document?_m=231a9bca9c2400893c9be5fb2930dc06&_do cnum=1&wchp=dGLbVtzzSkVb&_md5=b1ddbd54caca97e180394e2e5ae48617.