National "what" day?

It seems there is a national day for everything, the day to say I love you, the day to love your mother or your father, your secretary, your dog, even a day to be thankful. Do you find yourself needing reminders like this? A national day set aside to perform normal human emotions?

"Out of the hearts abundance the mouth speaks"

In a world that is so busy that we even forget to stop and smell the roses, we can forget about those important things. Thankfulness heals and calms the human heart and brings deep joy, inner joy that plays into every single we say and do. Slowing down and relaxing and taking time with friends and family gets our mind out of the I'm too busy" mentality and helps us to regain our happiness.

"National Drink Wine Day" 

A few days ago it was "National Drink Wine Day." That day did not remind me to perform a natural human emotion, but it did remind me about the perks of sharing wine with a good friend or family member. It made me remember the warm comfortable relaxed feeling you can have with the great glass of wine and a conversation that provides a mental break from today's daily grind. That connection that I've experienced with those closest to me usually occur as I palm a goblet of an oaky bold red wine. It was said that "Wine makes the heart of mortal men rejoice". I do agree with that. So I'll have to admit that I and willing to embrace this national day of remembrance, a day for my heart and soul and for joy and thankfulness and friends and family and that wonderful liquid gold that I love so much.

The "Roseto Effect"

Living forever, everyone wants to, but no one has. But what if you could live about 8 to 10 years longer than the average American? What if it was in your blood, what if it was part of your family's history? Well for some it is...

Just recently the oldest living Roseto native, Carmen Ruggiero passed away, just a month shy of 104 years of age. We had a chance to meet him at the "Centi Anni" or 100 yr celebration of Roseto's history and he was a charming man with a great knack for humor.

There is a tiny hill town in Pennsylvania called Roseto. It was established in 1912 by a small Italian community that moved to America from Roseto Valfatore, Italy and it is part of our family's rich heritage. It's a town where everyone's related, you're always meeting another new cousin, and everyone knows everyone. 

What was amazing about this town and these people was their incredible history of longevity. They had low heart disease rates and cancer, especially among the men. Because of this they were outliving the average American in upwards of 8 to 10 years. So a 10 year study was done to figure out why. It was called the "ROSETO EFFECT".

Our heritage is in our wine.  

Everything they ate and drank was tracked daily, and the final result was that it wasn't their gardening and homemade foods that helped them to live longer.

Everyone in town made wine, and wine is good for you right? Well, it wasn't the wine either. The answer is quite beautiful, it was the tight-knit community, that sense of well-being and love that everyone felt, that made them live longer, happier and healthier lives. You see, everyone took care of their own and their neighbor. Even the town bum who was lovingly called "mangiare e bere" or "eat and drink", I was told that he never slept on the street and never missed a meal. I wish times were still like that.

So that is why we decided to honor our family as well as the community of Roseto, Pennsylvania for their remarkable history because they knew how to live right. That is why we called our Italian red wine the "Roseto Effect".

Members of the study: my great-grandfather Domenico Finelli (bottom left) and my great great grandfather Pasqualli Finelli (center with white beard) 

We honor their tradition of winemaking by blending Sangiovese, Chianti, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon to make a beautiful Italian Red Wine just like our forefathers did, perfect for pasta Sundays.

Perhaps having a glass or more a day may make the "Roseto Effect" rub off on us too. We may never know if it will work...

...pass me the wine please... 

*to read more about the Roseto Effect, visit our "Wines" page and select "Roseto Effect"

Then he said "let there be cider..."

In the beginning…

Everything we do has one, that spark, that flash of inspiration, that thought that feels so crazy or exciting that you're almost afraid to say it out loud. 

I have found that sharing those thoughts are what brings it to birth. By throwing them out into the universe it reverberates back to your own ears along with the thoughts of others, both the negative and the positive until we figure out just what we want from it. 
That's how we got started on this new adventure of ours, as hard cider makers born from winemakers. 

After making wine with my husband for just under 20 years and now looking to open our first winery, I was looking for something new and different that allowed more expansive creativity to add to our business. I have been a painter of modern abstract for many years and feel inspired and excited to sit in front of a blank canvas and share with others what I see because it takes them on my journey with me. I felt that the art of fermenting this new fruit was again that blank canvas full of possibilities in a new experimental and growing culture. 

Our new limited winery license allowed us to also make hard ciders, something that I have tried in the past in bottles at restaurants, but they were so sweet that I couldn't even taste the alcohol, bubbly sweet apple juice is how I referred to it. Not my favorite, but what if it could be made differently? To be fair, homemade products are usually far better than anything commercially produced. So what if I was not properly introduced to hard apple cider's true qualities? What if perhaps I met the imposter and not the real thing?

Thus began the experiment, to see just what was possible in the world of hard apple cider. I chatted with my brother-in-law, an avid beer maker and as a gift he helped us make our first batch. At first it had such a crazy funk to it, making me think that it was a failure, so we pushed to the side in our warehouse and forgot about it. But I still wanted to give it a shot, so I purchased my own fresh pressed apple cider, 30+ gallons of it and went to work, reading as much as I can get my hands on about the process, scouring YouTube and researching the ancient art of fermenting apples. To my surprise, there wasn't a lot of solid information out there, just jumbled blogs and differing ideas, so I figured I'm kind of on my own with this.

After years of backpacking the Appalachian Trail, Yosemite, Europe and the wild Alaska frontier, I had always traveled with a journal and a small book about how to identify edible plants so that I could TASTE the earth around me. So the one thing that kept ringing true was that the earth provided such an abundance of plentiful herbs and flowers, why not share some of my favorite tastes with others via my hard apple cider and take them on my journey that way.

  Resting in the muskeg and low cranberry  patches on the Dixie Pass in Wrangle St. Elias, Alaska 

So the compass was set that day, pointing north with those thoughts of inspiration and direction on a new trail that lay in front of me, so with a jump in my step and a bit of nervousness in my gut, I took a running leap down that path, but it was just the begining...