Notes from Rome: The Hideaway of the God of Wine

For his birthday last year, Roland recieved a really cool gift from his brother - a year long "adoption" of an olive tree in Italy. Near his birthday, Roland got a package in the mail from the company, called Nudo, explaining the gift: A specific tree in an olive grove in Offida, Italy had been designated as his. There was a photo of the farmer, Tziano, and a map of the tree's location, as well as an interesting explanation of the process of creating olive oil. As the tree's adoptive parent, he would receive two shipments of olive oil from the grove, including oil from his tree. One, which came in the spring, had several cans of extra virgin olive oil. The oil is delicious. We've almost finished it all off. We are still eagerly awaiting the fall package, which has several flavored oils such as lemon, pepper, and mandarin.

Our last remaining can of extra virgin olive oil

The gift also promised that, should the opportunity arise, the adoptive parent was welcome to come out to visit the grove and hug their tree. Living in Italy, naturally we could not let this opportunity go by. So last weekend, we took a drive out to Offida, which is about 150 miles northeast of Rome, on the East coast of the country. We decided to stay in a little Bed & Breakfast right next to the olive tree grove, the owner of which promised to show us around the grove and direct us to Roland's tree. The B&B was called Nascondiglio di Bacco, which translates to "Hideaway of the God of Wine." The name suited the place perfectly, as it was truly a hideaway. It was hidden away in the rural countryside of Italy, nestled among fields of grape vines and olive groves. When we finally found the place (not an easy feat) we were greeted by Bacco, a massive floppy black dog and namesake of the B&B. Bacco was king of the house, wet-nosed greeting party, and lookout-dog extraordinaire. It was a lot of fun to have him around, since of course I have been missing Duke tons.

Bacco!

We were shortly thereafter greeted by Dwight, the owner of the B&B, who had an interesting story. He was an American former surgeon from St. Louis, who'd left his life behind in America to run the B&B and start a winery in Italy. He greeted us having just spent the day harvesting Merlot grapes from the field of vines next to the B&B (which we got to try - and were some of the tastiest grapes ever!). Since we arrived later in the day, we spent the first evening in the city center of Offida, which was hosting its annual Wine Festival, a showcase of all of the wines from local vineyards. For a small entrance fee, we were given a wine glass and set loose to taste all we could manage...39 different bottles were represented in the festival. Obviously, it was impossible to taste them all, but we made a good dent in them - and they were really good. We also had dinner by feasting on Italy's version of "street food"...mackerel hamburgers and deep fried olives stuffed with meats and cheeses.

At the festival. We were given bags to hold our wine glasses for easy eating of street food, etc.

The courtyard of the festival

After having our fill of wine we got some sleep and got up early to visit the olive grove. While we were having breakfast, the Olive farmer, Tziano, showed up at the B&B to welcome us and give us a bottle of wine as a gift to say thank you for coming out to the grove. Tziano's face is plastered on the back of each of our tins of olive oil at home, so it was kind of fun to see him in person. He stayed long enough to say hello and take a quick photo with us in front of an Olive tree at the B&B.

Me, Tziano, and Roland

After breakfast, Dwight took us on a walk into the grove to visit Roland's tree. He had a map to lead us to the proper tree. Roland and his tree were very happy to finally meet face to face.

Roland was also determind to give his tree a hug...even though the truck was only a couple of feet tall.

Thanking his tree for all of its delicious oil.

Last, Dwight took us on a little tour of his brand new winery. When he moved to Italy 4 years ago, he built the building and bought all of the wine-making equipment. He also planted all of the vines and started the whole operation from scratch. It was really interesting to get a taste of all that goes into wine making.