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Risotto grape and gorgonzola cheese

Everywhere you go these days you’ll  see tractor  after tractor full of white grapes on the roads  and if you walk past a winery the fragrance of grape juices will fill your lungs, I love it. All around everybody talks about one thing ,THE harvest, yes  it’s that time of year again! “How are your grapes this year ?”they ask “ Did you have problems with the wild boar this year?” (Boars eat the lower grapes and sometimes they  can ruin an entire  vineyard )or ” Have you have finished the harvest yet?”  (meaning…..I have …eh eh eh eh ) Everywhere there is  continuous chatting about it. If you go to the small bar in Allerona from coffee to grappa time  the arguments will always be about the same thing: THE  HARVEST
 Walking in the village you will see 50-litre demijohns  placed outside the houses, old wooden wine presses  dusted and cleaned, ready to be used … … ..it is the time for the new wine.
AND WHAT ABOUT US? YES ,we are no different, we will begin this Saturday and continue on Sunday morning. The grapes are beautiful this year and fortunately we have not had any damage by the wild boar.  I am wondering  is it perhaps because they are afraid of our super hunting dog LUI ??????? NO, I don’t think so, but whatever the  reason the grapes are not damaged, we are so very pleased  and ready to start.
Yes we also have a wooden wine press ,but we gave up making our own wine years ago, it was such hard work, squeezing the grapes, filtering the wine 4 or 5 times a year, making  sure the fermentation had been carried out properly …and then at the end of all that our wine  was  always  …. TERRIBILE !!!!! Sweet, not very clear … … what can I  say ,I think  BAD  is the right word to describe it! So we decided that selling the grapes to a good local winery was the best thing to do. There  is more fun in drinking  a good wine than making a  bad one!
Anyway I am sure it will be a happy  and busy  weekend. Some old friends and some new friends  will be here to help us pick the grapes  in our vineyard, laughing  and chatting on a nice Sunday morning. I really hope it is going to be a good sunny day as always.

 As every year Nick and I will thank our hard  working  guests with a  rich and delicious lunch. Many different dishes and good wine (not our  wine of course ). So these days I have been experimenting  with new recipes. Yesterday I prepared: Risotto with gorgonzola cheese and fresh grape juice , served with toasted almonds and a pinch of black pepper. The crunchy almond give a nice kick plus I thought it was a shame to not use some of the remaining almonds from our tree.

almond from our tree

 We thought the result was amazing. So I’m hoping  our guests will also enjoy my risotto on Sunday. But if not ,there will be plenty of other food to chose from.

However, if you’re around , and want to join us on Sunday morning , you’re more than  welcome. But remember: No work, no risotto! So if you’re still interested send me an email and  we’ll keep a pair of scissors, a  plate and a fork just for you!