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By BETH HURD
The vineyards of Little Compton,
fanciers. Not as well known: the vineyards of
Some winemakers make it secretly in their garages, some
in their kitchens. Several local amateur winemakers came out on Friday, Oct.
19, for some friendly competition at the third annual Homemade Wine Tasting and
Contest, sponsored by the St. Rocco Church Holy Name Society.
The event was co-sponsored by Busa Wine & Spirits of
David Slinko, Peter Montquilla Jr., Donato DeLuca and Walter Parrillo.
Parrillo, a
resident, has been making wine for about 15 years.
There were 21 amateur wine-makers giving samples of their
wares at the event. Awards were given in a variety of categories as ticket
holders sampled the wines – their paid tickets serving as a fundraiser for the
church.
There was a lot to choose from.
resident David Slinko, one of the event's co-chairs, brought his "Radical
Red 2002." Leonard Parsons of
brought a bottle from "Parsons Winery," and John Martino, also of
"Martino Vineyard" in
Steve Mallane, town sergeant and owner of Sheik Salon,
brought a 2006 Merlot from his own "Sheik Wine Cellars." A winemaker
for about 12 years, he buys the grapes and crushes them – working with two
friends – and lets them ferment for about seven to 10 days before pressing them
and putting the liquid into barrels to age.
"It's a lot of work – a lot of pride and a lot of
work," he said.
Joe Casimiro of
and Steven Gronski of
members of the Westside Social Club, also brought samples. Ron Letourneau of
brought "Marcello L'Tourneau," a ruby Cabernet Sangiovese from 2006.
Also entering wines were members of the Knights of the
Wine Table.
Knights Gino Rebussini and John Volpe of
Rebussini is president of the club, which has about 50 members and meets
monthly to discuss wine collecting and wine making.
resident William J. Riccitelli, a self-described wine journalist, connoisseur
and lecturer, brought with him "Counselor's Noble Red Wine," a 1999
Cabernet Sauvignon. Riccitelli, a probate judge, has been making wines since
1983.
The Wine Table meetings, held at area restaurants,
including Cafe Itri in
where the first meetings were held in 1996, often have a theme. The December
meeting, held on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at Cattails Restaurant in
wines. A guest speaker, Liam Colleran of North East Wines, brought with him
samples of hard to find imported wines from
Vina Pomal.
The members, all men, are allowed to bring female guests
and all bring samples of homemade wine or commercial wines to share.
"We like to keep the meetings informal, but
informative," said Rebussini, a retired forensic chemist who now teaches
at
"We work with people who might have trouble. The club has two focuses:
learning about wines and bring friends together for a meal."
The Knights of the Wine Table was founded in 1996 by
Vincent Calia (now deceased), Peter Merenda and Lou Cataldi. The club, all wine
collectors, winemakers or both, meets on the first Wednesday of each month to
discuss wines over BYOB lunches. There is currently a waiting list for
membership.
"We prefer to keep it small; if we had 100 members,
we couldn't do this," said Volpe, a board member, looking around the room
at the December meeting.
The Knights' Web site says, "The ultimate goal is
the look on the face of your fellow knights that says, ‘This can’t be homemade,
it’s too damn good.’” A book written about Calia's life is called "Life's
too short to drink cheap wine."
For the members, its all about camaraderie and education.
They freely share their knowledge with newcomers and advanced winemakers alike.
And then there are those who compete in the big leagues.
Jim Verde of
won a silver medal in April 2007 for his 100 percent St. Croix 2004 in the
category of Red French-American Hybrid Varietal in the Grand Champion Wine
Competition, which featured more than 3,400 total entries. He also took a
bronze medal in the 2006 Indy International Wine Competition for amateur
winemakers.
"I'm different from everyone else, in that I grow my
own grapes, which is very hard to do," said Verde, who owns Candelet Farm
on
"I'm an amateur, verging on obsession."
He started his winemaking efforts about four years ago
and credits his interest and expertise to vineyards in
including Sharpe Hill Vineyards in Pomfret and Priam Vineyards in
"There are very few people who grow their own. The
Italian immigrants in
of which I am one, brought their grape-growing techniques with them, but they
don't work well here," Verde said. "I've planted quite a few grapes
and have experimented quite a bit with something called a 'French-American
Hybrid,' that is very hardy."
Although the soil in the area was once well known for
apple orchards, it's hard to grow other crops. Rebussini says part of the
trouble is a shorter growing season, with grapes in
year, and only a 220-day season here.
"You need that extra 80 days to make a difference in
the sugar production," he explained.
All the winemakers at the St. Rocco tasting enjoyed
talking about their adventures in winemaking to those attending the
wine-tasting. Some die-hards took up topics such as chemical additives (like
sulfites, which are often used to correct the taste of a homemade wine) and “To
cork or not to cork?” While some argue the wine should be all-natural, others
use sulfites for sterilization and as a preservative; the question of corks
versus caps also has strong adherents on both sides.
When the wine-tasting and judging was complete, Rebussini
and Volpe were among the top finishers, with Rebussini taking first place in
red and Volpe taking first in port (he also took third place in red). Volpe,
who is a parishioner of St. Rocco's and helped to start the annual competition
there with Walter Parrillo, makes wine at Rebussini's house.
"He's got quite a wine cellar, he's got at least
eight 60-gallon tanks," he said. "It's not an expensive hobby, but
it's a lot of work. If you like wine, it's cheaper to make it."
Volpe, now retired from Prudential, has been making wine
for about 12 years. While many vintners design and make their own custom
labels, Volpe doesn't add labels to his product.
"I worked with Gino's father, Anthony, now in his
80s, and one day I said, 'Let me come and watch you make your wine,' joining
Gino and his brother Robert,” he said, adding Gino ranks 23rd or 24th in the
world for his vintner abilities. "Gino's father came to this country at
the age of 29 and brought his wine-making knowledge from the old country."
Volpe shared some of his homebrew with those at his
table, who swirled the sample before tasting. "That's good, John,"
said more than one.
For those just beginning, winemaking kits and supplies
are available for the hobbyist at Silver Lake Beer and Winemaking Supplies, 65
Moorefield Ave. in Providence.
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