Homemade Wine Making Weekend

by



(photo: grapes ready to be crushed)

Late September is one of my favorite times of the year here in Northern New Jersey.  The temperature and humidity dip, leaves begin to change color, and I begin to relish my days spent outdoors in the sun and cool air (it’s amazing what happens to one’s sense of appreciation when certain things won’t be around for much longer).

September is also wine making season in the Scordo household and it’s a tradition that started in the late 1960’s / early 1970’s when both my grandparents and parents immigrated to the US from Pellegrina in Southern Italy (near Bagnara Calabra, Calabria). 

For the Scordo family, the idea of making homemade wine in the United States is tied directly to large scale wine production in Calabria.  That is to say, Nonno Scordo owned a modest vineyard and made both a local table wine he sold in the region and also grape juice, which he sold to larger wine producers as a blending juice (for more expensive and prized wines).  Nonno’s wine was also consumed by the immediate family and when they picked up and left for the US, he continued making wine, at a much smaller scale, in his New Jersey backyard.  The formula or recipe changed given the availability of grape varietals, but the end product was just as delicious and satisfying as his Italian variant.

My father and his brothers have continued the wine making tradition since Nonno’s death and back in 2008 I documented the process in my, “How to Make Homemade Wine” article.

What follows are some photos from the 2010 edition of the Scordo wine making tradition.   

Here are some other wine resources from Scordo.com:



(photo: proud first and second generation Italian Americans)



(photo: grape juice)



(photo: grenache grapes ready to be crushed.  did you know “grenache” is the world’s most popular wine grape?)



(photo:California grapes ready to be crushed by hand)



(photo: the Scordo vineyard in Pellegrina, Bagnara Calabra)

9 Comments

  1. Congratulations on the harvest and wine-making! I think it is special to be able to share these traditions among the generations.

  2. I want to help you guys make wine. Maybe one day you’ll invite me to help. I’ve only been asking you for years.

  3. Grappa

    (photo: my father’s collection of grappa; grappa can last several years when stored in a cool and dry environment)The Culture and History of Grappa Grappa is traditionally made from grape stalks, seeds and stems (essentially the remaini…

  4. The Wine Press: On The Importance of Italian American Traditions

    With the passing of my grandparents, my father and his uncles have moved to sell the first Scordo home here in the United States.  The house is full of memories as I spent my first 5 years living in…

  5. Zeppole Recipe

    The word zeppoli is Italian dialect for zeppola (the plural is zeppole).  Zeppoli are deep fried dough balls or fritters that can be made savory or sweet and are often made on Saint Joseph Day in various parts of…

  6. Seven Basic Red Wines for Everyone

    Well, what wine should you buy? This is a big question, maybe even equivalent to other big questions such as, “Does God Exist?” , “Do we have free will?”, and the classic, “What is Truth?” Unlike big philosophical questions,…

  7. Rite of Spring: Bottling Homemade Wine

     (photo: don’t be fooled by the Carlo Rossi gallon jugs, the contents are 100 percent homemade wine)As many Italian Americans can attest to making homemade wine is one of the culturally defining moments of our group.  Making and bottling…

  8. How to Make Home-Made Wine

    (photo: left to right – uncle Frank, me, my father, and cousin Enzo) Let’s face it, enjoying and collecting fine wine is an expensive hobby, especially in light of a tanking economy.  My Italian father has only bought a few…

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.