I Picked Grapes For An Italian Wine Giant

I spent six months in Barolo, Italy (pop. 646) living out of a tent in the garden of the local Pittatore farmhouse. Through the Pittatore family, I was able to secure work picking wine grapes for famed vintner Luciano Sandrone. My story documents the experience of harvesting the grapes for such a luminary, from the daily schedule to the relationships of the crew members; from the unspoken hierarchies and politics to Sandrone's humble evolution into wine giant.

This morning the rocks of Raffaella’s driveway bow in genuflection as the tires of a gray pick-up roll hoof-like toward the front gate. The horn cries, and I walk, still half-frozen from a cold night in the tent, toward the sound of my ride to the vineyard. I am in Barolo, Italy, lucky to have scored a job picking wine grapes for the season.