Het simpele leven
Rogiano Gravino
The village of Roggiano Gravina is located at the foot of the Pollino plateau, in the northern part of Calabria, just a stone's throw away from Tenute Pacelli. Time seems to have had an impact only on the buildings here. Otherwise, it feels like you've gone back in time by 30 years. The world here, like in many small Italian villages, consists of a delicatessen shop, a small mini-market, three cafes, and a church that appears large enough for a medium-sized Dutch city.
When you walk past the electronics store, it seems more like a museum than anything else. But that doesn't matter because on the street, you won't see any phones; people are still engaged in conversation. Elderly men gather around a solitary bench in the square in front of the church to complain about politics, philosophize about Napoli's upcoming championship, and proudly share stories about their new grandchild. The world may be small, but it's full of quality here.
Although people here are affected by the economic backwardness of this region, it doesn't seem to bother them. A local farmer said that Italians have stopped striking; "in Rome, they don't listen anyway, so we'll find a creative way ourselves." Politics and the economy are certainly reasons to complain in this region, but more importantly, they're reasons to deal with it.
As the sun sets, the passeggiata (the evening walk) begins here as well. Before dinner, the entire village comes outside for a walk, but more importantly, for a meeting, a conversation. It's an activity that we can hardly imagine in the Netherlands anymore, but here, for young and old, it might be the most important moment of the day.
Indeed, there's no theater, no cinema, no escape room, and no VR arcade here. But here, the question arises whether that's really important. People here, in any case, make the best of it... and they do it excellently.
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La Cucina Povera
When we talk about Southern Italian cuisine, we often refer to la cucina povera, the "poor mans' kitchen." The further you travel down the boot, the poorer the environment generally becomes. This is also reflected in the culinary traditions. However, this does not mean that the cuisine is not rich in extravagant flavors! On the contrary, a good dish from the cucina povera is truly delicious!
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Organic Wine
Many small winemakers in Italy work organically. This means that the grapes they use to make wine are grown without using chemical products such as fertilizers and pesticides. Almost all of our winemakers work completely organically, but this does not always mean that they have the BIO certificate. In Italy, and in many other countries, obtaining this certificate is a bureaucratic and expensive process. As a result, some of our winemakers choose not to obtain the certificate, but this does not make their wine any less organic.
Scarcity leads to higher prices and more tampering.
The price of olive oil has skyrocketed in recent years, with the last year setting an absolute record. Unfortunately, our farmers are also feeling the pinch, leading to increased prices for us as well. This surge has many causes. Harvests are being affected by droughts in Southern Europe and by increasing olive diseases spread by insects. Moreover, labor costs for olive picking are rising, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to find people for this task. Together, these factors contribute to a high price of the basic product: the olive. Additionally, producers are facing inflation in packaging materials and the energy required in the production process. Price hikes are evident across the entire market spectrum, affecting both small-scale quality oil production and mass-produced supermarket varieties.