Our week’s stay in Italy this past fall was full of highlights, but I think my favorite experience was our visit to Villa Vallerosa, an 18th-century estate operated by owners Luciana and Luigi as an agriturismo. Their property has several self-contained apartments, complete with kitchens, as well as accommodations in the beautiful old villa itself. It also boasts a stable; olive groves; vineyards; and a garden full of palms, figs and bougainvillea.

We dropped by with our local friends one morning to assist with the grape harvest. Luciana met us in the garden, welcomed us with tea and a traditional apple cake she had just baked, and entertained us with stories about the countryside and her life as mistress of this place. We took a quick tour of the property (inviting pool, charming honeymooners’ cottage created from a former pig sty!) before eventually making our way down to the vineyard. Armed with gloves and clippers, we worked our way down the rows, snipping big, lush clusters of purple grapes from among the leaves. Under a surprisingly warm sun on this late September day, we admired the wisdom of the farm’s black Labrador, who lolled in the shade of the vines while we silly humans worked in the heat.

Thankfully, a tractor with a flatbed trailer hauled our full lugs of grapes back uphill to the grape press, located in the lower level of the villa. We watched as the fruit of our labor was run through the mechanical press, with the juice flowing into a large wooden vat where it would ferment before being transferred to barrels on the other side of the cellar. One of the delights? Sipping some of that fresh, sweet juice as it poured out.

After a quick wash-up, we adjourned to the garden, where a long table had been set for our luncheon: fresh-baked bread served with the villa’s own olive oil, pasta salad with local sausage, cheeses from the neighbors and, of course, vino from the vineyards we had just worked.

That day at Villa Vallerosa provided me with everything I sought on this trip: an authentic experience in the countryside; simple, wonderful, local food; genuine, warm Italian people and delightful conversation around the table. My idea of la dolce vita!

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor