Rain or shine, there will be music and dancing. (Photo by Jacqueline Watts)
You might be surprised to learn what goes on in many of those little garages and sheds that are scattered around Little Little Italy.
It is the area around Our Lady of Pompei Church. Tourists know about Little Italy; locals know about Little Little Italy. It is there where, from early fall through the winter and into the spring, amateur winemakers fret and worry over their fermenting hand-pressed vintages of Zinfandel, Moscato, Barbera, Riesling, Trebbiano and other noble wines.
We’re not talking “amateur” to mean inexpert. No, we are using the word in its original meaning: for the love of the craft.
The amateurs are lovingly tending their wines for the Olympics of homemade viticulture, the Highlandtown Wine Festival, which will be held Sunday, April 22, 1-6 p.m. at Our Lady of Pompei Church, 3600 Claremont St. It is a big day. There are ribbons to be won and bragging rights to be had.
Those who want to immerse themselves in Italian culture can attend the annual bocce tournament, beginning at 1 p.m. in the school gym. (Note: Not the bocce courts outdoors).
Tickets are $25 ($20 in advance) and include an antipasto plate and a souvenir wine glass from DiPasquale’s Marketplace, a co-sponsor of the event. There will be live music, arts and crafts booths and plenty of refreshment. Proceeds benefit repairs and upkeep at Our Lady of Pompei and neighborhood projects of the Highlandtown Community Association.
The Highlandtown Wine Festival promises be far more civilized than last month’s St. Patrick’s Day bash in Canton (people tend to get less cranked sipping wine than guzzling beer, we reckon). And what wine it is! The house red last year was a smooth blend by Highlandtown home improvement contractor Domenic Parravano. It was, like Chianti, an excellent pairing with the antipasto plate and the sausage and pepper sandwiches. It was poured from gallon jugs, as blended Italian red should be, and it went fast. There was a good crowd in spite of a driving rain—people are devoted to the wine festival—and everyone had a fine time.
Domenic Petrucci, a Highlandtown concrete contractor, is an amateur in the purest sense of the word. He has been contributing to, and helping to organize, the wine festival since its inception in 2003. He has a little grape-crushing garage near his Highland Avenue home. He likes to make his wine from grapes, not from juice, though either method is legal for the tasting contest.
“I take care of the grapes like a little baby, you know what I mean,” he says.
This year he has three entries. Two reds, a Cabernet Sauvignon and an Zinfandel, both from California grapes, but he is fondest of his white: “A beautiful Chardonnay, with just a little pinch of Thompson Seedless,” he says.
That’s right, Thompson Seedless, the ubiquitous supermarket grape—but Petrucci is quick to point out that all his grapes come from the Napa Valley, and though most of us are familiar with Thompson Seedless as a table grape, or as the grape from whence come raisins, it is also widely used in winemaking to temper a harsher varietal in blends. It also makes great sparkling and dessert wines.
The winners get bragging rights, and the value of that can’t be estimated. Petrucci has won a few awards in his time. Last year the big winner was Nick Castellano for his Zinfandel.
Castellano also attributes his success in viticulture to the quality of the grapes. “I get a good quality of grapes from the Napa Valley,” he said. “I get the first quality grapes, a very unique dry Zinfandel. They cost $20 a case more.”
Small price to pay for Best in Show, he figures.
He’s aiming for the top of the heap again this year with his one entry, another Zinfandel. “Tell them Nick is going to enter the same quality of grape as last year and we will see what happens,” he said.
For advance tickets stop in at DiPasquale’s Italian Marketplace, 3700 Gough St., or check http://highlandtownwinefestival2012.eventbrite.com/.
editor@baltimoreguide.com
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