Saturday, October 9, 2021: Wine and Dine
By Vittoria Cavuto
On October 9, CCI’s students and staff had the opportunity to visit for the Castorani Winery for the first time and discover the mysteries of the wine-making process. Castorani is an estate winery that was established in 1793 by a famous doctor, Raffaele Castorani, and was then recently acquired by the ex-F1 driver, Jarno Trulli, and his manager, Lucio Cavuto. The winemaker, Angelo Molisani, accompanied us through the visit and he had the patience to illustrate the wine-making process, from the vineyard to the bottle. He explained to us all the steps that the winery has to follow to finally see a bottle of wine produced for consumption in New York and Montreal. He highlighted five main steps: harvesting, crushing and pressing, fermentation, clarification and then aging in bottle or barrique. He also took us to a particular room, used to reproduce Tuscany’s weather conditions that allow grapes to dry. At lunch, we were fortunate enough to taste a couple of the wines Castorani produces and offer our opinions about them. The respect the winemakers have for nature and the environment emerged all day, especially in the end, when we students had a chance to sit on the lawn just mowed by a robot lawnmower. As a member of this wine-making family, I already knew everything about the process. Since my dad is the co-owner, I have worked in the winery as secretary for some time. So, it was a normal day for me. However, I can’t hide the surprise I felt to see how much passion Angelo put into the explanations he gave CCI students and I felt his dedication to his job. Personally, I was really excited and proud to show my school my family’s business. During the visit, I could observe that the majority of the students did not know how wine was processed and this was new for them. For this reason, I was a little bit shocked because I am so familiar with it and for me it is part of my family life. However, I was really happy to see that CCI appreciated this visit and it made me feel very honoured to see what my family has built from the perspective of fellow students.
Group shot of our students enjoying the fresh air and mountain views.
The Amorino wine was one that we were fortunate to taste with our lunch. Tasting it, it is very clear to see that it deserves these awards!
