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Winemaking with Umbra
Wine is an important aspect of Italian culinary culture, 
and as such it is often the subject of American study abroad programs’ extracurricular activities. Students are taken to an Italian enoteca and sample different kinds of wines, learning the basics of evaluation and wine/food combinations. At the Umbra Institute, however, students go one step further: actually making the wine. This past Saturday staff
member Zach Nowak took a group of twenty-five students to the small vineyard that he takes care of, where the third edition of Umbra’s winemaking class took place. The students first had the “theory” part of the activity, where they learned about fermentation, the action of yeast, and the process of making wine. They then lived out their “I Love Lucy” dreams, rolling up their pant legs, washing their feet, and actually stomping the grapes in turn. Not all the grape juice landed in the demijohn for fermenting but enough will be turned into wine to make a bottle for each student. As an extra, some students stayed later and helped Nowak chop and press a barrel of apples. “Apple cider – just like home in the Fall!” commented Danielle Urciullo (Northeastern University).
and as such it is often the subject of American study abroad programs’ extracurricular activities. Students are taken to an Italian enoteca and sample different kinds of wines, learning the basics of evaluation and wine/food combinations. At the Umbra Institute, however, students go one step further: actually making the wine. This past Saturday staff member Zach Nowak took a group of twenty-five students to the small vineyard that he takes care of, where the third edition of Umbra’s winemaking class took place. The students first had the “theory” part of the activity, where they learned about fermentation, the action of yeast, and the process of making wine. They then lived out their “I Love Lucy” dreams, rolling up their pant legs, washing their feet, and actually stomping the grapes in turn. Not all the grape juice landed in the demijohn for fermenting but enough will be turned into wine to make a bottle for each student. As an extra, some students stayed later and helped Nowak chop and press a barrel of apples. “Apple cider – just like home in the Fall!” commented Danielle Urciullo (Northeastern University).