San Martino–November 11th.

 

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Today is the day we will probably be putting covers on the wine, the fermentation has already slowed down and if it has now stopped fermenting it is safe to do so, as there is no longer a risk of explosion. Well I hope so anyway! Our neighbours will be round later to supervise or at least to make sure we have carried out this next process as instructed.

At least we have remembered that we were told the wine should be ready for sealing on San Martino – St Martins Day.  ‌Winemaking

San Martino also happens to be the day when festas are held to celebrate the vino novello (the new seasons wine) in some parts of Italy.

In the winemaking post I asked about the word  ‘tinaio ‘ which thanks to the following comments we now have a translation for. 

Anonymous said... A "tinaio" is where you store the "tini" (a "tino" is one of those big open barrels in the first picture). I suggest you read a beautiful poem by the Nobel awarded Giosue Carducci ("San Martino") who used this ancient word.

 

and

Simony said... Interesting process! I have an Italian friend whose dad does the same and have big barrels for a whole year or two!
Tinaio I thought came from the word tina or tino (container). Tinaio is a place for those containers.

 

I did look up the poem and have included a video presentation of it here, plus the words in both the original Italian and an English translation as it is called San Martino. It was written by Giosue Carducci(27 July 1835 – 16 February 1907) who was a very influential Italian poet and teacher. In 1906 he became the first Italian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Wikipedia 2007 Stamp  to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his death.

 

Courtesy of AltraMusa

San Martino by Giosue Carducci

La nebbia a gl'irti colli
piovigginando sale,
e sotto il maestrale 
urla e biancheggia il mar;

ma per le vie del borgo 
dal ribollir de' tini
va l'aspro odor de i vini
l'anime a rallegrar.

Gira su' ceppi accesi
lo spiedo scoppiettando:
sta il cacciator fischiando
sull'uscio a rimirar

tra le rossastre nubi
stormi d'uccelli neri,
com'esuli pensieri,
nel vespero migrar.

San Martino English Translation

The fog in the hills 
drizzling salt
and under the mistral 
screams and whitens the sea;

but the streets of the village 
by boiling de 'tini
is the sour smell of the wines
the souls to cheer.

Runs on 'strains turned
the spit and sputtered:
the hunter's whistle
to look intently at the door

between the reddish clouds
flocks of black birds, 
like thoughts which 
migrate in the twilight.

 
.

November 11th is the official feast day for San Martino - Saint Martin whom I have discovered was born in a Roman province in what is now Hungary, a Roman citizen whose father was an army officer and himself became one, later giving it up to become a monk. He is the patron saint of soldiers and wine-makers!
Historically the story goes that while he was riding at the gates of the city of Amiens with his soldiers, he met a poor, freezing beggar, cut his own military cloak in half and shared it with him. That same night he dreamt of Jesus wearing the half-cloak he had given to the poor man and thanking him for his compassionate gesture. It is also said that at the moment he shared his cloak, the sun came out and that is why in Italy, a period of sunny, warm weather with clear skies and mild temperatures of around 21C/70F, occurring during early November is called Estate di San Martino.

Google images

You might be interested in last years post Indian Summer where I used some of this information previously.

I think we picked our olives last week during this years St Martin’s Summer as the weather was warm and sunny with clear skies.

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I have not forgotten either that November 11th is also Remembrance Day but here in Italy servicemen who died for the nation are remembered on 4 November, when the ceasefire that followed the Armistice of Villa Giusti in 1918 began. Since 1977, this day has not been a public holiday, now, many services are held on the first Sunday of November.

In Memory of those that lost their lives for us.

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