This tale will steal you just 10 or less minutes, but it will give you a high interior strength and will let you make proud of what you do, whatever is your work: this is a testimony of passion and determination, necessary to make what we love and to receive great satisfactions.
Luigi is a strong and hard-working man, a winemaker who dedicates his life to vineyards and to the high-quality wine production. Luigi lives in a little Italian village surrounded by hills covered by vineyards and since when he was young, he loved countryside and the open air work. After the end of the school, he decided to follow his passion and he began to work as apprentice in a local winery. After many years of hard work and dedication, Luigi obtained the knowledge and the experience required to become one of the most expert winemakers of Monte delle Vigne.
Luigi every day begins early, very early, aside from the season and hot or cold temperatures: he wakes up at sunrise and he directly goes to the vineyard, where his work day begins. His main domain is to cultivate Monte delle Vigne vineyards, an activity which requires a lot of patience, care and attention to details. And to drive the tractor. Yes, because Luigi drives it up and down from Ozzano Taro hills, mainly alone, taking care of the soil and furnishing all the attentions which the green manure requires. However, it’s during the harvest when Luigi and his tractor become the throbbing heart of Monte delle Vigne vineyards. Up and down from Montebianco, Bertolona, Cantina Vecchia, Ca’ Bruciata, Rio Valli – to mention some names of the estate plots – Luigi punctuates the work with the rumble of his tractor and the incitement shouts to the vineyard’s men.
The supervisor of the vineyards is Andrea Bonini, the agronomist of Monte delle Vigne. But when Andrea goes from vineyard and cellar to analyse the grapes, the team captain is Luigi, with the strength and the scowl of a person who faced and passed many difficulties, in the fields as in life.
Although his hard and strenuous work, Luigi loves what he does. His passion for viticulture is evident in each aspect of his work, from the way he cultivates plants, to the way he talks about “his” grapes. For him, the production of a good wine is not just a work, but a shape of art which requires time, dedication and passion.
“Look at this grape! And now, go to each Parma winery asking them if they have one like this!”, he shouted, so proud and with the frustration of who want to let the world know what Monte delle Vigne land can produce, thanks to people who cultivate it with eternal love.
We than discovered that this scene is repeated in the coffee bars of the village, where Luigi usually brings the first bottles of each batch to taste, but mainly to receive the commendations by people like him, attached to their land and to their origins.
For Luigi, his work is a way to preserve the tradition and the culture of his land, and to create something precious that can be appreciated by anyone: indeed, Luigi’s tale do not stop to grapes and wine, but they also tell about woods, lakes (inside the 60 hectares of Monte delle Vigne estate there are four lakes) and night sighting – yes, he also patrols the area – of boars, foxes and even porcupine!
After all, Luigi’s work is not just viticulture. His role as “the big-hearted tractor driver” let him be an important guardian of the land and of the surrounding environment. He knows that the care of soil and plants is essential to protect the ecosystem health and to preserve the land for future generations. His attention to detail, his knowledge of the land and his respect for the environment, make him a real example for each of us.
English (UK) 
Italiano