Working in a wine cellar

Many of the people who visit us in the cellar 'beg' us to hire them. But they are not looking for a job, nor are they thinking of changing jobs.

"I miss nature..." This is the thought we most often share when we sit down to have a glass of wine together, perhaps towards evening, when the sky seems to say 'you have done enough for today'.

Hill work has its why. One of the first things you sense is freedom. Away from the office or city chaos you are likely to feel free to do what you want, without people around to judge you.

The air is cleaner and, if you look for it, you find silence. The noisiest time of the year is perhaps during the grape harvest, when we are all on the beat, from morning to night, including Saturday and Sunday. But otherwise it is easier to hear the gravel in the yard crunching under your footsteps than a car with its engine running.

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"It is easy to recognise silence, even on the noisiest of days."

When they move from the city to the countryside, many people immediately improve their mood. Thanks to being away from the hustle and bustle? More because they reconnect with their nature, which is everyone's nature: the green, the blue sky, the pure air, the sun on their skin.

In the hills it can happen to walk without meeting people for miles, up and down roads where sometimes the roadway is only enough for one car. You know those endless ups and downs of Tuscany as far as the eye can see? There they are in Friuli, too, perhaps a little greener.

Sweating while you are working the land can regenerate you as much as a day in a spa. We are talking about the fatigue, the good, stress-free fatigue that your hands, arms, back and legs can give you. There's no treadmill or lat machine to beat that. In the evening you feel tired, but happy. Try it to believe it.

Here you train patience. You have to wait for the fruit of your labor to ripen. You can watch and marvel at how it gets there, but once you've done yours, you just have to wait.

"You enjoy the anticipation as you carefully watch the fruit ripen."

And then there are the wild animals. It is easy for a hare to cross your path during the day or for a squirrel to sneak down from a tree. For those who spend hours in front of the PC, the joy these small encounters can bring can be so great.

But cultivating vines in the hills means above all giving, always giving and, perhaps, receiving. It means being there for many hours, often well beyond the canonical eight required by most jobs. Nature sends things forward according to its laws, in defiance of expectations for harvests or vintages. There are complicated times on the hill too, decisions to be made and things to be organised in good time.

Yet many people would do anything to get their hands dirty with the earth.

Maybe it's because when you're in the hills the rhythm of your heart synchronizes with the rhythm of nature; maybe it's because everyone's well-being depends on how much we respect ourselves; or maybe it's because here you have the time to realize how much distance you've put between you and the joy of feeling alive.

Maman

What it is about working in the hills that makes you feel good

"It is easy to recognise silence, even on the noisiest of days."

"You enjoy the anticipation as you carefully watch the fruit ripen."