Moricciani Family Farm Tour aka ‘The Day I Fell in Love with a Pig’

After the morning trek with Carlo, we had about an hour to eat breakfast before we all headed to the family farm of our hosts, where Grandpa Luciano was going to give us the farm tour to see where they produce their products and care for their animals, see their wine storage, and wrap it all up with a tasting of their delicious farm products.

Luciano showing us how he used to pick olives as a boy. They would strap these baskets to their waste to collect the olives.

Carlo, the legend, offering the kids a ride on his monster tractor. Is there anything this guy can’t do?

How they used to crush the grapes. I asked him if they ever got in a big vat to stomp the grapes ‘like Lucy’ and he said that is only Hollywood’s version of making wine in the 1950’s. They never stomped grapes with their feet.

Grandpa Luciano (the family patriarch) is a piece of work. He trolls the property at night looking for guests to sit down and drink grappa with him. He doesn’t speak English at all but has a little mini-ipad he uses to communicate the translation. He is determined and very endearing.

How Carlo’s father looks at night when he brings his home brew of Grappa and Vin Santo. Both taste like turpentine to us, so we take it and dump it out when he isn’t looking, but still will sit with him because he is so endearing.

Listening to his tour of how farming has changed for him since he was born in 1940 and started working on the farm at age 15, was absolutely fascinating. He showed us the old ways and the new ways and brought us down to where they keep the animals. In addition to the usual chickens, goats, rabbits you may see at the fair or other farm tours – they had a pig pen like I have never seen in my life. The most robust pigs and one gigantic mamma pig with her piglets.

Loved this mamma pig! She weighs over 500 pounds and with her last preganancy got so big she couldn’t stand because her belly was larger than her legs. That’s how I feel some days here in Italy after meals.

With all of these sucklin pigs. Mamma pig has to take care of herself first. She dominated eating this zucchini.

At dinner the next night, Matt (cool Aussie husband and father of four) said in his Aussie acccent, ‘Wow, she really knew her way around a zucchini.’ LOL. We laughed about that a good long time. #farmhumor

Had to resist the urge to grab one of these little piglets and name him Wilbur..

To watch Luciano feed her a monster zucchini and the way she dominated eating that and moving her little piglets out of the way was impressive. She basically would throw them across the pen with her snout. I asked her name and grandpa said she doesn’t have a name. I figured they don’t name them to not get too attached – as he said no pigs live to old age and that as soon as she isn’t able to have pigs anymore she would be butchered.

Your heart sinks a little when you understand that, but then you remember all of the delicious ham an sausage varieties we have eaten on this trip have had to come from somewhere and you are hit with the realization once again that demand drives supply. Yet, still, memories of Charlotte’s Web and Fern trying to save Wilbur tend to stick with you for a lifetime. Oh the tension of farm life!

Luciano showing us his ancestors on the wall during our tasting.

After the tour they sat us down to try their farm made meats, olive oil, truffle oil, chianti, cheeses – it was all very good and a great way to spend the morning and lunchtime.