The Italian Sommelier Veneto Association presents Adopt a vineyard with AIS Veneto , the new educational and solidarity project which has the dual objective of supporting the Fattoria Sociale Casa di Anna - a reality which for several years has been pursuing social inclusion through work in the winery disabled people or those with legal problems - and to become a training course for Sommeliers, who will have the opportunity to see the growth phases of the vineyard, from root cuttings to wine.
With Adopt a vineyard with AIS Veneto, a muscaris vineyard, a PIWI variety, will be planted inside the social farm. Managed by fragile people, the vineyard will also constitute a training ground for the theoretical and practical training of Sommeliers, who can take an active part in the cultivation of the plants. AIS members who join the initiative will thus be able to see the life cycle of the vine over time through the webcams installed in the vineyard, observe its growth and have access to the aromatic herb garden to study over one hundred natural aromas in the field and thus expand their olfactory library. In the first three years the vineyard will not yet be productive, but donors will have access to three tastings of wines and typical products inside Casa di Anna , one for each year. When the vine begins to bear fruit, from the fourth year onwards, those participating in the project will be able to collect three magnums of their solidarity wine vinified by Daniele Piccinin of the Le Carline company in Pramaggiore (Venice).
“With the Adopt a vineyard project – explains the president of AIS Veneto Gianpaolo Breda – our association's desire to be a protagonist of solidarity initiatives in Veneto and to be even more aware of how important training is even outside the classroom is confirmed, on the field. The students and AIS members will have the opportunity to closely observe the entire path that leads from cuttings to the glass, managing to grasp even more deeply the intertwining of grapes, territory and man's work that lies in a wine”.
“We are honored – adds Piero Pellegrini , founder of Casa di Anna – to be able to welcome this project into our reality which marries both our social and food and wine vocation. Being able to add an 'inclusive' vineyard to the offer of activities for disadvantaged people was not a dream within a dream: from today even AIS members with disabilities (and not only) thanks to this vineyard will be able to participate in activities and training in the field, including the possibility of exercising olfactory skills and knowledge, thanks to the large vegetable garden which is home to over 100 different aromatic plants".
Adopt a vineyard with AIS Veneto is an initiative reserved for AIS members who have paid their membership fees. The value of the annual donation is equal to 100 euros. For further information, consult the website we.aisveneto.it/evento/1780.
ANNA'S HOUSE
Casa di Anna , on the outskirts of Mestre, was born by the will of the Venetian Pellegrini family and was initially born from the need to offer Anna, daughter of Carla and Piero Pellegrini, seriously disabled, a serene place, surrounded by nature, free of architectural barriers where she could live his life.
Soon from the recovery and redevelopment of the property a place developed that was also open to other people like Anna and not only, where disadvantaged people of various origins were immersed in social life and received the opportunity for "redemption" through work in agriculture.
Casa di Anna thus becomes a Social and Educational Farm, a place where people with varying degrees of disability work in contact with nature, becoming an integral part of the production process of what is a real self-sufficient agricultural company with organic products sold on the market and employed in restaurant quality catering. Home to cultural, educational, food and wine initiatives and events, Casa di Anna is an accessible and sustainable meeting place open to all that puts into practice a 360-degree circular economy.
