billruth

My husband and I are leaving for Italy (Siena, Orvieto, Asciano) next Friday and I was wondering is the grape harvest over or is it still in progress. I am not certain when the olives are harvested, but it may be later. I would appreciate any information. We are also then going to the Burgundy region in France, but I was thinking that harvest season is over.

ira

Hi,

You might be late for the grape harvest and early for the olives.

Were you planning on helping?

billruth

No, we were not going to help, just wanted to see what went on.

ira

Hi,

Just in case you miss them:

people go out in trucks, pick the grapes, put them in big boxes, dump them in trucks, drive away.

The olives are shaken from the trees onto big tarps, then dumped into big boxes, dumped in trucks and driven away.

The spaghetti harvest is the big thing. I once saw a travelogue showing how they decorate the donkeys with garlands of flower and then put big baskets on them. Then all of the young people go up into the hills where they pick the spaghetti off the trees and put it into the donkey baskets.

At night, after the spaghetti has been picked, they celebrate with big plates of spaghetti.

kybourbon

I'll have what Ira is drinking tonight!

ira

Hi ky,

Really, I saw that travelogue when I was about 12 on late night TV.

Budman

We just got back from Tuscany on 27 September -- Around the Montepulciano area they were going to start picking the grapes that week and this week. Most of the white grapes had already been picked.

Olive harvest and pressing begins in November. If you buy olive oil, make sure it's dated. We bought some with a 2003 date (last year's harvest) and an expiration date of Dec 2005.

You'll love Orvieto. The underground tour was worthwhile. You can buy tickets at the tourist office in the main square across from the Duomo

bobthenavigator

Ira is correct--I saw that too !

cmt

I think you're a little too late for the grape harvest. You're definitely too early for the olive harvest in Tuscany. Olives are harvested in November in Sicily, but I think most of the harvest extends into December in Tuscany.

ira

Thanks, Bob.

SuzieC

but jeeeeeeeez... wouldn't it be a slice of heaven to have a bottle of freshly pressed Extra Virgin?

... I mean that wine didn't even get a dinner!

All cloudy fresh and green? Loaf of crusty bread? ohmyohmyohmy...

faredolce

I was just doing a bit of web research, totally unrelated to travel, and this thread came up on Google.

Ira, you are really quite funny.

I just laughed so hard, I snorted.

ira

Glad you liked it, fare.

bellastar

I remember that famous spaghetti harvest travelogue-was it the Steve Allen Show, or early J Carson? I remember it went down as a classic in TV history, and alot of people believed it! Wonder if any of them ended up searching for it in Italy?

LoveItaly

LOL, I remember that on TV also (showing are age are we?).

Kate

Ira, that reminds me of a BBC 'documentary' shown YEARS ago (1950s) about the spaghetti harvest. It was shown on April 1st. Perhaps the same programme? (I would like to add that I hadn't been born then!)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...es/3591687.stm

Kate

Yep, I reckon you lot must have seen the same programme:

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/