Keffalonia 2004

After returning from my trip to India, Asia and Australia in May 2004,
I worked for a couple of months in the U.K., and then decided that what
I REALLY wanted to do, was go and pick some grapes, and find out about
wine making. Les, a guy that I used to work with at Taxifridge, had picked grapes on
the Greek island of Keffalonia a few years before, and so, using his
contacts, I caught a Ryanair flight to Italy, and then an overnight
ferry from Brindisi to Keffalonia.

Click on the photos below to expand them

For a couple of months, I was living in my tent ( I have actually spent
over two years of my life living in that same tent!!) in an olive grove
at the back of Gabrielles, the chief wine makers, house.

Picking grapes for Gentilini wines, and some of the local
growers in the mornings, I spent the afternoons either in agony with a
bad back, or loading grapes into the press, or frequently both!!



It was a really good experience in Keffalonia, and they were a cracking
bunch of people, so my thanks go out to Gentilini wines, Gabrielle,
Roger, Petros,
Marriana, Carolina, Mike and all the rest.



(As a footnote, after it's long years of good service, I left
my tent in Keffalonia. It was a shame to see it go, as I had many fond memories
such as being trapped in it for 36 hours of torrential rain in New
Zealand, being attacked by ants, repairing it more times than I can
mention, and carrying it around seemingly everywhere, but there will
always be another!!)