Avidius Trimalchio

Wine Porter ~ Italy 15th Century A.D.
They call me Avidius Trimalchio. I am also called a Wine Porter. Just as my father and my father's father were Wine Porters - and all our fathers before them. My ancestors moved to Northern Campania to work for the Roman elites who had their homes and vineyards high up in the windy and warm hills overlooking the bay of Naples. I grew up in the town of Cales playing on the cliffs and working in the fields of Monte Barbaro. I learned many skills in my vineyard work: from pruning and planting to filling barrels and delivering Falernian wine to wine merchants. But the real work is done during harvest. On a good day I have been known to harvest over two tons of grapes. In my grandfather's day, when most vines were raised on poplar trees, he was lucky to pick half-a-ton before sunset. I thank God for the modern method of trellising to make it much easier and faster. My ancestors used to work many harvests as they labored North picking late harvests as far away as the Mosel Valley. My Father's father once picked grapes in January...one grape at a time!

Being a Wine Porter has many rituals and rewards. I believe the best Olympic atheletes come from the vineyards. Our legs and arms are strong and our backs are stronger. When I reached manhood at 13 my father gave me a leather hod that fit my backside perfectly and I have used it for many, many years. It is much better than the old wooden trugs and cane baskets of yesterday. It serves as a carrier and makes 'pouring' the grapes into the wine press much easier. My leather hod is my proudest possession.

This harvest we used wagons again to take the picked grapes to the winery so we Wine Porters did not have to walk as far down the mountain as before. When we pick the last rows of the harvest, the last wagon-load always is decorated with flowers in celebration of God's gift of this year's bountiful harvest. We all danced and sang as we trudged down the mountain behind the colorful wagon. I was honored, as the Grape Picker and Wine Porter of the most grapes picked in this year's harvest by being ceremoniously tossed into the sticky mass of delicious grapes just before the stomping began. I am the Best Wine Porter and I am the Best Grape Picker of this year's harvest. And I am a very proud one.