Tiny, crop-haired Giuditta greeted our tour group in front of her childhood home, where it sat at the crest of a hill, gazing down over lane upon lane of the family vineyard. They call their home, with its sweeping front porch and terra cotta tiled roof, Nostra Signora della Vita. Our Lady of Life. Just outside the bedroom window sits an ancient oak whose wide branches create a distinct V. They used this V shape to create the label for the wine produced in their vineyard, Nostra Vita–Our Life. Everything, it seems, is birthed from the rich soil of this land–the family, their dreams, their art, their family business. At Nostra Vita, the qualities that create a full, rich life are intimately connected and filled with intention.
Giuditta, we learned, is one of three sisters, each of whom were gifted a portion of the vineyard by their father, Annibale Parisi. The wine they produce is a blend of the three sisters vineyards, of which Giuditta’s is the smallest, but most fertile portion, “Because even though I’m the oldest, I’m the smallest,” she said with a laugh.
At Nostra Vita, each family member contributes their specific skills and talents to the family business. Giuditta, a graphic artist and communications specialist, leads tours like ours around the vineyard, where our visit eventually culminated in a wine and cheese tasting where Annibale filled glasses, Giuditta translated his chatter into English, and the family dog, Luna, grazed for dropped crumbs beneath the table.
Their family, their very life, is a delicious blend of artistry, wine-making, and dream-chasing from the sloping green hills of Tuscany.
As we walked among vines bowing with the weight of ripening fruit, Giuditta explained that two elements must be present when concerned with the health of the vine: time and attention. The Parisi family gives each cluster of grapes time to mature fully–the process can’t be rushed or forced or wished away. When the grapes reach the correct size and depth of flavor, the entire family, grandchildren included, hand pick each cluster from the vine.
“You must pay attention and anticipate potential problems,” she said. “Once you see a problem on the vine, it’s too late.”
The vineyard itself is alive with more than fruit and vine. Scattered throughout the property are works of art, commissioned or created by Annibale. Annibale is a creator at heart–one who takes a seed, a piece of wood, an old wheelbarrow, a paintbrush and creates something beautiful from it. Annibale has a studio of his own on the property filled with unique works of art and the tools to create them, but he also built an independent studio for artists of all mediums to work on the property, inspired by the fields of vine and the undulating Tuscan hills. If intention is the heartbeat of Nostra Vita, then beauty is its soul.
The Gift of Time:
As we toured the property and spent time with the family, it struck me how they’ve created a legacy that will last for generations. They’ve given their dream space to grow in fertile soil, and allow it to breathe free with the gift of time. It’s a legacy built over multiple lifetimes, not created and realized overnight.
The Gift of Attention:
With the gift of time, they also gift the land and their growing legacy with attention. An attentive life allows them to anticipate potential problems, but also helps them see their vision more clearly. Dreams appear at first as a specter, an unformed thing. With attention, they take form and shape. A sketch becomes an outline becomes a figure becomes a portrait. Attentive living makes the dream draw breath and come alive over time.
The Gift of Intention:
When the Parisi family built their home, no surrounding vineyard existed. They chose their vocation deliberately, with the intention of creating a family business, a life (Our Life), that would allow all of the family to become involved in the cultivation of the land they loved. As a creator, Annibale built intentional, purposeful space for his artwork and the work of other artists. Beauty, love for the land, creativity, and curiosity are qualities held in high esteem at Nostra Vita. They are intentionally encouraged and deliberately pursued. There is an integration of work and pleasure at the vineyard that is rare and precious.
Visiting Nostra Vita, visitors are offered an opportunity to enter into their legacy and their life, if only for a day. My brief visit stirred eternal questions about my family and the legacy I hope to leave behind alongside them. It’s led me to question my own relationship to time, attention, and intention. I left changed, and perhaps that is Annibale’s true legacy. To open the door of one’s dream to others, and allow them to leave with a small measure of it for themselves.
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This is the final installment in the Making Meaning: Stories for the Armchair Traveler series. Thanks so much for joining me for a brief tour of Tuscany this summer. I hope this series encourages you to be attentive and wildly curious when you travel, whether it’s overseas or one town over. Rich stories abound, no matter where we find ourselves.
Want to catch up on this series? Click the links below.
