Food Journeys | Hello Valdobbiadene!
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21 Jul Hello Valdobbiadene!

RUSTICO, MINERAL LIKE THE BRIGHT SUN

 “Golden, persistent and crisp. Endured by three generations of wine producers from Valdobbiadene, in the Venetian region of time-honoured Italy, and protected by the sparkling ice formations of the Dolomites.

This is how I envision Nino Franco Rustico: a mineral and sunny treasured Prosecco wine, enlivened by the ancestral fruity flavours of the Glera grapes and hidden from the lust of others.”

I never thought that this small paragraph and this picture, blessed with the Irish weather mood swings, would lead me to Italy! But they are!

I have to say that taking photos of the robust Nino Franco Prosecco bottle among all the assignments we had to complete for Plate 2 Page Food Photography and Writing Workshop wasn’t an easy task.

I was constantly left behind in time, busy choosing the right words or the most compelling photo for the work we had at hand and that was going to be submitted to all the curious minds and eager opinions of my other ten colleagues and our assertive teachers.

Each of us had to take a resounding photo of Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico and write an artistic statement about it if we wanted to get the chance of winning two nights in the beautiful eighteenth-century Villa Barberina, located right in the heart of the Valdobbiadene, the picturesque wine region famous for its prosecco production, in the Italian Veneto.

I must say that all of us were really glad to have Nino Franco has one of the sponsors of Plate 2 Page Ireland. Every time we went to dinner, we all were graced with the sound of popping corks and the tingling of wine bubbles. That’s how, in the end, all I had left to work with were about eight corks and lots of empty bottles.

However, I was really wishful to win the competition, so I took the corks out into the spacious gardens of Decoy Country Cottages and tried to take some shots on its mossy stone walls and its wooden planks, among the filtered light of the luxuriant green trees that colour Ireland’s landscape. I even had to juggle between my composition, the wind and a stubborn sweet dog that was always trying to set it apart.

But as destiny wants to you to have new friends and give you a push towards the Roman’s ancient land, there was still one bottle left to open in our cottage. One of my soon to be Plate 2 Page travelling partners through County Meath’s surroundings – five of us we we’re lucky to share the wheels for two whole days – had snatched one from our ever convivial dinner table to take her photos too. And she shared it :-)

Regardless all these fight and glory, what really made me win this competition was a happy encounter of accidental moments. For after all this try-outs, I realized that the best shot I had was really the first one I had taken in a five minutes interval between assignments, in a five minutes interval of sunny weather between pouring rain, on a five minutes interval of a gorgeous golden shrub between the green backgrounds of Decoy Country Cottages.

I guess it’s reason to say that it was fortune working it’s magic!

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Olá Valdobbiadene!

 

RUSTICO, MINERAL LIKE THE BRIGHT SUN

“Golden, persistent and crisp. Endured by three generations of wine producers from Valdobbiadene, in the Venetian region of time-honoured Italy, and protected by the sparkling ice formations of the Dolomites.

This is how I envision Nino Franco Rustico: a mineral and sunny treasured Prosecco wine, enlivened by the ancestral fruity flavours of the Glera grapes and hidden from the lust of others.”

Nunca pensei que este pequeno parágrafo e esta imagem, abençoada pelas mudanças de humor do tempo irlandês, me pudessem levar até à Itália! Mas a verdade é que vão!

Devo dizer que fotografar a robusta garrafa de Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico, por entre todos os outros deveres a completar para o Plate 2 Page Food Photography and Writing Workshop, não se revelou uma tarefa fácil.

Constantemente a prolongar os últimos minutos que me restavam para escolher as palavras certas ou a imagem mais ressoante para o trabalho em mãos, consegui o inevitável: o atraso nas apresentações aos dez colegas e às suas mentes e opiniões sequiosas, que, juntamente com as palavras assertivas das nossas professoras, aguardaram sempre pacientemente por mim.

Ganhar duas noites na fabulosa Villa Barberina, uma propriedade oitocentista localizada bem no coração de Valdobbiadene – a região DOC por excelência do prosecco – e do Veneto italiano, requeria apenas que cada um de nós tirasse uma fotografia evocativa do espírito selado no Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico, defendendo-a por escrito com a nossa visão artística.

Escusado será dizer que todo o grupo ficou verdadeiramente feliz por ter Nino Franco como um dos patrocinadores do Plate 2 Page Ireland. O som contente e redondo de rolhas a saltar agraciou-nos com a sua presença em todos os jantares. E que bem que sabiam as ténues bolhinhas gasosas que picavam ao de leve o interior da nossa boca! Foi assim, que desta abundância toda, quando o fim do curso se aproximou, me sobraram apenas oito rolhas de cortiça e muitas garrafas vazias para trabalhar.

Porém, eu estava desejosa de ir até Itália. Peguei nas rolhas e levei-as para os espaçosos jardins das Decoy Country Cottages. Fotografia atrás de fotografia, tentei captar o espírito do Rustico nos muros de pedra e musgo e nas tábuas de madeira que recebiam a luz de Maio, filtrada pelo verde luxuriante das árvores que dão a paisagem à Irlanda. Sempre desafiada pelo vento, de sopro frio, e por um cão pequeno e teimoso, refiz enquadramentos vezes sem conta.

Mas como o destino planeia que tenhamos novos amigos, ao mesmo tempo que nos empurra na direção de terras romanas, providenciou também o aparecimento, na nossa cottage, de uma garrafa ainda por abrir. Uma das colegas de curso, depressa companheira de viagem pelo condado de Meath – cinco de nós acabámos num mesmo carro e com dois dias inteiros de boa disposição -, tinha saqueado o prosecco da nossa eterna mesa convivial para tirar fotos também. E partilhou-o :-)

Apesar destes percalços e pequenas conquistas, em última instância, o que realmente contribuiu para que vencesse o concurso foi um encontro feliz de momentos fortuitos. Pois após todas estas tentativas e erros, percebi que a minha melhor fotografia era a que já tinha tirado durante um intervalo de cinco minutos entre exercícios, aproveitando um intervalo de cinco minutos de sol por entre chuva persistente, num intervalo de cinco minutos de um maravilhoso arbusto dourado que resistia por entre o verde dominante das traseiras das Decoy Country Cottages.

Parece-me acertado dizer que foi a fortuna a improvisar a sua magia!

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Mrs. S
s.l.lourenco@sapo.pt
2 Comments
  • Jamie
    Posted at 10:44h, 21 July Reply

    Such a beautiful post, Susana. The photos are stunning! Not just technically beautiful and perfect but really soulful, moody, emotional and tactile. I love the golden, dream-like haze.

  • Jeanne @ Cooksister
    Posted at 16:37h, 23 July Reply

    Oh Susana – how lovely! I adored that winning shot from the first time I clapped eyes on it, but your shots of the corks are wonderful too – I love the greenery and texture of the mossy backgrounds. Congratulations again on your well-deserved win!

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