Letters from a 300-year-old Italian farmhouse. June 9

It is the little things...

God is in the details. ~ Mies van der Rohe

Even after ten years of living in Piemonte, I am amazed by the tiny, sometimes intangible things that put magic in my day.

On my morning walk, which is the same road, the same little hill, day after day, I inevitably see or feel something new. An optimistic poppy which has no business suddenly sprouting through the asphalt.

Or a tangle of wildflowers and wood, stuck on a curve on the hillside, looking as if it had been curated by a talented New York City florist .

Each day of the year, the same steps, but a little different climate, light and feel. Birds singing insistently as they build their nests in the spring, geese echoing overhead as they fly south in the fall. And all summer long, armies of ants building their hills, shiny slugs with antennae at the ready on their way to lunch, lizards baking in the sun or scurrying for shelter as I pass by. These are the small pieces of the Langhe puzzle that for me, give it such a daily beauty.

There is an artist who used to live here, Gianni Gallo, who for over sixty years drew, painted and etched these details, and whose art has appeared on literally hundreds of Piemontese wine labels, food labels and other products of the area. I have been delighted by his work in so many of the local products that I have seen and bought, and I think of him often on my walks, wondering how he would have captured the authentic beauty in what I see.

He brought grace and energy to the humblest of native plants, the dandelion.

And he brought to life so many other flowers I see on my daily walk, with their subtle summer colors, like this one:

He created hundreds of labels gracing the beautiful bottles of wine made by Vietti, Abonna, Giudici wineries and so many others. And he did so at a time when most self-respecting wineries in France and Italy only decorated their labels with crests or shields and dramatic typefaces. They could not understand what these Piemontese winemakers were thinking, putting quirky insects, plants and small animals on their labels. It is such a classic Langhe thing to do, in my opinion, to acknowledge and elevate the land, the soil and the earth that produces their world class wines.

I sometimes wonder what the wine culture here would be like without Gianni Gallo’s impact on the distinctive way the wine bottles look. Hard to imagine. And perhaps the most remarkable thing about Gianni Gallo and his work is that he never accepted a penny for any of it. A self proclaimed anarchist, he was happy to promote his friend’s products, when he believed in them, and didn’t believe in charging them money to do so. No doubt, his friends made sure he was never out of good wine, and would buy him a meal at a nice restaurant when Gianni himself was not cooking for them in his home, which was often.

Carlo Petrini, the founder of the Slow Food Movement, said about Gianni after he passed, “Gallo was a cornerstone and a landmark for generations of inhabitants of the Langhe and beyond: Gallo and his occasional brusqueness, his unforgettable charm. Everyone passed through the doors of his house — whether it was to share an idea, an observation, a joke, or a meal. Gianni Gallo, a man whom I miss more today than ever and whom I will go on missing for a long time to come.”

Gianni was one of a kind. An artist. A genius. And another one of the slightly magical things I find everyday in the Piemonte and the Langhe, my home.

What are your thoughts? Do you like the idea of insects on wine labels? Flowers? Birds? What details about your community do you find everyday that bring you joy? The bagels? The morning fog? The sunsets?

In all towns, there can be much to enjoy, in so many different ways. Let me know how you make a point to see them and appreciate them. Let me know, too, what you are cooking and eating and drinking! And thanks for continuing to be a part of my community and my letters from Italy!

Keep looking for my posts each week. I’ll be right here.

This is how I stay close to everyone far away. I will be writing letters once a week, with stories of Piemonte, recipes that I have fallen in love with, tales of people I meet, places I discover and anything else that I think you might find amusing, curious or worthwhile. It’s a way to look at the world from a different window, and hopefully let a little Italian sunshine into your day.

A presto!

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