5/29/2024 A Day in the Life in Chianti Valley 

 At 8 years old, Massimo Carbone knew from the minute he entered the terra cotta lab that this was his destiny, and the best part was that he could get dirty doing it.

When he was 16, he was an apprentice learning the trade. Later, after he took over the business, he agreed to take on an intern when his soccer coach introduced him to Francesca, his daughter, who now is his partner in life and terra cotta.

Massimo's talent was incredible and impressive as he quickly circled the upside-down mold with moist handfuls of terra cotta.

(I bet he could turn to cake decorating as a second career.)  

Then, he added water and worked to smooth the surface 

and the uneven spots. Soon, it would be ready for the oven.

Before lunch, our meager attempts to create terra cotta from smaller molds (even with Danio's help) were far from passing muster. It was good that we couldn't take them home because there wasn't enough time in the oven. When I asked Danio what they did with ours, he said if it was possible to fix little flaws, they would tweak them, put them into the oven long enough to set, and then put them out for people to purchase. 

(I'm not holding my breath.)

More scenes of the Chianti Valley

Wine as far as the eye can see...and then some!