My favorite book as a child was The Secret Garden. My mother and I would read it every night and we would try out our best British accents and everything. I would completely escape into a different world of petticoats, wildflowers, ancient stone walls and ivy covered doors… I have a point, we will get there shortly.
On my last day in Terracina, Andrea brought me to a vineyard he said would be like no other vineyard I have ever seen and will ever see. We drove up into the Circeo mountains through Stone Valley to a town stopped in time some 50 years ago. Campo Soriano is only 11 km from the city center of Terracina but feels like an eternity away (they only got electricity about 20 years ago.) Here in this town is the vineyard. The Secret Vineyard. Or, rather, My Secret Vineyard. I would like to think.
Vines were growing around stones and along the curvature of the natural land. Large stones remained intact within the rows of vines. Evidence of midnight visits from roaming porcupines lay untouched. The earth was soft and bouncy almost, but rich due to the constant working of the soil to maintain even distribution of water content throughout. Looming overhead all the while is the centerpiece of the vineyard; the largest stone in the entire valley, remaining from the ice age.
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