The Wind Goddesses at Alvento winery

It’s pizza night at our house. I stretch out the dough. My daughter layers on the toppings. My husband preheats the oven. We each have our designated roles.

I open a bottle of wine to accompany our pizza: The Alvento East Wind.

My husband asks, “Did you get this at one of the wineries you visited?”

I proceed to tell him about how I found the winery.

I was having brunch at Rev-a-lee Brunch Café in Vineland. My Bavarian plate with apple and sage sausage, zesty mustard potato salad and warm molasses rye bread was delicious. When the waitress stopped by my table to top up the hot water in my teapot, she noticed my VQA winery map and suggested, “You should go to Alvento. It’s right around the corner. The owners are really nice”.

I happily followed her advice. I did not meet the owners, but was greeted by a member of Alvento’s small team, Anita, who was also very nice and enthusiastic about the wines. Of the two tasting flights, I chose the WIND series, where each wine is named after a Wind Goddess. Why would you not?

Anita explained, “Each Wind Goddess is intended to be aromatic and refreshing like the wind itself”.

I also tell my husband about the winery’s history that I learned from Anita. Coincidentally, I visited when the winery was celebrating its one year anniversary under new ownership. Alvento was originally owned by Italians but had been closed for several years. The new owners were peach famers from nearby Jordan. During the renovation of the old barn, they discovered all sorts of treasures from the previous Alvento owners, like an old Italian opera poster. That evening they were hosting a party to mark the first year of the rebranded and refreshed Alvento wines.

My favourite of the WIND series was the East Wind, a Baco Noir full of cherry and berry flavours.

The bottle, with its stylized Wind Goddess floating across the label, is now on our kitchen counter.

At that moment I look at my husband. His eyes are glazed over. I realize the answer he was looking for was,

“Yes.”

I may need to refine my storytelling. Nonetheless, I do think it is fun to have a story behind a purchase. Sipping my aromatic glass of the East Wind Goddess reminded me of my visit to Alvento winery, and the lovely people I met along the way.