Event

Halloween or Hallowe'en (/?hæl?'wi?n, -o?'i?n, ?h??l-/; a contraction of "All Hallows' Evening") also known as All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It initiates the triduum of Hallowtide, the time in the liturgical yeardedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers.

According to many academic scholars, All Hallows' Eve is a Christianized feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain. Other academic scholars maintain that it originated independently of Samhain and has solely Christian roots.

Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related "guising"), attending costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted house attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films. In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular, although in other locations, these solemn customs are less pronounced in favour of a more secularized celebration. Because many Western Christian denominations encourage, although no longer require, abstinence from meat on All Hallows' Eve, the tradition of eating certain vegetarian foods for this vigil daydeveloped, including the consumption of apples, colcannon, cider, potato pancakes, and soul cakes.

Azienda Agraria Scacciadiavoli di Pambufetti
Montefalco (Perugia), Umbria

Recognized as the oldest wine estate in Montefalco, Scacciadiavoli (“cast out the devils”)  takes its name from a 19th-century priest and exorcist who lived in the village and used the wine during the ritual of ridding pour souls from demons.

The estate of Scacciadiavoli was established in 1884 by a Roman nobleman, the Prince of Piombino, Ugo Boncampagni-Ludovisi, a man well ahead of his time.  The winery he designed in 1884, still in use today, is worked by gravity, with the grapes arriving at the top floor of winery to be sorted.  On the subsequent floors below, they are pressed, then fermented, then aged.  The design is so excellent that, apart from re-tiling a couple of floors, there has been no need to change any aspect of the building.

Scacciadiavoli changed ownership a number of times until 1954, when Amilcare Pambuffetti purchased the estate.  He had worked for the original owner, Prince Ugo Boncampagni-Ludovisi and was well aware of the excellent potential of the property and the  remarkable design of the winery.  Today,  it is in the competent hands of the fourth generation of the Pambufetti family, including Iacopo, Amilcare, Liu, Romeo and Flametta Pambuffetti ,with Amilcare’s great-grand-daughter Liù as winemaker.
 

NV  Brut Rosé Metodo Classico                        
As a rosé vinified in the champagne method (metodo classico) using 100% Sagrantino. The hand-picked grapes are gently pressed within six hours. A slow, temperature controlled first fermentation preserves the primary aromas and flavors, followed by a second fermentation in the bottle of at least 18 months this is a gentle, aromatic and totally refreshing wine.  Elegant, with notes of red apple, citrus and bread crust.  
Lively apertif.  Also with first courses of shellfish and white meats.  Matches spcy dishes well. 

2013 Grecchetto dell’Umbria DOC                    
The principal white grape grown at Scacciadiavoli is Grecchetto, suspected of having Greek origins and under the 
right conditions, capable of producing full-flavored and mouth-coating white wines.
Shellfish, white fish; also poultry and veal dishes; most light pastas and soups.

2010 Montefalco Rosso DOC
 The young red wine of the estate, in this case comprised of 15% Sagrantino, 60% Sangiovese and 25% Merlot.  
Aged 12 monts in second and third passage French oak barrels of varying sizes, then in bottle for 6 months.  
Fresh on the nose, with notes of morello cherry: on the palate, it has dark fruit and spice, with a fine mouthfeel 
and a hint of soft tanins.
Excellent with pastas, grilled vegetables and meats and summer salads.

2007 Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG                    
This is the premier wine of the estate, comprised of 100% Sagrantino.  Aged 24 months in French oak barrels of 
varying sizes, then in bottle for 24 months more.  May be marketed after 4 years.  On the nose, notes of morello 
cherry: on the palate, it has dark fruit and spice and prominent but softening tannins.
Grilled and roasted meats and vegetables; aged cheeses.