From the short story “The Dream” written by Novella Ivaldi, during the experience of restructuring that will become the romantic Inn Le Petit Chateau “located in the hinterland of Finale Ligure:
The vine… the vine… its magic.
One day in autumn when the trees started to shed their leaves, I saw a big log sticking out hard and blackened, almost burnt, just above the ridge. I called Andrea, thinking it was a trunk to be removed because it looked dry, but as he approached, he recognized a vine. We started to clean it, making room all around it, finally, leaving it free to breathe and enjoy the warmth of the sun, since it was exposed to the south. Our vine had the first buds in the spring, and after they became leaves. A year later after pruning it, our vine began to bare some grapes! It may be ridiculous, but I had never seen a bunch of grapes before in my life. It ‘really magic what occurs every year!, now when I drink a glass of wine, which I fancy very much I think of mother nature and the wonderful work she does years after years so we can enjoy the exquisite juice borne from that first small bunch of grapes and the delicate process it will goes through so we can enjoy the delicate aroma. Once was a small vine, today in the summer, it runs along a good portion of our house wall and today it covers about half of it. Just like magic , in 2008 …………. we harvested a wonderful passito.
Personally I have a beautiful and clear memory of last year Easter Monday, a day we spent at the Petit Chateau together with Novella, Andrea, my wife Maria Victoria and Emmanuel our son, who at that time was seven years old. The atmosphere at the Petit Chateau is of warm hospitality and true family feeling which impressed us a lot!, so much so, that when we set foot in our home, our son Emmanuel said: “ Mommy, Daddy when are we going back?”