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LA STAMPA

Miracle Vineyard, Small Winery Survives Italy's Massive Earthquake

Anti Brexit protestors gather in Rome
Harvest time in Visso
Flavia Amabile

VISSO — Francesco Sbaffi was recouping after a long day during a busy wine harvest when a powerful earthquake struck this idyllic town in the Apennine Mountains 11 months ago.

The grape must was already fermenting in barrels at the Coppacchioli winery, where Sbaffi works as an oenologist, when the earthquake hit. As thousands of people in central Italy awoke to find their towns reduced to rubble, the Coppacchioli family found most of their winery destroyed. The wine cellar, however, was intact.

They could not bear to let a year's hard work go to waste. Every day after the earthquake, two Coppacchioli brothers made the journey from Visso to the small hamlet of Cupi, perched above a plateau where the family has lived for generations, to continue working.

The vineyard needs to suffer to produce a great wine.

Sometimes an aftershock would shake the building, forcing them to seek shelter before resuming work. Despite the obstacles, the 2016 vintage is set to become a symbolic one for a winery that was founded only four years ago. "The vineyard needs to suffer to produce a great wine," says Maria Coppacchioli, who runs the family business.

The vineyard, two hectares at a height of about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) in one of the few mountainous areas of Italy that produces wine, is just meters from the quake's epicenter. But the Coppacchioli winery is the only producer to have put the disaster behind it so quickly.

Visso is still struggling to rebuild. Schools have finally reopened, but the temporary homes promised by the central government have yet to arrive. Tourists are nowhere to be seen but the town's artisans and workers have not abandoned it, not least the Coppacchioli family. Visso has been ravaged by drought, earthquakes, heavy snowfall and ice over the last year, but the winery has continued to operate throughout.

"This is a miracle vineyard, it always manages to surprise us," says Maria as she samples the must of the 2017 vintage. The first surprise came four years ago, when the oenologist Sbaffi decided to help the family put the vineyard back in production.

He climbed up onto the rugged terrain behind the town's small cemetery to retrieve a small grapevine, a variety that had not been cultivated in almost a century. Many were skeptical, but Sbaffi pressed on and replanted the vine on the family's land. Four years later, he has been more than vindicated.

"We're still here, committed to go on. In the spring we'll be opening a new winery in Cupi, and we have many ideas to develop with other producers in the area," says Ginevra Coppacchioli, 21, the titular owner of the vineyard. "Only by working together can we overcome this difficult moment."

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The Weight Of Trump's Indictment Will Test The Strength Of American Democracy

The U.S. legal system cannot simply run its course in a vacuum. Presidential politics, and democracy itself, are at stake in the coming weeks and months.

The Weight Of Trump's Indictment Will Test The Strength Of American Democracy

File photo of former U.S. President Donald Trump in Clyde, Ohio, in 2020.

Emma Shortis*

-Analysis-

Events often seem inevitable in hindsight. The indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump on criminal charges has been a possibility since the start of his presidency – arguably, since close to the beginning of his career in New York real estate.

But until now, the potential consequences of such a cataclysmic development in American politics have been purely theoretical.

Today, after much build-up in the media, The New York Times reported that a Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict Trump and the Manhattan district attorney will now likely attempt to negotiate Trump’s surrender.

The indictment stems from a criminal investigation by the district attorney’s office into “hush money” payments made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels (through Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen), and whether they contravened electoral laws.

Trump also faces a swathe of other criminal investigations and civil suits, some of which may also result in state or federal charges. As he pursues another run for the presidency, Trump could simultaneously be dealing with multiple criminal cases and all the court appearances and frenzied media attention that will come with that.

These investigations and possible charges won’t prevent Trump from running or even serving as president again (though, as with everything in the U.S. legal system, it’s complicated).

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