Winemaking runs in the family for Marion man

Jan 25, 2020

MARION —  Joe Napoli may be the ideal dinner party guest. He can tell a good story and as longtime friend Diane Cook explained, “He’ll come for dinner and he’ll always bring wine. And not store bought wine!” 

Napoli, has found a unique way to not only preserve his Italian heritage, but to also cultivate friendships: winemaking. 

Born the youngest of five children to Italian immigrants in Brockton, the 88-year-old and his late wife Lucy, whose parents were from the same village as Napoli’s, settled in Marion over 40 years ago, after he spent 25 years in the military. 

“Over the years I’ve learned how to cook Italian meals because of Joe and his wife Lucy,” remarks Cook, “...and I have learned to drink some really good wine!” 

 “I make the wine the same way that my Dad did,” said Napoli. “[My parents] had a galvanized tub, and they’d take the stems off and throw the grapes in there, and then my Mum would put me in there and say, ‘go ahead and play.’ My sister Angela and I would jump around and my Dad would be sitting on a stool watching us, smoking a stogie, and then he’d say, ‘Maria, basta.’ (‘That’s enough’ in Italian). And she’d pull me out and pull my sister out and wash our feet. But they were purple for at least a week or two.”

Decades later, that would be hard to do. But luckily today he has equipment to do that part for him. 

For Napoli, winemaking is truly a labor of love; each batch takes about a year to make. The process begins in late September or early October, when he purchases the grapes from Amaral’s Market in New Bedford; Barbera grapes specifically, shipped in from California.

 “My last overseas tour I was in northern Italy, Verona, Italy, and I learned about this grape, and I was quite surprised to find that they sold it here,” Napoli said.  

The quality of the grapes is essential, he explains. “It all depends on the grapes. If you get a real warm, hot summer, you’re going to get a great grape. And if it’s a lot of rain and cold, that affects the product,” says Napoli. 

In a chilly room in Napoli’s basement, he starts the process by putting the grapes in a crusher and destemmer, which removes the stems and crushes the grapes, dumping them into a huge wooden tub.

Then, he lets the grapes ferment for 10 to 15 days, which makes the liquid bubble, and the container heat up. Napoli knows this phase is done when the bubbling stops and the sides of the tub cool. Twice a day, he stirs the contents with a large wooden paddle. Then, he transfers the juice into barrels, where it is left for another 10 days. The leftover pulp is then pressed until it forms a hard mass and the leftover juice that is squeezed out fills another barrel.

Then, “racking” occurs, when the wine is removed from the barrels and placed into new ones to remove sediment. The barrels are changed every 30 days for about three months. Eventually, Napoli bottles the wine, using recycled bottles from friends. 

For Napoli, this extensive process is second nature. “Growing up, this was the norm for me,” he says. He makes about 75 gallons at a time, drinking just a four to six ounce glass each night and sharing the rest with friends. 

He has been making wine for decades now, but just as fine wine ages, so has Napoli’s skill. 

According to Cook, “the wine has gotten better and better every year.”