Ep. 1144 Susannah Gold Interviews Valeria Radici | Clubhouse Ambassador's Corner

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This episode has been brought to you by the wine to wine business forum twenty twenty two. This year, we'll mark the ninth edition of the forum to be held on November seventh and eighth of twenty twenty two in Verona Italy. This year will be an exclusively in person edition. The main theme of the event will be all around wine communication. Tickets are on sale now. So for more information, please visit us at wine to wine dot net. Welcome to this special Italian wine podcast broadcast. This episode is a recording off Clubhouse, the popular drop in audio chat. This clubhouse session was taken from the wine business club and Italian wine club. Listen in as wine lovers and experts alike engage in some great conversation on a range of topics in wine. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. And remember to subscribe and rate our show wherever you tune in. Welcome to Clubhouse Ambassador Corner. And today, I'm standing in for Stevie Kim. My name is Joy Livingston. Stevie is, off jet setting once again. And so I'm just standing in this this time. I hope that's alright with everybody. Tonight, we are going to be, having a fireside chat between, Susanna Gold, who will be interviewing Valeria and I really hope I said that correctly. Susanna, how are you? I am I am great. Actually, it seems like practically summer here. I'm in New York City, and it's very warm, which is a change. Of course, it's not good because it's probably due to climate change, but pretty good. And I'm excited to speak with Valeria who I met earlier this month in Odrepo. Yeah. Awesome. I, so you're back in in the States. I I know that I I met you at the, wine media conference. Exactly. How was it about to your trip? Yeah. The rest of my trip went right after I met you, then I went to all three piled, and I met Valeria. I think the next day. So it's been a whirlwind month. I don't know where October went. It's I can't believe it's almost Halloween, and then soon it's gonna be November and then the end of the year. And it's a great time to drink all of these lovely wines that I had tasted that nice October day at Valeria's winery in, Jose Pro. So, yeah, let's, let's, I wanna ask you a couple questions before you go ahead and with Valeria. Sure. I wanted to know. So why did you did you choose Valeria's wines? So I had heard about Valeria and her winery Fracharosa years ago. I had the pleasure of living in Milan for ten years in Lundberty. And so I began to explore a little bit the wines of Odrepo pavese. And of course, I heard about Frietta Rosa among the first. I also love to interview women in wine. And so when I found out that there were so many women in wine in Old Repau, I was really excited and surprised. And then I had the great occasion to meet Valeria this past October, I think, second or first. When I was on a trip after the Wine Media Conference. I am their brand ambassador for the US, and I was with some other journalists, and Valeria treated us to an amazing lunch and a tour of her really incredible winery. And I just really fell in love with the wines and just found Valeria charming and warm and so knowledgeable about, everything. So I was excited to choose her for this Ambassador's corner. Awesome. And so what kind of, what kind of things are you hoping the audience will take away from the conversation, the learning objectives that we can expect from the interview? Sure. So I'm hoping that people will learn about It's a region in Liberty that I don't think a lot of people know about yet, and it's really a hidden gem with so many great wines, be it sparkling whites, reds, and rosés and sweet wines. So really exciting wines. I hope people learn about Valerio's particular winery, and they're over a hundred year history. She has a lot of great anecdotes. And, I hope people learn about an area that's easy to get to. If you visit from, Milan, if you come from Bologna or Genoa, it's very accessible. So a real a real region to an up and coming region to visit. Awesome. And, so I guess before I, I mute myself. I wanted to just, give you a short introduction. And then, you know, you go ahead and and introduce Valeria, but, I haven't really introduced you. So let me do that. So, Susanna Gold, so you enjoy sharing your love of wine to educate both, the trade and consumers. And you hold ten wine certificates. That's a lot of certificates. From schools around the world, including you are an Italian wine ambassador, from the Italy international academy. And you're an educator, journalist, communications professional. So and and also I I was reading all about your your writing today. And, you do that for individual producers and for regions, and, you've been the, Alugana, East Coast Ambassador for the past seven years and was named the brand ambassador for Otreco pavese this year, which you just mentioned. And, yeah, your writings appeared in the Financial Times Gourmet retailer, food, food, and beverage biv beverage, food and beverage business, snoop dot com, organic wine journal, the Sommelier journal, F and B magazine, GDO Week, and Pallet Press. That was a wow. Okay. So I hope that, if I'm missing anything, just let me know. I know that, things, you know, there's always updates, but, go ahead and and do that if you, if you have any updates and without further ado. Great. It's actually my pleasure to introduce Valeria. Valeria grew up in Fraterosa, where her grandfather, Georgio, and her mother, Margarita, were taking care of the winery. Her great grandfather, Mario, Bothea State in nineteen nineteen. So that's an over one hundred year history at Fricerosa. She went to study at the fine arts Academy of Milan and then moved to Paris where she married an American and had three sons before coming back to her roots in Frecha Rosa in twenty eleven. She converted the estate to organic farming, and to that I can attest having seen it, in first person and all the life that's going on on that vineyard. And she's now working with Pinot noir and indigenous varieties surrounded by a first rate team and supported by the knowledge handed down from the generations before her. Her son Pietro, who is twenty one at the moment, will be the future of the winery. So hello, Valle Valeria. How are you? Hello. Very nice being with you. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm in Fresh Sherosa. Very happy to talk to you about, you know, my our state, our winery, our land, and voila? This is Valeria's first time in Clubhouse. Right? Is that right? Valeria? Right. Right. That's my first time. Yes. So it's a little it's a little bit of a strange platform, but welcome, and I'm excited to be the first person that you speak to on, club house. So my first question to you is what age did you begin working in the winery, not that I'm asking your age? I'm asking, like, when you were a girl. I'm a woman. I would never ask you your age. What I'm asking is did you work in the winery when you were little, did you know you wanted to work in the winery? So I I grew up in the winery, and I really deeply love this place. But then I, when I was around eighteen twenty, I went to study at fine art Academy in Milan as we are one hour far of Milan. We are very close. And, you know, I always loved drawing and painting and this kind of thing. So I decided it was going to be my way. And I went to fine arts academy, and then I moved to Paris, and I lived in Paris for many years. I married there and they had free songs and and in two thousand eleven, I came back to take care of Fracharosa. And, so I didn't start in Fracharosa. Even if I grew up here, I didn't start taking care of Fracharosa when I was pulled that young. I mean, I was already forty. And, I am, I'm taking care of it now. You know, it's it's completely my project. It's a place I'm very attached too, you know, because it's the place I grew up in, and and wine has always been part of our family of, you know, of the life in Frigaros. So, you know, there was the house and the wine, and it's only it's one thing. You know? Yes. So I remember when I came to visit you. I was at your winery was kind of a a huge surprise to me both because of so many colors and all of that kind of, elegant flower arrangements that I believe your mother did, but I was wondering what other kind of touches from art your your background as an artist have you brought into the winery? I I I don't know. I don't know. Maybe just the color you saw on the walls or maybe, you know, it's maybe the the artistic vision of things helps you to be more creative and more free for other, you know, think even about thinking about the wine, you know, because wine It's always there's also something of you in the wine you make. And, you know, liking liking creativity. Having, being, the artistic side brings you more sensitivity, sensitivity you know, towards strings, so I think this helps in a way. There is a touch in the back of things. You know, and attached, you cannot maybe tell, but there is something that comes from that background. Yes. That's that's what I remember when I got there, I thought, oh, this kind of looks like a Mexican or a French kind of outside layout, and I remember you were wearing this very, very, colorful jean jacket with skeletons on it, and I said to you something. And you turned around and you said to me, you know, the grateful dead. And it was just such a funny, a funny way. I don't know. It just really struck me, and I I really I enjoyed that. So, apart from apart from the the artistic side, I wanted to know, is there a favorite part of the year for you in the vineyard? Oh, I must say I I love spring because in spring, there's this energy of life coming back. You know, it's a winter seems always very, very long, you know, even if it's a just a few months. But I think it's a few months with less light, with cold, you know, with less color, in nature. So when, there is this waking up in spring, you know, and the, and the, and the vine starts having leaves again and, flower everywhere. I I think that's magical. You know, I think every time I think I love to live in a place where we have season where there is a winter because so you can enjoy so much the spring. You know, that's that's if you did not have the winter, you know, it wouldn't be the same, but it's spring, it's always magical. I think for you too, you know, it's a so this is the moment of the year I really love because it's new energy, new life starting again, but I like also to see the grape growing up, you know, the the bunch of grape growing. I like to see them taking color in July. I like it when we harvest. I like it now that, you know, the leaves are red and yellow, and they are falling down. I it's always beautiful, you know. And it's always beautiful, beautiful because it's never the same. It's just, and you when you live in there, you are a part of it. You know, you are really in contact with all the season and and the nature and I really enjoy the the part. That's great. Thank you. Yeah. No. I agree with you. I I love every season in a vineyard, and I would imagine living among your vines must be a very special special thing in that beautiful house you have on that amazing vineyard. I was really, excited to walk your your vineyards. What have you learned about making wine that surprised you. Is there any part of it that was really something unexpected? Yeah. I think that, you know, making wine makes you very humble because, you realize you cannot control everything. You know, it's even though, you know, a lot of things, you think, you know, everything you had, you think you're doing things perfectly well. And then always very often, there is something happening that you don't know, you know, that you didn't think that was going to happen. And makes you very, very humble. So you learn that you have to get along with the wine, you know, when you are making it, when you are doing fermentation, after fermentation, you know, during aging, you have to taste it to listen where the wine wants to go and, and, you know, it's it's very good, but you have you cannot control everything, you know. You can do the best that you can do, but you cannot control everything. So this is was, you know, very, I think it's it's it's a lesson in a way because, you know, it's kind of of a boat, you know, drifting in the in the sea and you try to, to drive this boat, you know, and, to drive it the best. But, you know, it goes, it goes with the wind where the wind is. It's it's something that you you are part of it, but you cannot control completely. You know, it's Kind of like raising your children. Kind of like raising your children. You know, you can kind of steer them, but it's easier. Yes. Something like that. Something like that. Something like that. Yeah. No. I actually I actually make wine in my garage. Yeah. Oh, did do do you? I do. I do. I've been making wine in my garage for a number of years. And it's more than a humbling experience and and really gives me, so much kind of understanding of of what great wineries do and and good winemakers. And that is not what I am at this current time, but it's been a very interesting and and humbling experience as you say because, no, you cannot control nature. So this is maybe a time to talk for a minute about nature and, climate change, because we talked about it when I was visiting you. And I wonder, have you seen loads of changes in your vineyard? What do what's your thought on that? Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Unfortunately, you know, we were talking about that. My grandfather used to harvest in October. And, we are now harvesting thing in August. Can you imagine that we have moved, like, one month and a half before? And, and this is because, you know, it's getting warmer and warmer. And so we have to learn how to deal, you know, with the grape with with taking care of this vegetation, leaves of the plants and every how to deal with the vines in the vineyard and in the cellar, not to have wines with too much alcohol or wines with, very low acidity. You know, it's another we have to learn a new way of taking care of our vines. And the, this changing has been very, maybe stronger in the last ten years. You know, it's getting warmer and warmer. I mean, this year in Italy, we had a really, really warm year. And that we are having a very, a terrible draft. You know, it's it doesn't rain. Never rains. So it's it's very, very dry here. And, so, I think this is what is going to be with a bit more water. I hope, you know, but the heat is what we're going is going to be, for the next, for the future. And, so we it's not there is it's a it's a very warm year, or, it's it's going to be like this. So we have, to learn, to make wine in a new way. We cannot do what we were we were doing twenty years ago. I cannot do what my grandfather was doing, you know, because he had a different quality of grape. It was, colder, sugar was lower. A safety was higher. So he could, he he was working a certain way. That is not the way we have to work now because now that, the climate would give very easy, very high alcohol, wines. Nobody wants to drinks them because now they we are very everybody's very careful about how much alcohol they drink and they for the rather drink lighter wines, you know. And, I understand very well this, you know. So we have, an yeah. And so we have to be, I think, how do you say, aware of what what the tenders of the market is and what people like to drink, you know. The way we drink has changed a lot in in the years because, maybe, at the beginning of last century, people were drinking much more sweet wines, you know, like also the champagne French were brewed, dry. So that they were very, very sweet, much sweeter than what we drink nowadays. And we want to drink, less sweet, less, alcohol lighter wines, you know. So, we have really to fight with this climate, and we have to learn a new way of taking care of our vineyards and, and the of, the making of wine in the seller. So I think everybody's experimenting a lot because we don't have, you know, recipe. And, so, and, and, everything we make We can see the results months later, you know. So it's not very easy. It's not like making a cake and you don't like the recipe, and you want to change something. So in the same day, you can make the same cake several times. With wines, we, have to wait months to see, you know, what we have done, if to see if what we have think to do was a good idea or not. So, everybody is experimenting. We are trying to take care of some part of the vineyards leaving more leaves, for instance, this year to protect the vines from excessive heat. We spray them with, I think in English, you can say cow lean It's, like a white powder coming from Iraq, you know, that you can put with water and you spray on the leaves. And the scolin, it looks it it is like a sunscreen for the for the plants. To protect them, not to lose too much water, and not to have too many Australian, red, how do you say, Raji Ultra? Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yes. Yes. Yes. Friends. So, you know, everybody is experimenting. We are now, also in the, for fermentation. We are we're using more and more the cluster, the whole cluster for Pinonero. To leave, you know, to have a bit less uncle, a bit more safety, and a fresh note that comes from the cluster that, of course, you have to use in a certain way. Otherwise, you have too much green note, you know. So we are we are experimenting. We are trying. We are finding new way, and we're very grateful and happy when the results are good. Okay. Of course. Absolutely. Are you are you also considering planting different kinds of grape varieties or, changing? We are, we are thinking about it. You know, in Singapore, what, we have that is that we can go higher up landing vineyards because we are in hills, and this hills becomes higher and higher, and then there are mountains. But we are now our state. It's in on the first hills, which when my my great grandfather bought the winery was considered the best place to, get to to ripe, grape for red wines, you know. And now it's getting a bit too hot. So this year, we're already using some pinot noir, growing higher up at five hundred meters, which is, you know, higher. We're about two hundred. So it's a bit higher up. So we have a bit more freshness in the great more city up there. So we are lucky in all because we have this territory where we can go and plant higher up, you know. But and the new variety, we are we are looking what what but for the moment, you know, for the moment that we can handle, we use, more on north sides of the hills when you know what there again, my grandfather did not plant on the north sides because it was considered too cold, too much humidity, you know, and now everybody's looking for north sides of the hills. Of course. That's so interesting. Yes. Yes. That's so interesting. So have you always been organic? When did you make the decision to take the winery organic? When I start taking care of the winery in two thousand eleven, I was thinking of that, you know, because I'm very sensible to a certain way of, leaving of protecting the place where we live or expecting the hurt, and and we live in the middle of our vineyards, you know. So for me, it's important to have a safe, a place around not only for me, but for the animals, for the bugs, for for everything, for the plants themselves. And they met this very, interesting person who is our agronomist It's called, and he's, and I really liked him. And, we start working together, and he He's teaching us, you know, he's a compounding us in this, new way of working. We've been, organic. We started working completely organic in two thousand thirteen. So we have learned a lot of things, you know, because in organic, you cannot buy a book and look, you know, like, at page free, what to do if it rings. It's not that simple. You have to take care of everything. The higher part, the lower part, another side that And, but it's a very, interesting way of working. And it's possible nowadays because, you know, for vineyards, Italy has been more than twenty years now that they've been work start working really like this. And we have learned a lot of things, you know, with university, helping us, you know, making, It it's a way. It's a way that you can go through. It's not difficult. It's not impossible. And, and I think the plants are more in balance. You know, they're there's more, the soil, it's more safe. The it's more alive. So the roots can go, to, take what they need in, in the in the authority, where the van sorry. I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't know how to say things you need. Yeah. Where are you thinking about? I'm sorry. Yes. So, if the soil, it's it's safe and alive, the roots, of course, works better. And, the quality of the fruit also, it's better. You know? So when they tell you that the wine burns in the vineyards, it's completely true because, if you have a good quality of fruit there, you will have also the base to make a good wine. It's like, you know, when you buy a tomato, maybe in a supermarket where they look perfect, but they don't taste anything, or you grow a tomato in your garden, and you take it, you know, when it's ripe from the plant. And both of them are tomatoes, but there is a huge difference, you know, of taste of aromas, of everything. So that's, that's, the same with grape, you know, you have to, if you have a good quality grape, you will have a good quality wine, you know, that's very important. You also, you also grow bees. Are you raising bees? Right? Yes. You say that and you say raising bees. I'm not sure what you do. You're you're not harvesting bees. You have Yes. Yeah. Pollinating. Yes. We we have these. We have ten hives of bees and the free just to make families of bees. And, we are, yes, I'm very happy to have them because, you know, therefore, everything for the plants, for unpolinations, for flowers. And bs are very sensitive to a lot of, products that they use in measures, when it's not organic. And they sometimes they die. You know, it's very sad. You have hives, you know, the whole hives, all the bees die because they've been, Are you enjoying this podcast? There's so much more high quality wine content available from mama jumbo shrimp. Check out our new wine study maps. Our books on Italian wine including Italian wine unplugged. The jumbo shrimp guy to Italian wine, sangiovese Lambrusco, and other stories, and much much more. On our website, mama jumbo shrimp dot com. Now back to the show. If they go to, take nectar on some plants that have been treated. And so, here as we are organic and they have a large, you know, zone where there is no dangers for them. They, it's good to keep them to protect them, you know, also because, you know, that's bees, on on the herd there, so they have a lot of threats to them that they have disease, they have parasites, then they have the poisoning they're not using, you know, things that are bad for them, poison them. But they die if they go far away, you know, in places that they've been treated, with poison, and they can die. But normally, the the the hives we keep here in the water, that's one of the reason why we keep the bees is, because here is safe for them. You know, it's safe for them. And so, they are well. They are well. But, you know, this guy who taught me how to deal with bees, had sometimes hives in some other parts, in some other places. And, it's often he has found all the bees that, you know, because, It's dangerous what, we use in agriculture for them. It's very dangerous. You know what? I find I found so I have found interesting and organic vineyards and at yours as well as how many insects are hopping and running around. I mean, it it's amazing. How much life there is in an organic vineyard. I mean, you could just see the the vineyard, you know, living. Right? Oh, that's amazing. That's amazing, but, you know, biodiversity is our, our best friends, let's say, because the most you have of bugs of animals in general of weeds as well, the less you have one that becomes very dominating. And so you might have the nasty bug and you have the useful one because it eats or limited the nasty one. And then you have the one that doesn't do anything, but it occupies a space that will not be occupied by the nasty one. So, you know, the more, the more bags, the more species of bags, of weeds, of the the more we it's easy for us, you know, to to work in the vineyards. And you can tell when people use a lot of, pesticide of our, like, the glyphosate and how do you call that to to kill their weeds, you know, treatments treatments. It's different kinds of treatments. When they use oh, wait. When they use a lot of treatments, Then, there are all only some weeds that can grow after this poisoning. They're the strongest one. And they're very, in in How do you say it? They they in their, oh my goodness. They invade the they invite they invade the winery. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. So, it's, not working like this. You have in the vineyards when you walk in the tour of the vineyards and you look at your state, you will see a lot of different kind of weeds. And this and of course, if you look closer and closer, you see a lot of different kind of bugs. Which is very useful, you know, to have balance in the in nature. It's very important that it's an all it's, our best friend, this view, view, diversity. Absolutely. I love that. So I'm gonna switch topic for a minute because I don't wanna I don't want the whole clubhouse chat to go by without you talking about the amazing history of your winery in the United States because I believe you have one of the earliest numbers of possibly exported wines. Is that right? Uh-huh. That's right. We have to remember the license, the expert number, license number nineteen, which is amazing. I'm very that was we got there in nine in February, nineteen thirty four, just at the end of revision because our wines were on the, fairies on the boat that, brought people from Italy to the states back and forth, you know, people did not fly to come to the states in those days. And the trip was maybe a couple of weeks, I think, or even more. And so they had restaurants on this boat. And, on the restaurants, our wine were served, you know, and, so when, prohibition, and then people get to the states they get off the boat. And unfortunately, they could not drink anymore because they had provision. And so when probation ended, yeah, I think it ended in nineteen thirty, three, at the very beginning of nineteen thirty four, we were ready to come, on the American market because a lot of people had drank our wine, and they liked them, they liked them. And so we had the markets ready, you know, for them. And, we, so we had this license number nineteen, exploitation license. And ever since we have a very, interesting market in the United States, you know, it's very and then this this happened because My grandfather and my Gregan father had the idea of making good quality wines, of course, by putting them in bottle, which sounds very common today, but it was not a hundred years ago in Italy. In Italy, they used to, make wine and put them in the Magiana. The Magiana is this big jars, you know, where you can put maybe, twenty five liters of wine, and people used to go to a producer buy this jar, you know, of wine, bring it home, and put it in bottle themselves. And this, you know, lasted until the seventies. Maybe a lot of people were not bottling but making this demigiana. And, my grandfather went to study how to make wine in France, and he saw, you know, that the French were already using a lot of bottles. And, and he came back, you know, from there with some new ideas and, we are talking about, the twenties of the last century, you know, hundred years ago. And so he came back to Italy. He started making, good wines and bottling them, which, you know, that allowed allowed them to travel to more faraway markets. And so we started selling the wines in England. And then because they were on this boat, you know, going to the States, we entered to the American market. So that's was we started exporting very, very early in our history, and that's because, thanks to the fact that the wine were bottled, which was not very common in Italy in those days. Can you tell us the story about the bottle that was found at the bottom of the sea? That's a fun story. You know, like, maybe twenty years ago this guy came with an empty bottle, you know, and he brought up this bottle from the bottom of the sea. And, he was a scuba diver, and he went visiting this boat that, belonged to the, Italian army that was, drown, how do you say a fundata? That was a a shipwreck. It was a shipwreck. Right? A shipwreck. Yes. Exactly. Near Somalia. You know, this boat had the, shanked before, just at the beginning of the second world war. And, it was not very far away from the coast, so people went to visit it. And, this guy went into this boat and saw some bottles of wine in a corner, and he was very, a wine lover. So he He was very curious to see which wine was this, you know, and he bought up a couple of bottles, and and it was bought the bottles of Fracharosa because on the, cap top, you know, there was still our the number of register of our winery. And so that's, of course, the label was not there anymore. And, and, so he analyzes, you know, the wine inside, it was still with alcohol, with acidity, kept because the corked had, you know, worked well. So the wine was still a good wine. But he we did not get the one. He drank the one. Or I don't know what he did with the one. He brought it that he was very nice to bring the bottle to us. And I love the story of this bottle that, you know, left from here went to Samantha with a longer trip, you know, was under the sea for a long, long time and came back to here. It's like, the ring, you know, for the Absolutely. That's that's a very fun story. Can you also tell the f Alfred Hitchcock story? Yes. So Alfred Hitchcock made his first movie in Italy in nineteen twenty five. He's not a part of it in Italy. He's not the movie he's more, the most well known way it was the first movie, but we don't care about the, you know, movie. We care about the fact that he was, staying at this big hotel on the Como Lake in that period that was called the villa daiste. It's still called villa daise. It's a very beautiful old hotel in the comma lake. And, they were serving our wines there, and he got, you know, very fond of, if a white wine that my grandfather was making. And, in the years, it was ninety twenty five. And, in the years after he was sending somebody from paramount pictures once in a while, Dufreschel said to to buy a case of wine for him. And, when, he he finally met my grandfather, in the early fifties because, my grandfather went to bring some wine to this place or this village that, and each cook was there. So they get to know each other. And in the back of a menu, he wrote him, our first wine, in Italy, from nineteen twenty five, was Fricerosa LaVigna Blanche was called because My grandfather in those days was giving French names to all his wines, you know, because, probably, to make a to make them sound more, you know, have more appeal on the market outside Italy or to give them more importance, you know, which is not what we would do now because now we try to be much more territorial, you know, what we want to talk about. It's our territory. The wines from our region, you know, that's but in those days, you know, that was the marketing they had. And so, each crook was very fond of this white one. It was riesling called the La Vigna blanche That's so fun. I I love those stories about about your winery. And a another topic I wanted to just touch on was, while I met your mother when we were visiting, And your mother was she went to agronomy school in the sixties. Is that right? Oh, yes. Because my mother was born here in the winery, and, she's always been very, you know, fond of this place. And, you know, in Italy, when, you went through a university, often you are called the doctor, doctor. And, so everybody, but the doctor, doctor is also a doctor that, when you are sick, the doctor camps, you know, this is the same word. So everybody here was calling my grandfather, Doctor. And she was asking, but why do you call him doctor? He's not a doctor, and they said your father is a doctor for the plans. And she says, whenever we grow grown up, I will be a doctor for the plants like my father. And she did. She went to study agronomy, you know, in the in nineteen sixty three, she finished university, and there were only three women going through this kind of studies and only to finish the university because, you know, it was in the sixties. In Italy, women were not going through, you know, very, this kind of, you know, studies probably. And that's but she did. And she took care of the one year with my grandfather with her father for a long time, then my grandfather passed away in, in nineteen eighteen. And, she went on, alone. And after some years, she, modernized completely the seller, you know, because we were benefiting everything, like, with like, this from the beginning, we've been identifying everything in wood, you know, white wine, red wines, Marillacs. But in the meantime, they had invented the, also the steel vats, whichever we are very useful for fermentation, for cleaning. And we can also now it's a big help because now that the climate is changing, because you can control the temperature of, fermentation, which is, you know, a good, very good head to preserve the aromats. Because if fermentation goes in very high temperature, it goes very fast, very quickly, but, you lose a lot of It's better that goes slower, lower temperature, and that you preserve the aromatics. So she did all this big job of renewing everything, you know. And, and she's still around, you know, taking care. She says, Now they say only take care of my flower, but, no, she's very important for me because she's the memory of everything that happened here. And, you know, sometimes I ask her how did grandfather did with this wine, how did you do with this or with that? And it it it's very important to have this, to have her in my back transmitting, you know, this kind of informations, this kind of her knowledge because the interesting thing is that I think that, you know, man mankind has learned how to make wine in, so many years, and we have improved so much, in knowledge because, you know, if you think that the the two thousand years ago, the Romans were already making wine here, but this their wine did not, last long, and they soon they became with oxidations or they became like vinegar, and often they had to put, honey them of, spicy, you know, to drink them. And we have learned generation after generation, you know, to deal with fermentation, with wine, how preserve how to. And, and, for me, the experience of my family here, it's very important because they know this place, you know, this very place. So they have the, you know, my mother always told me, every harvest is a new adventure, which is true, because, you never start with the same quality of grape from one year to the other. You know, for instance, this summer was so hot, so dry, you know, so of course, you don't have the same, grade that you we had last year, and we have another year. So every year, you you learn, you know, how to deal with this. And the better after so many years in a place, you have the experience of dry year, wet year, cold, the free. And, you know, and, you know, your vineyards, you know, you know, and, you get better to deal with pure grape, you know. So that's very important. This experience they have, and they can transmit me that my mother transmits me still. She's eighty three, but in a very good shape still still around. So I'm lucky to have her, you know, I think. Absolutely. I remember those those beautiful, flower creations that she made out of vegetables and flowers. Oh, yes. Is there anything that I missed that you wanna share about ultimate power or about your winery before we open it up to any questions if people have any questions? So, also, All triple is, I think, it's a really beautiful area. It's not because it's where my home is, but I think that you have seen it, Susan, I think it's a very good, very beautiful region that, that, you know, it's a bit unknown, you know, even in Italy. It's something, that, it's a kind of a new frontier where the people is discovering. But, same time, it's a very very, very old place where the Romans were already making wines, you know, here. And, it's a hill region. So it's never easy to work in Hill. It's harder. It's harder than work. Sorry. Because my mom is around, and she's making noise. She's not supposed to make noise. Yes. And, so, in Oldropore, so it's a very ancient region, and we are now working, a lot with the pinot noir. And pinot noir was brought here around eighteen fifty by these guys who were, they were from Kimonte, which is next next door from us. And they were they wanted to make a an Italian champagne, you know, and they tried to plant pinot noir, you know, champagne is made with pinot noir, chardonnay, and many pinot many. And so they tried to plan the pinot noir in Piamonte with not very good, you know, results. And so they came one of them came to, Oltrica because one of his cousin was here and had a very biggest state, and they tried to plant Pinanwar here. And here, they were very happy about what they got because, you know, Pinanwar was really good because I always say, that everybody loves pinot noir, but pinot noir does not love everybody, you know, because it's a difficult grape. You cannot plant it and have good quality everywhere. And, we are lucky enough that here, grows very well. So ever since we start more and more working with pinot noir on this territory, and, now, the people is very is very much in love with Pinanoa, they are all over the world. They're coming more and more because they found out that we have very good, sparkling wines, you know, made with pinot noir. We have good pinot noir reds and, it's, and we are just one hour south of Milano, one hour from Geneva. Very close to Bologna. So it's it's an interesting, you know, it's an interesting region to visit. You know, I I I suggest that if you want to find to find out about, a new place in Italy that you haven't seen yet, you know, This the old tripa, it's it's really beautiful. It's really worth it. I completely agree. Should we open the floor to questions like that? Joy? Yeah. Sure. Of course. Okay. Let's, call join. Okay. I'm right here. Hi. Hi. How are you? I I love this the the stories about, Alfred had caught, like, such so much history in your family. It's really fun to listen to. I love it. I, I was wondering, though, did you, Did you mention the price point of your wines? The price point? No. I did not. I did not. Can you talk about that? Yeah. Because, I have, no idea. Now in the states, I think that you can find them, around the from, twenty dollars to fifty, sixty dollars, probably. In this, range, they must be. You know, they let the lower price must be around twenty dollars, and then you get up to sixty. No. I'm sorry you don't know exactly in this moment how much they cost. But but, no, it sounds good because there's a range. And I'm just wondering in terms of if I were to walk into a store in New York, you know, where, you know, where would I go and, like, you know, what what are my options? So that that sounds good. I'm not sure. Like, do we have any questions from the audience? Because sometimes people are shy, and then we end up having to email questions later. No. We don't have a okay. So we've got Laurie. She's raising her hand. So let's Let's see. Okay. Hi, Laurie. Okay. Do you have any questions for Valetti? Yes. Hi, Laura. There is this thing I wanna ask, I wanna ask the, missus Valeria Do you have any pub or any restaurant, which people come and celebrate? Baby, do you have anything that you do, reaching the celebrate, whereby you put your wines in the display for people to come and try to buy and to sell. Yes. So, yes, we have, so we have a tasting room where you can come over You can visit the winery. And, of course, you can taste the wines and then buy them if you like them. And then we have the place where you can have, lunch or just cold cuts and cheese. And then we have, an old big house that we rent for weddings, you know, for bigger celebrations, for, these kind of things. You know, it's, So that's what you can do if you come to visit us. You know, it's and we have I didn't say that we have, if you want to see some pictures of Echerosa, we have, of course, a website, but we also have an Instagram where you there's much more pictures, of course, than on the website and the, the so Instagram is, Fred Charosa winery. And the, the website is Fredarosa dot com. Fracharosa. It's, it's written, f r e, double c, a, a, a, Fracharosa. Can we talk about the name Fracharosa Valeria where it came from? Of course. So, Patricia, in English, you should know that means red arrow. And, it comes from, wrong spelling and writing of a name. It was in the local dialect. Landslide. You know, it's called a land slope. I don't know how to say it. It's called Nafraxia. And, it's probably on this hill where we are, in the old days, there was this land slope of red clay because we have red clay. And it was called the name of the hill was LaFra Carosa. And, probably somebody every everything was written by hand, you know, in those days. So somebody who wrote the name at a certain point, wrote it in the with the wrong spelling. And instead of Fracia wrote Fracia. And that that's our name, Fracharosa, and that means red arrow. You know, it's and then it's also also now in the last year, the name of the fast train in Italy. So everybody asked me, why are you called with, like, the train? But it's the train that is called, like, us. We were there before. That's so funny. I just looked up wine searcher just about the prices, and you were absolutely correct from around twenty to around fifty. So that is the correct range. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Perfect. Thank you, Susanna. Thank you. Alright. So we are almost out of time. So I'm gonna stop you guys right there. Thank you everybody for that was actually, like, I mean, of course, it was gonna be a great conversation, but I really enjoyed that. And I know like I did too. Before we get we go though, like, do you know what our next clubhouse session will be? Who will it be? Yeah. So it's going to be. I'm they're here on stage. So John Hernes will be interviewing Katarina Sacarrali, tomorrow at seven PM Italian time zone. And now we also have Kevin De La Chante. He's going to interview Pierluigi travelini, next week on Thursday at six PM. So that's it. And, yeah, see you there? Yeah. That's awesome. Thank you both so much. Thank you so much for for a wonderful conversation. And, yeah, I I wish you guys a wonderful evening. And, I guess, Susanna, it's daytime still over there. Yes. It is. Plenty of points ahead in the day to drink a lot of fresh, of course, fresh noodles. So, excuse me, my goodness. It's okay. Okay. Alright. Thank you so much guys. We hope you enjoy today's episode brought to you by the wine to wine business forum twenty twenty two. This year, we'll mark the ninth edition of the forum to be held on November seventh and eighth twenty twenty two in verona Italy. Remember, tickets are on sale now. So for more information, please visit us at wine to wine dot net. Hi, guys. I'm Joy Livingston, and I am the producer of the Italian wine podcast. Thank you for listening. We are the only wine podcast that has been doing a daily show since the pandemic began. This is a labor of love and we are committed to bringing you free content every day. Of course, this takes time and effort not to mention the cost of equipment, production, and editing. We would be grateful for your donations, suggestions quests and ideas. For more information on how to get in touch, go to Italian wine podcast dot com.