Ep. 1905 Scott Thomas interviews Lia Tolaini Banville | Clubhouse Ambassadors’ Corner

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Welcome to another installment of Clubhouse Ambassador's Corner just right after, our Vinitaly marathon. So for today, we are having again Scott Thomas. So before we begin, I would like to introduce him to our audience. He's a wine culturalist, educator, and sommelier with a twenty year career in the wine industry. He's the founder of Garoppolo Wine School. It's a Denver based academy offering immersive wine travel, wine events, and structured courses, including the VIA Italian wine master certification. Actually, we had Lindsay Johnson. She was actually also recently acclaimed as Italian wine ambassador, and she talks highly about your school. So tell us more about your wine school. Oh, thank you. Like, yes. I'm so proud of Lindsay first of all because Lindsay came through our Italian wine Maestro course last year in June and she came through on a scholarship that we offer with the Women's Wine Guild of Colorado and then she pursued the ambassador, level just a few weeks ago and passed on her first try and she even had the highest marks in multiple choice, segments. So I'm super proud of her. Yeah, our white school, we offer, many things, as you just said, immersive travels, which we're leading a group to Tuscany this year, private and corporate events, but also public wine classes, and, Maestro course as well. I also teach a lot in the industry, so working with restaurant teams to, build the knowledge base, within restaurant groups or or individual restaurants. And it's been a really amazing experience. It's been about two year run at this point in time. So I'm loving it, and I really love the Italian angle that we've created here in Colorado. That's that's amazing. Actually, now that you have Leah Tulaney Danville, tell us why did you select her as your favorite producer today? I've been a fan of Tulaney wines for some time now, and I was had the fortune to visit the property in January with my wife. And to me, it really solidified why Tulaney stands out as a unique producer in the Chianti Classico region, not only focusing on sangiovese, but Bordeaux varieties as well. And I love Leah's story. I can't wait for for us to hear it, and she'll tell us all about her journey and how she ended up there and and what's happening today. Okay. And how did you discover her wines? It was during my time I was living and working in Panzano and Chianti. It was about four years ago, five years ago now. During COVID times, I was trying to entertain myself in the off hours because at that time, we you couldn't leave your commune. So I visited the iconic wine shop La Bottega Engreve and I was making my own kind of comparison tasting of all the Annata wines of the different communes of Chianti Classico. And, the person who was working in the in the wine shop recommended Tolany as representing the wines of, Castellnuva Baradanga. So, that's how I was first introduced. And then once I returned back to The United States, one of her employees, let's say, who works for Banville, is a really good friend of mine. So, I got more intimate with the wines, and I actually feature them in during our Italian wine Maestro course, when I offer the course as well. Okay. So, yeah, before I leave the floor to you, because we have our Italian wine ambassadors here. So hi, everyone. Thanks for being here. I wanna ask you what are the learning objectives that we should expect from this interview? We'll we'll learn about Telenie's past, present, and future, and and future projects, anything that's lined up, and to get a deeper understanding of what it's like to be, you know, producer in County Classico that has, let's say, two different realities, you know, one with Sangiovese based wines, but also focusing on Bordeaux varieties as well. And then we'll understand, get a deeper understanding of of the Banville importing side and what it took to build a a national importer into The United States and Canada over twenty years. Okay. Thank you so much for the introduction, Scott. So I leave it leave the floor to you and Leah. Okay? Oh, thank you. Okay. Hi, Leah. How are you this morning or this afternoon? I'm great. Thank you, Scott. This is very exciting. Thank you for, the honor. The the honor is ours. Thank you for taking the time. Where are you currently? I am, at the winery. I'm at my home at the winery Montebello here in Castello, Bavardenga. Awesome. Well, great. Well, again, thank you. I'm gonna read your bio here just so everyone has an idea of of who you are here. So Leah is an inspiring leader who since 2004 has grown Banville Wine Merchants to a team of over 70 people with a portfolio that includes top producers from Italy, France, Germany, Slovenia, Argentina, New Zealand, and The United States. Banville Wine Merchants is a national importer, and as well, they have wholesale business in five states, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Virginia, Oregon. And in 2020, Leah created Banville Wine Merchants wine agency in Canada, in Ontario, and, Manitoba. Leah also owns the highly acclaimed Tuleni winery in Castell Nova, Baradanga, that was started by her father, Pier Luigi Tuleni, in 1998. In 2006 as well, Leah developed Dona Lora, a winery producing four Segovese based wines from the Chianti Classico regions. Leah's children, Alicia, Alex, and Mateo are now working with Leah and the family business. So, yeah, it sounds like a family affair all around. Well, thank you. That was quite the introduction. Thank you very much, Scott. Yeah. It's it's fun to have the next generation already. I mean, I don't feel old enough, actually, to be honest with you, to have, the next generation at my heels already, but, yeah, it's great to have a family business for sure. Well, let me ask you a few questions. Let's start. Tell us a little bit about your story. So you were born in Canada. How did you end up in Chianti Classico? Yeah. It's not that usual, is it? I was born in a small town in Manitoba, which is in the Prairies more or less above Grand Forks, Minneapolis to give you an idea. So I wasn't even born in in Toronto where all the other Italians in Canada live. But my father, I guess the story starts with my father, of course, who immigrated from Luca, Italy to Canada. And his plan was to come to Canada, work for a few years, make some money, come back by a farm, make wine like his father did and his grandfather did. But once he got to Canada, he realized that the harder he worked, the more money he made and that there was a lot of opportunity. And we're talking about 1956. So he worked very hard. And in 2019, when he sold his transportation company, it was the largest transportation company in Canada, privately owned. So for someone with a grade seven education, he, did very well for himself. And, he he did wanna fulfill his dream. So at 62 years old, he decided to come back to Italy and, start Teleni. So he picked Castelnuovo Baradenga because of the fame of the region of the great wines that it produces. Because, of course, if you wanna make a great wine,