Ep. 2097 Hugh Preece interviews Raffaella Merlini | Clubhouse Ambassadors’ Corner

Feeding the plants with natural and organic products allow us to have a plant with more balance and fruit comes to maturity in a more linear way. And so when everything is slower and natural. Of course, the feature will be better. I love that reference, just especially since we've come off, one of the Olympics. Yeah. Yeah. This is the correct moment for the comparison. 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. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another installment of clubhouse ambassadors corner. We are back from our holiday break from the office, and we are excited to have another clubhouse ambassadors corner. So yay, and So today, I'm so excited to welcome Hugh Breeze back once again on Clubhouse Investors Corner. This is our one hundred sixty first episode. Actually, we've been doing this for, I guess, two years now. Right? You I think you were one of the moderators before. Right? Yes. I've done a few. Yeah. No. You've done a lot of, I think it was a lot, but that was really great. I guess one of the one of them is Alisha Lini and, Okeypinty, one of really great producers, great Italian wine producers. And now you are bringing in Rafael Marlene from Cantina Bunio Martino. I hope I pronounced that well, Rafael. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, everyone. So before we start, I wanted to also introduce myself. So, you know, who's talking. So I'm like a Paparas, and I am, I'm the producer of Italian podcast, and I am stepping in for Stevy who's actually now in Tokyo with our fellow Italian wine ambassadors in there. So are the concept of clubhouse ambassadors corner is actually to connect our ambassadors with their favorite Italian wine producers. And for today's episode, we have Hugh priest interviewing Rafael and Erlene. And, before we start, I wanted to introduce Hugh priest for everybody. He's a president and operating partner of Salt Creek, Grill restaurants, Italian ambassador, Binsley Academy, Italian, wine color, wine color, guild, and certified educator tour, the via educator program, so many a and five star wine, and wine without walls, judge. He is the author of the counting castles in Abruzzo, Veneto Bayon, the obvious, and he has new writing projects, an audible value series, the wine merchant agents of Vinifera and book series crafting excellence. Are these about to be published? I'm just curious. Or are they are they on the way, something like that? The Vella series on the the wine merchant is published, twice a week. It's it's just Novella stories. Basically, it revolves around espionage, and I use a lot of names from the Via community as, special agents trying to save the world from biohazard and disaster. Oh, that's that's really interesting concept. I like that. And then you have a book series. It's already it's published or it's coming up. It it's gonna be published, on Kindle. It releases September third. And it's, it's a series, just going through iconic wine regions of Italy, just little books about to help people understand the the wine laws, the history, the tradition culture, and the wine itself. So it's fun little passion project of mine. Okay. So tell us for today. Our our star for today is actually Rafael and Marlene. So why did you select her as your favorite producer? So why did I pick you know, Rafael and and the winery is because they're one of my favorite producers just because of their, exceptional dedication to quality and sustainability. She and her husband, they combine traditional winemaking methods and innovative techniques resulting in wines that true truly reflect the terroir and San Betoieto po. You know, and their commitment to organic farming and biodiversity just enhances the qualities of the grape and it benefits the environment. And it's a little little known area, at least where I come from, of producing Lambrusco, and I really wanted to put a spotlight on that and their abilities. Okay. So how did you discover her wines? Well, there was a little thing called COVID a few years back. And I had to cancel a trip in twenty twenty, which I was gonna do a little road trip through some of the regions that I haven't visited in, Italy. So twenty twenty one came up, Italy reopened in June, and I got invited to do judging for five star that year. So I came to Italy a week earlier and did my little road trip then. So I was visiting through Amelia, and I was walking in the vineyards with a good friend of mine who had suggested, hey, you know, maybe you wanna check out a Lambrusco producer in Liberty. And I was just like, oh, absolutely. So long story short, it was, you know, Quintina Buenio Martino, and I fell in love with the production and their and the couple. And, the wines were beautiful. So it was the property and and their practices. So Yeah. That's it. Okay. I see. So since we have our v ambassadors here, I wanted to ask you one Kiki question. What are the learning objectives that we should expect from this interview? So the learning objectives is, to understand how they're Tearwar, expresses these, Lambrusco varieties, learning their sustainable winemaking practices, how they balance tradition and innovation, their commitment to quality, passion, and personal connection with with the land and the wine. And any challenges and successes that they've seen over their young winemaking careers experience? Okay. So, I'm going to mute myself now, and I give the floor to you. Thank you. So I'm gonna do a brief bio before I get into the questions on Unio Martino and Rafael. They're a family run, winery and San Mededetto Po. There's a small village in the south of Monteova, the first village under the Po River. Mantova is a small city in the south of lumberding in the north northern part of Italy, which most of you should know. Land culture, history, and gastronomy is what they're known for. So, welcome, Raffaiella. How are you today? Thank you. I'm happy. I am fine. Thank you. And you? Doing well. It's been a it's been a while since we've connected. I know, we we fell short. My last visit to Italy due to an illness, but, you know, I look forward to getting back to the winery and starting our little interview for everybody. So my first question to you, Rafael, is when was Boenio Martino winery established? And who were the founders? And what inspired you to start an organic winery? To tell Boenio Martino's story, we asked to go back many years, almost twenty. Giuseppe's families has always owned a family farm, but with no vineyards. Only the classic crops of our area, corn wheat, some flowers. And the farm used to practice a conventional agriculture, not organic. You know, that I don't know if you know Pianura Padana plain, but it is known as one of the most productive area in Italy where everyone tries to maximize the production. And in Penura Padana, the organic agriculture today, but especially twenty years ago, when we started with this idea, was rarely practiced because the organic agriculture is less productive, of course, and much more difficult to realize with our climate. And so Giuseppe and I were engaged, but we didn't work into the wine world. So there is no a great story beyond us. I was a project, and Giuseppe was a builder. We have always been a wine lover, and we used to spend our free time visiting small artisan wineries, discovering unknown wines. And and so, Guno Martinez is born from, a great wine passion. One beautiful day, Giuseppe told me that he wanted to leave his job. Plant vineyard and become a winemaker. I looked at him and thought he he had good mad, crazy, completely crazy because he had never worked a single day in the field in his life. But his father was retiring and would rent the land. So it was his chance to pick up. He visited a lot of wineries, you know, everyone of us know the Lambrusco reputation in Italy and over the world. If so, how Vigneron's worked with novel or less noble grape in order to obtain different kind of wine. And you always been a dreamer and wanted to bring this idea of artisan winemaking our area in the Lambrusco area. It was very determining in making a different kind of Lambrusco in managing Lambrusco grape, like winemakers from more suitable areas do. We wanted to change idea of Lambrusco while making And so I couldn't say no. I thought it was crazy, but I follow him. And, of course, the only way to obtain all these things he wanted was passing through organic agriculture, respecting soils, plants, bananas with nature, sustainability in order to obtain pure and genuine wines. It was the twenty eight. We planted the first sector, and then the second, and today we have tenectars. And six years ago, we built the winery, and so we closed the the circle. It's a pretty incredible, story to, take a leap of faith like that, and it's very impressive how in such a short time you've produced these fine wines. Can you explain to us, or share any significant milestones in your short history? We had different milestone in our short history, but I think that surely one of the most significant moments was when we decided to build the seller because, you know, we had this we already had this idea of the organic agriculture and the organic farming. So it was a fixed idea, and we know that it was difficult, and we were prepared. We studied a lot. And so we were prepared. Okay? But for sure, the most significant moment was when we decided to build the seller because In the first years, we've been fired at the battles we sold in a local winery because we didn't have a winery. But at the same time, we produced some wine at home for us and for our friends. And it was very strange because the wine produced by us and the other winery were very different. Our were were more rustic, more Frank, they expected more our idea of Lombrozco. And so we we decided to be the seller. We we had no choice, which, although, it is very small. You saw our seller. So, you know, it's very small. It was a very important investment in economic terms for us. Surely, for these things, there are nights when we do not sleep for thoughts, and something else. Especially now that all the costs of raw materials and energy have increased a lot, but we are absolutely convinced that it has been the right choice. For example, I want to explain why it was the right choice. The other night, we were out for dinner, and we were talking with a customer, he's a friend who has been following us for many years. And we were talking about our story, and he told us that over the years, our wines have grown so much, and they have become much more elegant and complex from the aromatic point of view. It was very happy. This is very important for us. I wore a our idea of Lambrusch to maintain the Lambrusco's soul, but that that is a convivial wine, of course, not particularly challenging. You can drink an extra glass without problems. But at the same time, try to give death elegance and evolution into the battle. In this way, building the wineries for us meant making our wines recognizable because it is the idea and personal interpretation of the great and vintage of the individual winemaker concept very far from the sterilization that happens to be found, in the Lambrusco world. So, of course, the main milestone is the building of our winery. Excellent. And getting certified organic, I would assume as well. So we kind of organic, what specific organic farming techniques do you practice? If you want to produce in in an organic way, it is necessary that the Viticulture ecosystem be as balanced as possible to function at its best. This is the prerequisite for cultivation without the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticide. In organic farming, it's very difficult to speak about soils, when we speak about wine. The soil is not considered in the organic farming and inert substrate, but what character designs a biological soil is vitality. That is the presence of billions of useful microorganisms related to the presence of organic substance. Everyone knows the advantages of organic matter in size ranging from the ability to retain nutrients for the plants and give them slowly to the ability to retain the right amount of water and promotes oil extractor. Therefore, in soil management, grassing is certainly a fundamental component. Speaking about production, we use only copper and sulfur, which are allowed in organic farming and some biodynamic practices. We don't use biodynamic farming at all, but we, but we like some biodynamic practices. And so we use them. We do not use insecticides, having even organic because the presence of all insects is essential to maintain the correct balance. We use only a sexual confusion system for the month, which is a very dangerous insect. That provides small or more release laces to counteract the reproduction of the spaces. Amazing. So, you know, crop rotation, natural pest control, and composting to maintain soil's health and some biodiversity practices. I love it. You mentioned, copper and sulfur. How do you minimize the use of copper and sulfur in, in your vineyards? This is a very good question because, you know, we have a lot of humidity. We have, a lot of disease from humidity and organic farming is very difficult with humidity. And here, we have the first innovation part of, the winery because we have a watershed inside the company with probes inside the vineyard. This machine changed completely our lives several years ago when when we bought it, the machine stores our company's mic climate data and monitors the humidity inside the vineyard telling us exactly when a rain will come. And so we need to make the treatment or when the leaf moisture inside the vineyard is too high. In this way, treatments are only done when it is strictly necessary. And this is really, really important because sometimes it happens that, you don't have a very precise provision of the weather of the rain. And so you don't want to risk and you make a treatment. But in this way, we can reduce a lot, the use of copper and sulfur. And in addition, we also use extracts of essential oil with orange and decoction of horsetail that serve to fight fungal diseases. In a natural way. And therefore, we can reduce the use of copper. Certainly, I have to be honest. This climate changes, do not make the life easier. We need today viable and sustainable alternatives to be able to preserve plants from the many diseases and the new insects that are coming to attack them. So I don't know in the future if we will continue to manage the vineyard in this way because the climate changing is very, very, very important. And it's very, very fast. Yes. Climate change is a real thing, and it does affect, the world as as much as it affects the winery world, which we love so much. Yeah. But the problem is not. I don't want to continue with the organic farming The problem is if in the next twenty years, Bruno Martinez still exist because, for example, this summer, we had five hail storms. And so it's very It's very difficult. That is. It's unfortunate, and I'm sure you will be around in twenty years. So how does the how does the winery ensure the health and sustainability of its soil? Obviously, we talked about some of the practices. And what what role do the cover crops play in your farming practices? Cover crops are fundamental. The manure involves the sowing of residences such as bromine seed versus see and legumes, which promote biodiversity. Once the cover crops are cut, it is also very important for the birds to use alternating tall grass between a row and the other. Rose with a lot of vegetation allow the presence of invertebrates and in particular insects, which are preyed upon watch more easily by birds where grass is low or absent, and alternating management ensure some more regular presence of flowers able to offer the butterflies, the resources they need. Then inside the farm, because we don't have only the vineyard. We have other color crops. We also have a friend who runs B Hives at the heart of our company. These do not work in the vineyard, of course, but they create a global ecosystem within the farm. And within the company, within the farm, the rotation of other cultures, create a global biodiversity that fits himself. And I think, six, seven years ago, we we definitely banned hunting, inside the farm. So we have many families of hearts, pheasants, wild duck, and last month, we saw a pair of row deer. And while White life, wild animal is a major contributor to the maintenance of biodiversity. It's important to to maintain that eco ecosystem. You know, so let's move into your terroir since we've talked about all the treatments, and practices you use, how does your specific terroir in Buenio Montino influence the characteristics of your wines? How wines are exposed to the southeast and are in a very good position. Considering that we are in the Pianura Palana play. Okay. We are about kilometers far from the perimeter, the longest and important Italian River, and two hundred meters from Secur River. It's threbuttery. We have many water layers below our size. We have a Louisville size. We have low midsized, reaching clay that converge structure, fragments, and minerality, and the ability to evolve to the wine. Consider that Lambrusco needs high temperature and high humidity, and we have in abundance, of course, of high humidity. We also have a sand part, inside the company, and a lot of sand under the soil. But when we planted the vineyard, we decided not to plant the vineyard there because, you know, that in Nebraska area, there are a lot of sand, and there is a lot of sand. And we wanted to we preferred to have wines of structure. So we preferred the clay size. So we just planted the vineyards there. I recall, you know, when I was tasting your wines, that there was a unique minerality component and aromatic complexity to your wines, which I, you know, I found fascinating, and it was as well balanced Thank you. And we increase these features of the wine year after year. Yes. Oh, I can't wait to get there again. Who wants to be the next Italian wine ambassador? Join an exclusive network of four hundred Italian wine ambassadors across forty eight countries. Vineetly International Academy is coming to Chicago on October nineteenth is twenty first, and while Mati Kazakhstan from November sixteenth to eighteenth. Don't miss out. Register now at vinegary dot com. So what makes the terroir unique compared to, say, you know, the region of Amelia? It's terroir is unique. Hours in reaching clay, as I told you, with high and humid temperatures. And the Amelia is is very different, a city from another, going from Sandy to Hill so I understand some time more windy and fresher temperature. We don't have fresh temperature, and we don't have wind. So we talk about completely different water for wines and Lambrusco of different characteristic. The alluvial soil that we have created because in the past, starting from the middle age, man has plucked the land from the floods of the river pole by building dams create the perfect condition for the cultivation of Lambrusco. In fact, we have although no one knows Monteva, although in Italy, because it's it's a very small province, we have a thousand years old wine traditions. Yes. It's pretty incredible the differences that you can you can taste the subtle nuances. So, what, Lambrusco grape varieties are you primarily growing or or grape varieties in general? Are you growing on the farm? We have three Lambrusco grape varieties. This salamino grape, salamino is, it's not an octopus grape. It's grape that is used both in lombardy and both in, India, and Ancha Lotta. That is a very dark grape used, mainly to make the blend and grab palo alberti. And we have some rose for chardonnay. Excellent. So let let's talk about how your grape varieties reflect the wineries commitment to the organic farming. This is a very difficult and an easier question at the same time. In general, we can say that the grapes are heavier. We've flour pH and need lower quantities of sulfides. Of course, being organic and making natural farming, we have zero residue of pesticide, and You know, I read some studies, where people can find pesticide residual inside of the wine and the food, the one used during the farming and the agriculture. Let us think about the natural feeding of the soil and the plant and the type of enrichment that they can give to the grapes, slow balanced. Let us compare them to the human body. Okay? It's it's easier for me to let you understand if we compare the vineyard natural feeding to the human body. Try to think to a sportsman who prepares himself for a last minute race. I don't know. It takes substances or drink something. I don't know, because I I'm not a sporty woman, but substances that can maximize his endurance will certainly have an exclusive performance in a certain moment, but not constant over time. Okay? A sportsman with an healthy diet and a balanced lifestyle will be more consistent and performance lasting over time. So it's the same thing. Feeding the plants with natural and organic products allow us to have a plant with more balance and fruit comes to much curity in a more linear way. And so when everything is slower and natural, of course, the feature will be better. I love that reference, you know, just especially since we've come off, watch the Olympics. Yeah. Yeah. This is the correct moment for the comparison. Absolutely. So can you discuss the characteristics of your Lambersco grapes? Let's start saying that we produce or that we practice low yields. I don't know if everyone knows that Lambrusco plant is originally a wild plant. And, of course, we have very fertile soils because, we have a little bit of size. So this make the plants very productive. Generally, one extra problem, Brucekin, Monteva produces about three hundred quintals of great character. That is crazy. I know it's crazy, but sometimes there's something more. So it's like this. We cut the production in the pruning phase. And then, with the green pruning. And we produce about seventy eighty quintals per actor, more or less. So this is the the low yields are very, very, very important and maybe we'll discuss later. We have very compact red berries, medium bowl, very important tannin with a high acidity, and are very fragrant grapes. And with the low yields that are very, very important. I I know that it's quite common to have low yields, with all the other type of grapes in noble areas, probably. But not in Lamaru's Square. And so we have fruits extremely rich in properties, sugars, colors, high acidity, and all this is certainly due to the low yields and of course, the type of agriculture. Understood. I mean, I did find your wines vibrant acidity rich color rich in color, and, you know, the flavors went from fruity to earthy, which was, which is unique it was uniquely different than the wines I taste and Amelia, which, you know, still have those characteristics, but the nuances were slightly different. I guess maybe it was that minerality. I was getting from your wines. So I'm gonna move out of the vineyard now, or the the fields, and let's go to the seller. I got some questions here. What are the critical seller practices during wine production and how do you ensure minimal intervention in your wine making process? This is the second very good question. We have a lot of critical seller practices because, you know, Lambrusco is a very difficult worry. I was talking of it with other colleagues from Amelia, and we all agree on the same thing. Lambrusco is a very difficult one to make because grapes are are wild, and you have to consider the soul and the nature of the grapes. So our wild are curvy. So they have, higher risk of defects. And we have also have to consider that it is a sparkling wine, and so we have to manage to different fermentation. So it's not the steel wine. So we have a second fermentation more. Surely most of the work must be done in the vineyard, of course, and to get the seller with the best quality. Starting from the harvest, we try to choose the perfect moment. The perfect moment is very, very important. When we have the high acidity with a low pH and the correct quantity of sugar. The choice of the right moment of the harvest is fundamental. The first fermentation takes place with indigenous VISTA. We always prepare two different bases of PDCoov. So we can choose the best one and avoid deviation in fermentation because the PDF of Indigenousist is not always so easy to produce. There are a lot of risks, and we want to pay attention. Dan, how we reduce the verification intervention with another important thing that we do is, a very, very long skin contact. We talk about from ten to twenty days of skin contact before releasing. We are probably the only ones who have a so long skin contact because, generally, in Lambusco, while making, a much shorter maceration is used. The very long maceration is our signature and why we do it because This allow us a complete extraction. And we don't need to add tenings, or other similar additives. And then we look for the development of the tertiary over time. So after the maceration, the whole period of aging in the tank is very, very delicate, daily checks, and frequent transfers from a tank to another to avoid risk of the fat. We make a lot of the counting and the light filtration. We don't find. The second fermentation takes place with the vintage mask that we keep in the tank. And at the end, we add a little bit of sulfide that are always very low. And we're adding them during the battling phase, saying that I realized that it may seem easy. But in reality, everything goes through the maniacal control of the cleaning, of the seller and tools, making natural wine or artisan wine is is not so easy, means to manipulate as little as possible to favor the vintage. That's minimizing errors than the mistakes that can come from men and trying to understand the main features and characteristics of the vintage. It's the gentle handling and the practices that you have that that makes it important to enhance your your quality and your preservation, which is, present when you're consuming your wines. So what is your, your main market, for distribution My main market is actually US. US. Yeah. Awesome. Love that. And how much of the wine do you sell within, Italy itself percentage? I For example, just just to give you an idea, the thirty percent is sold in Italy. Fifty percent is sold in US, and the resting in, Europe. Yes. We have opened a little bit of Japan, but, you know, that the Japan market is is a little bit difficult in, in this moment, in this year. So I used to sell a ten, fifteen percent of my entire production also in Japan Well, I know you're, distributed here locally for me with, I think, Mason imports, but, my next question is more of, you know, a personal question when it comes to you pairing, your wines with food. And It's a two part question because one, I wanna see, what you would pair it with, traditionally, from your region. And then, two, what would you pair it with? I call it a daring pairing outside, your region, a different a different cultural dish. Consider that Lambrusco wine, it's it's a very easy wine to bear because it's very, traversal. The main characteristic of Lambrusco is it's side acidity. And so the most traditional pairing is with fatty dishes. Consider that in our small village, we have an seven peaks per person. So we have a lot of park dishes. Okay? And so the traditional pairing is meet for the courses of or, park sections. For example, grilled meat. Okay? But we can also switch to cold cuts and cheesist in general or, meat. For example, one of our typical month when dishes is the pumpkin tortalo. We have both the sweet and the spices version. So you can't eat it except with the Lambrisco. But it's a very, very versatile wine. So, also, if we consider there's a version because don't forget that we have both red and rosellembrusco. They're in combination with dessert, a tart with jam, or, yeah, we have, we have, a dessert that is called Beaufit in Italy that is a, with, cherries. So it's perfect. Perfect with Buffetna, or you can have it as imperative with ice or a fresh water dish fish. So in it's it's not it's not difficult to pair. Absolutely. No. It's it's definitely one of the most gastrana wines, out, you know, being produced. And it's funny because you talk about how difficult though it is for to grow the grape, but I find it very easy to empty a bottle myself. For me, you know, Lambrisco is one of my favorite go to summer wines because it's, as you mentioned, it goes great with grilled meats. And where I live, I, you know, on my days off, I love to grill. So I I usually have a bottle of lambrozco available to any takers, besides myself to drink and consume with baby back ribs, which is pork ribs that we in America, usually slow cooked. So the meat is very tender and juicy and flavorful, and the wine just pairs perfectly with that. You know, we always say that Lambrusco is the wine of the joy. And it it's a wine that you can drink one glass more. It's easy. It's a convenient wine. And so it's it's an amazing wine. It's an amazing wine. Yeah. It's definitely, fun in nature and and has great personality. So I would agree with that. So, LICO, that's that's it for our questions unless there's anyone out there who'd like to ask a question. But I'm getting hungry about the food, Warren, really. Me too. Yeah. But, yeah, feel free. You still have time if you still wanna continue the conversation. So Rafael, how's Giuseppe doing? Oh, my husband is actually cleaning the winery because We just finished. We I always pick up a cleaning. I don't know. He he seems to be a desperate housewives, but he he isn't, of course. But, because yesterday, we we had the first day of harvest. We had the Sharbon, the chardonnay harvest. We we are making a small quantity of watch wine. We have an amphora wine, so we are working working on this. And now it's the day after, and so it's the day of cleaning. Well, that's part of your that's part of your your cleaning practices to keep your, keep your winery, you know, spotless, which is great. So when do when are you gonna harvest your, how does it look for harvesting your Lambrozco grapes? Usually, we harvest the Lambroz a grape, the third week of September. But we introduced, in the last four years, we introduced two new wines that are Rose wine made with Salomino and Grapolo, by the way, grape. I didn't tell you about Grapolo, the grape, but that is very important for me. If I have a second, I really would like to explain because Grapal Norburti is the only autochtinous grape from our small, small area. It's a grape that was abandoned in the past because its confirmation makes yields very low. And so it's not switchable for a large scale production. It has been recognized ten years ago by the government as the only autochtenous grape of our area. And, so for there is a wine, and this Vintage is a very hot vintage. So, I think that we we will have, earlier, mint harvest. And so I think that in the next ten days, we will harvest them grape before there is a wine. That, have an added higher acidity. And after ten days, we will harvest the grape for the red wines. Excellent. So in middle of September, more or less. Very neat. So I don't think I talked about the, recognition of Lambrusco, Mantovino, DOC. That was founded in nineteen eighty seven. Is that correct? Oh, I trust in you. I don't know. Okay. Alright. Beautiful. No. I don't know because I don't produce DOC. We only produce, IGP. Okay. Because, you know, the Monteva DUC is very is made for great production. And so, we prefer to make the IGP. Understood. So tell us about the first wine you produced. Did you, dedicated to somebody of history? Oh, yes. The first wine I produced is, that is the one I sell the most in US. Russo Matilda is dedicated to Matilda de canossa, who was a great countess lived in the middle age. She was born in my village in San Bernardino. It is a very small village. It's more or less seven thousand inhabitants. So we as I told you before, we have more peaks than people. And she she had the property of all the lands of the area, and she had the power into the church. And she decided to say to the monk to work in the field and start cultivating this strange wild plant that was Lombrozco. And so if today, we can cultivate the grape of Lombrozco and we have millennial history in Lambrusco way making. In fact, it's thanks to her. So this is why we dedicated the first line to her. And you mentioned the monks where those were benedictine monk monks that we're, producing the wine? Yeah. Yeah. In in our village, there is there is a very great monastery. Okay? Now we don't have actually have monks, but in the past, in the middle age. Yes. Right. So I am willing to come back and visit and help with the, pigs reduce that population, for you because it's it's it is one of my favorite types of meat. I understand. You know, we and our area is an agricultural area. We have a lot of peaks. Okay? We have the wine. We we are the first village for, Permigiano reggiano production. And so it's in an area where everyone was is farmer. Love it. Love it. Love it. So when are you coming to the US? Oh, I don't know. I came two years ago, maybe next year. I don't know. But I would like to. I really would like to. Yeah. We have to get you to the restaurant. Yeah. Of course. Okay. So, yeah, is everything okay? Everything's wonderful. I appreciate Rafaela's time I know they're busy right now with the chardonnay harvest and doing a lot of cleaning, but I guess the longer she stays on here, the less cleaning she'll have to do. Yeah. Like, as an excuse, maybe, let's say. Actually, I have one yeah. I I have one question to ask though. So, you produced the Gasparos, Cervada, and the Salamino, of all the three varieties. Which one do you think that would I don't know. I'm I'm not really sure technically about this part, but which amongst these varieties would be really perfect for organic agriculture? Oh, I produce, no. We don't have Grasparosa and Sabara because they are typical from Emilia. Okay. From, Grasparosa is mainly from the hills. Mhmm. And Sabarra is, more or less, forty kilometers apart from my areas. Okay. We have Salamino and Gracoloruberti and Angelota. Oh. Actually, we mainly use Salamino, but Gracoloruberti will be in the future, of course, in the center of, of our projects, of course, because it's, we we can have extremely tiny clients, with good acidity, floral scents, more specifically of red fruit, cherry, blackberry, raspberry. Also, with the re fermentation in battle, we use a lot. There's the second re fermentation in battle. And, is the grape that we prefer. Okay. But also, also because sometimes people ask me the features of our wines. I like to say that they are wines with a soap. I know it is not a technical definition, but when someone tastes this, our wines, I swear for the first time, usually the first thing they say is I didn't expect that Lamborzco was like this. So wine is the emotion and passion, and I love to describe my wines through the emotion they evoke. And Grapellerobality help us to reach this this point. Right. I am really curious because I haven't tried that kind of, and, if it's a a kind of wine that I need a great variety that gives so much I don't know, like, a change of perspective for Lambrusco in general. I am really curious to try it, but, yeah, thanks a lot for this information. Thanks, Rafael, for your time. And also, you know, putting the clubhouse in between your busy schedule. I know it's gonna be busy or this August. So, also, thanks you for also introducing Rafael to us. And I look forward if you can come back to Emilio mania and also help her with the I didn't I think you mentioned something about the pig farmer. Yeah, I think that's really a cool idea I approve. I mean Yeah. I'm coming too. Just kidding. Anyway, so yes. Thanks a lot, guys. And thanks for listening for the audience. That's a wrap. And, okay, Shaua Tutti. Ciao. Thank you a lot for everyone. Bye. Bye bye. Listen to the Italian wine podcast. Wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, EmailIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Nwind podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time.