Ep. 901 Anna Obuhovskaya Interviews Alessandro Medici | Clubhouse Ambassador's Corner

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. Everybody. My name is Stevie Kim, and this is the Italian wine club on club house. Ciao, Stevie. Hey, Anna. How are you? Great. Great. And like a child like a child's DB. Alright. So we have a small, audience today, but as you know, this will be replayed on Italian Wine podcast. And we haven't we have been getting huge listens for the ambassador's corner. Today's ambassador's corner is the fireside chat with Alejandro medici, baby medici. Alrighty. So today, let me tell you a little bit about the ambassador's corner. This is where our Italian wine ambassadors get to choose their favorite wine producer and they do a deep dive interview more like a far side chat with their favorite Italian wine producer. And today, we have with us, Anna. And let me see if I can say this correctly. Anna, o Is that correct? Yes, Steve. That's that's correct. Can you say can you say your name? Anna Obuhofskaya. Yeah. Well, it's a little bit different. Obuhofskaya. So Anna is based in, St. Petersburg, and she has about thirteen years of experience in wine marketing and sales. I understand she's worked at looting, Nisko, Julia, Metro, Cash and Carrie, and she was actually the best kavista in two thousand eleven. She has this title. Of course, she is here with us today because she is our Vineetale International Academy. She had participated in that, last year, the flagship edition, and her current project includes, holding seminars, for the, St. Petersburg, so many association specialize in Italian wine, an Italian wine tasting club. And she's the founder. So clearly, she loves, Italian wine, and, she is now, going to interview Aleisandro medici this evening. So, Anna, why did you choose Aleisandra medici as your favorite calusa? Wells TV, when I started at, Italian one ambassador course in Verona in two thousand, twenty one, I learned, a lot about Lambrusco, and that it is the oldest, family of grape varieties in Italy. There is a DNA study that showed that, close connection between Lambriscoe grape variety and Wildvine. And Lambriscoe was once, domesticated by tribes that lived in, the territory of modern Italy but the fact that this grape is still there for quality wines in Emilia Romania really amazed me. We can observe, the transformation, of the Lambrusco style within past decades, and medici family is a good example for that because five generations, produced wine. Style of Lambrusco change, from rustic wines in the fifties, to the trendsy and really high quality, Lambrusco's of today. And compared to Lambrusco that, Met share Meto makes, is released, in two in nineteen ninety three. And it's considered the first Lambrusco from a single one yard. Can you imagine that? So and it's made, from Lambrusco Salamino. And, it was really the turning point for the message a family, because concerto is valued by wine critics, and it is for sure one of my favorite Italian wines. And it's really a good example of a friendly wine, very bright, and fruity, but at the same time, complex and well balanced. So for me, Medi Chair Meta is a good company that in in Avangard of Lamborusco production today. Oh my god. I feel like you're part of a medici family already. You're so enthusiastic. Nobody gets that excited about, you know, anything. But listen, Anna, so how did how did you meet? How did you discover the, made the, wine and winery and the family? Well, I first, tried, conceptual Lambruschka at the seminar that, via held in Verona. Also, that was your first time? Yes. Yes. Oh, that's so exciting. So we introduced you to, maybe tell me that. That's right. And that's where I met, Alejandro, because he came for the seminar to speak on Lamrosco. And before that, I only read about this family grape and, the differences between, Gresparosa, and salami, no, and so on. But the first time I actually tried this different Lambrusco's was verona. So, in we tasted concerto. And I was amazed by the quality of this Lamrosco of this fresh, fruity style, lively character, smooth tenants, and great balance. I put three exclamation mark in my testing notes that day. And Alessandro was very passionate about his region and his wines and, his family history. So to my point, He's the best ambassador for his, family estate. And later that year, in September, had a chance to visit Medicare Metawinery and walk in the wine yard where a concerto is made, I made the generous and hospitable energy family members. We sat in a beautiful, terrace and tasted various wines they made accompanied with this beautiful prosciutto parmigiano reggiano cheese, homemade spinach pie, And that tasting had really big impact on me because I realized that Lambrusco is not just, a nice wine, but it's greatly matched with local food, and was actually good with nearly any food you could think of, antipasti pizza, pasta, lasagna, other traditional Italian dishes, but also it goes very well with Thai in Indian food. And I also realized that it should be great in restaurants menus back home in Saint Petersburg, but unfortunately, I saw very few Lambrosco's in restaurants lists, in wine lists, back home recently. So, Somiles in general didn't consider Lamborosco to be an interesting wine category. So when I came back home, I had the sharp feeling that I have to share something very important with my with other formulas so in our wine community, we know very little about, quality of ambrosco's, and, it's interesting historical case. So, therefore, I organized seminar for, Senator Brook Somilia Association, on LaBRiska wines, and I invited Alessandra to join us via Zoom. I also invited Alberto Alberto Altineri from Modona, and he spoke about his wines as well. We tested all high quality lambrosco's that imported to my country. So we compared styles of modern and Reggie Mila with tasted wines, from Venturaini, Balzini also. So shall I say that some of these were really surprised by the quality of white range of Limbrosco? Yes. They were. I was really happy to share that, great experience with them. Okay. Excellent. It sounds very, promising. For a courier in Lambrusco. So as you know, you know, we always talk about learning objectives because we do try to give some educational value in in the calls that we make, for Italian wine club. What are the learning objectives that we should expect from you today? Well, as I see it, there are there is a very curious case about Lamrosco wines. On one hand, there is historical context, DNA researchers, that provide us with historical perspective on adult owners varieties and we are rethinking the significance for winemaking. But on the other hand, there are modern trends. Sparkly wise are highly demanded, you know. So today, winemakers return to grandfather's methods and upgrade them. So there is no insignificant variety, but it's all about the approach to it. Not everybody knows that lambrosco wines, all three for for lambrosco wines, all three methods are used. Ancystral, Charmat, and Metodoclassical. And I hope we discuss it today, and I think it is important to learn where traditions meet the new wave of winemaking. So these are the objectives. So we're looking forward to that. Before I can hand over the mic to you. Like, did you want to say anything? Leica, by the way, as you know, she's our clubhouse manager for Italian wine club. Micah, are you back in? Yeah. Hello. Hello, everyone. Yeah. I'm still having this a vehicle moment because we really had a huge lunch this afternoon. It was really good. And, I wanted to say something first if you are interested, especially for the Italian wine ambassadors, to moderate for, the Italian wine ambassadors corner, you can send me an email or send me a message here. At support of Italian wine podcast dot com. So, yep, that's it. Yeah. That's it. That's there she's like us speaking to you to Shah. Carrie won't Exactly. Annie, you did once. Of course, Jody as well. Jody, one of the more popular, replays on Italian wine podcast. Congratulations, to you on that. So if you'd like to host another room, please get in touch with Leica and also info at Italian wine. Podcast dot com. Okay. I'm going to shut up now. So over to you online, then you can introduce Aleksandra. I'll be listening. Great. So please, let me welcome Aleksandra medici. Chao. It was great to see you at Vinitally. Yeah. My pleasure. Thank you for this invitation. Wonderful opportunity. Yes. I think, your case is really interesting and Medicare meta is a really nice producer. So please, tell me how did your story of a of a wine producer start? Yeah. Absolutely. So let me just thank Stevy and the one we need an international team because What you said about your activity in, in Saint Petersburg is just, an example of how powerful is the VIA network, you know, the Vinter International Academy network. We got so many contacts with this, with this academy. So This is absolutely beautiful. Anyway, to answer to your question, my story, like, when producer started like many other producers that comes from, you know, family business. I was born in the vineyards. My family was used to, bring me in the vineyards, in the office, in the cellar. My father, brought me with him, with, in so many business travelers, you know, in Japan, in United States. So I discovered this word very young during my studies, of course. Then I did some activities outside of Italy. Just like, ex personal experience, and then I studied at Gastronomic university in Polenzo, in Piedmont in the Barolo and BarBaresco area. And then I entered the officially with a contractor, in the winery almost five years ago. So it's just a normal story. My passion came very, very early in me, for wine, especially for my land. I always loved the emilia Romania. I think that Lambrusco producer, are really, really, connected to to the emilia Romania land. And then, you know, I I did an interview last week, and one somebody asked me, please, give us some, wise advice. And I told I told her I'm just twenty seven. How can I I give some, wise advice to be wise, you know, to do, you know, many mistakes? And this is just what I'm doing. I'm doing many mistakes in the company with our teams. We we do so many different projects. We make many mistakes sometime they go well. Sometimes they go, in a bad way, but, you know, in this moment, in our company, in our winery, there is an amazing atmosphere, and I am very happy to to of my choice, of course. Yes. Indeed. You have a very nice atmosphere among among your family and among people who work for you. So that's for sure. And, can you please tell us how, the style of Medicare, wines, Medicare met wines changed within decades and why it has changed. Of course. Yeah. Medi Charmeta is one of the most historical winery in the Amelia manor region. This is a a sentence that I heard so many times from producers, from Italy, but it's true. And we saw the history of Lambrusco. That is, I think, a beautiful story because it's really connected to the to the story of the Italian wine because as you probably know, Lambrusco is, was one of the first Italian variety to be exported together with Canti and soave. It was around nineteen sixty five. And Medicare met at the time already exported, in Germany and, and the United States. And Lambrusco had an unbelievable, an unbelievable commercial success between, nineteen seventy and nineteen eighty, even more than prosecco today. And, you know, the style, the original style of, production of Lambrusco was dry. As you said previously, and the method of production is a method that today we call ancestral method. But at the time, it was the real. They they only the unique method of production of Lambrusco. So with this second fermentation in the bottle. And at the end of this fermentation, we sold the wine with the yeast inside, and the wine was completely completely dry. So with zero grams of liter of sugar. Then Lambrusco represented an unbelievable commercial success, for our land. I said even more than Proseco today because Lambrusco producers between nineteen seventy and nineteen not nineteen seventy five and nineteen eighty five sold million of cases, not bottles. I mean cases, million and million and million of cases. Lamrosco was everywhere. Was the most famous wine Italian wine, of course, outside of Italy. It was everywhere. Also, advertising on television. It was very, very popular. And at the beginning, Lambrusco was considered cool. It was, you know, the the the sparkling Italian wine, because prosecco was just a very local wine. French Acorta didn't exist. So there was just Lambrusco. And it was considered cool. Then, you know, between nineteen seventy and nineteen eighty, we started in Emilia Romania, but also in other regions in Italy, we started to produce with the sharma method. So with the steel tank. So we started to change the way of production. And, unfortunately, some Lambrusco producers invented the sweet Lambrusco. The Lambrusco tablet. It was called with a high level of sugar. I mean, very, very high at the time. Level of sugar. And that product, that wine was just a commercial invention that had an unbelievable success, but it was very different from the real Lambrusco. And then you know, the palette of the consumers started to to understand that that Lambrusco was very bad. The quality of that Lambrusco was very bad. So they started to recognize that that Lambrusco was very bad. So the Lambrusco market from million and million of cases in few years becomes zero. Even the restaurants in our area, the restaurant that was in front of our winery, our office didn't want right Alambrusco in the menu because it was considered a shame. And my father, the first generation, entered in the winery exactly in that period. It was the period of the Switzerland Rusco. So he understood that it was necessary to change completely the philosophy of production of this wine. And he started. He restarted coming back to the origin to make dry, Lambrusco, with a low level of sugar. And in nineteen ninety three, that for us is a very important vintage, we started to make our concert that in English means concert that is the, the name of our flagship wine, our flagship Lambrusco that for us represents everything. It represents a pioneer of the of the Lambrusco in a sense because from that moment, we started to I say we, but I didn't do anything because I wasn't born. I was born in nineteen ninety four, but we our family and our team started to travel all around the world to explain to the world that the real Lambrusco was dry, not sweet. And nowadays, we export, in more than seventy seven zero countries around the world. We make Lambrusco with the three method of production of Lambrusco, as you said, Sharma method, ancestral method that's that is also called pad not method and with the Champpin was method. That that is the, maybe, the most elegant method to make a a sparkly wines, the same method of production of Francacorta and Trento doc, but with numbers gray. Yes. That well, that's very interesting. Could you say a few words about your baby about, fermento, Lambrusco, which is very new, to the, to to the Landbrusco, med share better producers? Can you say a few words how you came up with this idea and how it's made? Yes. Of course. Actually, what I what I told until now is not made by me. I didn't do anything or what I just told you. The first project that I did in the company it was the first year when I entered in the winery, but I started to think this project at the university. It's a wine called Fermento. That is a Lambrusco made with the sorbada variety. Maybe later, we are going to explain the differences between the varieties of Lambrusco because Lambrowski is not a bad word. Lambrowski is not the name of a, brand. It's not a style of production. Lambrowski is the name of a grape. And, Lambruski is a family of different bio types. A family of different varieties. One of these varieties is called Sorbara. It is maybe the most elegant variety of Sorbara with the nonbelievable acidity. The acidity of Sorbara is every year the same of the acidity, the same pH of the champagne area. And we started, I started to make a wine with the sorbana grape using the ancestral metal. You know, before I told you that between nineteen seventy and nineteen eighty, we started to make wine with the with the steel tank because it was easier. You could have the technology. You could control the temperature. But before the arrival of the steel tank, the way, the common way to make Lamruzco in our area, was the ancestral method. So we did a second fermentation in the bottle, like for the champagne was method, like for the champagne method. But at the end of the fermentation, we didn't make any de gourjaman. We didn't remove the East outside of the bottle. We left the east inside of the bottle. So we saw the wine that was a little bit uh-uh cloudy. Let me say. Then between nineteen seventy and nineteen eighty, we decided to stop making this network. Why? Because at the time, we didn't have the technology So sometime we could sell, let me say, a bomb to our lovely customers because we couldn't control perfectly the the pressure inside of the bottle. Nowadays, we have the technology to make this process in the perfect way. And I wanted to come back to the region making a wine with the same method of my grand grandfather. So when I entered in the winery, I decided to do this and I had to ask about this project to my grandfather. It's been very hard, like, everything in a family business, but nowadays for mento is a beautiful commercial success every year we increase the production, very slowly because it's still a very small production. If we consider the numbers of our company, but we export that wine in more than, I would say, seventeen countries. We're very happy with that. Great. Well, that sounds like, like, a very good success of a very, modern and trendy wine. I tasted it myself, and I I really enjoyed it. It's actually two way you can drink fermento. First, first way, if you don't mix it with, with the East, you just, drink it as it is. And the second way, you, shake bottle a little bit and make east, mixed up with the wine. And that's makes, body even more full, even even more fruity. That's a really nice, trick. You you can make with wine with this with this very wine. So I'll assume Yeah. Exactly. You can choose, there is the optimal way or the normal way? You work with, your family members. Can you please tell and share this experience what is the most important thing when doing business with family members? This is a nice question. There is just one word I think is the organization. This is very important. You know, there are so many different wineries that had problems with the generational transitions, you know, between generation and and another generation, you know. One important rule that my father always, told me is that your son or your daughter is not always an intelligent person. You know, and I could be not in an intelligent person. So you have to plan this and you have to organize everything. So the first rule I think is to have external people from your family in important positions in the company. This is very important. People that don't know anything about the the internal things of the family that they not they they not involved in the family. Then every single member of the family I think, have to have a specific role in the winery. And all the members of the family have to respect that role. I think this is very important because we live in a period in which the one may show, no longer exist. You know, my grandfather is a one man show who was a one man show. He's still the president of the company. He did the the economic part, the knowledge the technological part, the technical part, the commercial, the market in part, the communication, the incoming, he managed everything. But that was, I think, the style of managing a winery that was good thirty, forty years ago. Nowadays, we live in a period where everything has to be very well organized. And I think that, a winery nowadays is an ecosystem of different areas. And every areas, have to be managed by a specialist of that area because it's impossible to know everything, you know, from the economic part to the commercial or the communication or there are so many different areas. And I think that, well organized family business is also a happy family? Well, indeed, that's that's very important that every everybody in the family is happy. So another another question about the family members Who does what? Can you briefly describe? Yes. Of course. My father is the, CEO of the company, Alberto. Then there is my grandfather that is still in the winery. Every day is the first person that arrived, a wonderful character. He's the president. Then we have my cousin, Pierluigi medici that is very important. He he's an expert manager, an area manager. He has the South America that for us is, a growing area, very important for us. And then we have my aunt, Alessandra medici, and she is the responsible, the hospitality manager. Let me say. So she's involved in, all the pitality programs, she's the responsible of our estate where we have many tourists during the year, of course, before COVID. But now it's restarting again. And then, she's the responsible of the wine shop. So and then there is me. My title is the brand ambassador. And I am the responsible of the education of the people around the world about Lambrusco, about our land. So I follow all the promotional activities of the winery? Wow. You're doing you do it in a very good way. You you impressed me once. So that's how it all started. Yes. And I met, your aunt, Aleksandra. She did a great tour on Achittaya. All these barrels, covered up. It was really fascinating to to see to learn more about this tradition of making, Acheto Balizamiko more than him, and and that's that's really fantastic. So, the, you know, I'm I'm looking at your bottles and they really look nice. Can you say a few words about who makes, wine labels? Who works on design for for the bottles? Yes. This is This is a an important point of the of of a winery, you know. Before I tell you that in the winery, there are there are areas. And one of the area is, of course, linked with the the communication part and labels are an important part of the communication. And as brand ambassador, I I should follow, all the touch points, between the the brand and the business and the consumers. And labels are an important touch point between the brand and the final consumers. But I entered in the winery just four years and a half, years ago. And our winery exists from more than one hundred years. So when I entered in the winery, we had so many different wines. We have so many different lines. We have so many different concepts wise. So it was hard to to and it was wrong, I think, to change all the labels in the winery. So my job and, the the team that follows this part in the company is to try to balance the the the past, respecting the past, our roots, but bringing all these labels and all the new projects, at the present and in the future. You know? So we have an internal team that works with many different agencies. Marketing agencies. All these agencies have a different sensibility. They have a different, creativity. They have a different vision, and then we we work with them when we have to think a new project And, we we give to the agency many feedbacks, of what we expect from the labels, from the twine, we tell them exactly what is inside of the the bottle. We tell them the target of that bottle and then we start to build new projects. So this is this is how, the label of fermento, for example, has been has been created. But it's always know, is a compromise between the past, the present, and the future that we have to respect. We did many mistakes, as I said, in the first handset that I gave you, but we also, I think we did, some good labels Alejandro, there are some, questions for you coming in the chat, but let me, finish my, portions portion of questions. And, I will, I I will ask you the questions. So we'll pass you these questions that, our, club house members ask you. Alright? So, you know, this, my my next question is about, sustainability. Do you think that it's, what what do you think of it on the first place? And how do you feel, if if you are, doing any sustainable project sustainability project for the Friday winery? Thank you for this question. Let me say that in our family, we have always had, an ethical obligation. Know, I told you that I am the fifth generation, so five generation long story, and we always wanted to leave, a company in and a territory in better conditions than we found them. To the future generation. And this is basically could be translated in, to live to our son and daughter's, a better word. You know, we are not the world. Of course, we have just one single reality, but For us, if every realities, every company is small, medium, big, every countries, every families, every person could have the same philosophy, we really could have a big impact on the planet, and we really could live to our son and to our daughters a better world. So everything start from this concept. And before I tell you that in in our company, we have many areas that, have to take decisions and choices every day, but every choice that we have to take, have to consider this concept about the sustainability nowadays. It's very important. And that's why we did an important project last year in two thousand and twenty one, a project called the Generation twenty thirty one. So a project, a long term project that became our commitment. A long term project that lasts a decade between twenty twenty one and twenty thirty one, a project that involves, precise goals through concrete actions and the projects. And all these actions have to consider the three, you know, thematic areas of sustainability. Everybody knows this environmental area, ethical social area, and economic area. And I can give you now, Anna some examples of the actions that we are doing. For example, talking about the environmental area, we became completely certified organic. All our states, we have five states, eighty actors of vineyards, certified organic. And this is a support to the biodiversity of our land. We don't use any single use plastic in the company. Just a small example, we are calculating exactly our carbon and water footprint because we want to bring our carbon and water footprint close to zero engineers. Because in ten years, we want to to transform our company in a completely sustainable company. Let me do other two examples. Very easy. Talking about the economical area. We are trying to to do some practice, concepts of circular economy. For example, during the the VINification, we have many lease, many sediments, many skins, that we then use that we usually sell very cheap to the distilleries, you know. From last year, we started to do this, I think, beautiful project working with a company in our region. This company gets all these sediments, all these skins, all these lids that usually are considered waste, you know. They transform. They work with these, sediment, skins, and lids, and they make organic compost. And we use this organic compost for our vineyards. So this is a perfect example of circular economy where a waste becomes an ingredient of your wine. This is very important, but we do so many action that we already did that we are doing and that we will do in the next ten years. And this for us, it's very, very important because as as I just said, is that concept that I told you before is the base of all our choices? Wow. That's really impressive what you what you just say about the sustainability project. Yes. For sure. It's very important to leave, land and wind yards for future generations and to make, to keep them fertile, to keep the soils fertile, for as long as possible. Well, it's very, very curious project that you're making. So, just, let me continue with a few more questions, and then I will, we will go to the audience questions. Okay? Since, you're talking about the future, can you, share what's your vision on, Medicare, Metawiniti is in ten years, for example, what do you hope it to be? What what do you hope it to where do you hope to see your wines in which countries and so on? I have so many wishes and first of all, we have a slogan that is bringing a major mania in Italian is much better, but the translation in English is bringing the major mania to the world and bringing the word to the major mania. Look, in this log and there isn't the word Medi Sherman, and there isn't the word Lambrusco. Why? Because for us, Lambrusco and Medicirmeter represents, a land, a territory that is Emilio Romeo. And what we want to do is to carry on with this mission to export our land, our wines around the world. Nowadays, we are in seventy countries, but we can do much better. We can add more countries. We can increase and improve our activity in the markets where we are already present. And then in the same time, another very important activity that we really, that we really believe is the incoming. So bringing the world to visit us, to visit the food valley, Parmida, Regiano, balsamic vinegar, all the fresh pasta bolognese sauce. Parma, I could do a seminar just on the food. The motor valley, you know, we had the formula one just two days ago in Emilia Romania, Ferrghini, maserati, ducati, We are an unbelievable region. We are one of the most dynamic region in Italy. It's wonderful. This is another part of our, mission. This is what we want to continue to communicate and to do. Bringing the Amelia to the word and bringing the word to Emilia Romagna. Oh, I just I just wish I could go to Modena right now. I love the the cuisine of Emilero mania, and I love all this nice this great restaurants and this great local food and and wines and and the market and the people in this relaxed, lifestyle you guys have. It's it's relaxed in compare in comparison to mine. I I assure you. Well, yes, Emilia Romani is a great place to visit for sure, and I hope more and more people will come there not only for food, but also for wine. Well, Let me, let me pass a question of Jodi Helman. She's asking you, are you planning any trips to the USA soon if so, where and when? Oh, I was in the United States just three weeks ago, and I visited Chicago, then, Dallas, then San Francisco, and then Los Angeles. We have another visit, in June, but my father is coming, and we are going to visit, Oregon and Colorado. And then I come in with, our importer tour. Cobrand is Co brand is our importer. And coming in September, and I'm visiting many cities like Chicago, New York, Washington, DC, for sure, Los Angeles, anything another city. And coming to your offices many times, many times. Sounds very promising. There is a Christina Tayreji is a raise in hand. I'm going to to, turn on her mic. Christina? Hello? Okay. She's now invited to the mic. Christina, are you going to ask your question? Okay. Maybe maybe a okay. There's a there's another. There's Fiderico. Right? Pedro. Would you like to ask question? Hello? Well, may maybe something with connection. Well, let me, let me then ask you another question. Are you spoke about the markets that are important? And do you think, what do you think, is it What what is your favorite wine? Not not just, among Medicare better, but in general, what do you enjoy yourself? Outside of Lambrusco, you mean? I love I love Nebula because, you know, I lived there for three years. I was in, in bra. It is twenty minutes from Sarah, twenty minutes from Lamora, twenty minutes from those places, and I lived there for three years. So I met so many baroque and bar baroque producers. So it's a second it's a it's a second home for me. So I love many wine areas, but for me, language is is part of my heart. It's part of my life. I live there. So I would say Nebula in general. Nebula grape. Nebula grape, but, is there some, commune you like, more? Do you mean producer or, Nebula areas? Anna, do you mean, producers or areas? I mean, I mean, if you prefer altopia Monte or maybe Barolo, Barbarisco, which style of Nebula you prefer, more powerful or more flour, more more fruity, what what do you prefer? I prefer Barolo, but in not the pow the most powerful way. So there are producer now that are working with very refreshing wines, like burlotto Fertaglia. Those kind of producers that are becoming more and more famous, unfortunately. Thanks god for them. That are so difficult to find now. So I would say Barolo, but not in the most powerful way. Okay. I see. I have, very common, taste. I like, nebulus nebulus is my favorite, grape variety actually. And I like, it's in I like it in not much powerful way. I like, Altopi Monte, gaming, and Sonata. So those are probably my favorite ones. And I like Barbarasco more more than Barolo, I would say. No. Fantastic. It's it's always nice to discuss, wine with wine people. But And to drink and and to drink as well. And to drink. True. Can you please say, to talk about some projects outside of Lambrusco area, what are your other wines that you, that you make, not Lambrusco wine? Okay. In this moment, our winery is totally focused on Lambrusco. We have also an estate, in, in the Romania area where we make Sanjuveza, and we have also a project in the west side of the Amelia, so we cover all the region where we make wines like, but in this moment, the winery is totally totally focused on Lambrusco because this is the goal because we think we really believe that Lambbrusco is one of the most contemporary wine that we can find. Why? Because the new generation of sums, the the young wine lovers, are searching for the drinkability, the freshness, they are searching for gastronomic wise, very refreshing, and I'm describing Lambrusco because Lambrusco is an unbearable acidity. Is one of the most gastronomic and one of the most versatile wine that we can find in the world easily. It it's hard for me to say that Lambrusco is the most important variety in the world. But it's very easy in the same time to say that Lambrusco is one of the most drinkable, one of the most refreshing, one of the most gastronomic, one of the most versatile wine that we can find in the world. So we are totally focused on the wine. If you talk to my personal project, I have a podcast that is called juicy up that this week is in the top, one hundred, podcast in Italy. But this is, my personal project. Jucy, juicy what? Joseph. Julius. Joseph. And and Stevie was, was a guest few few episodes ago, but he's in Italian. I know. So I don't know how is your Italian? I'm I'm I'm learning. I'm I'm honestly, I I'm learning Italian, and I hope next time I come back, I can speak more. Fantastic. More, more with with my friends. Great. We have, another question from, fermented boss. That's, nickname, I guess. Alejandro, tell us the story of your GOP Islamic. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. The whole high, the fermented boss is a friend. Absolutely. And an ambassador of Lambrusco. But, ma'am, our core business, our business is wine, is Lambrusco. But then we have in the family and I'll be. I'll be that I can't consider a business. It's just a passion, a tradition that we have from more than over, a century. And it's the traditional balsamic vinegar from Regilla DOP. Long name but an unbelievable product. If you go to Walmart, if you go to a supermarket, you can easily find some balsamic vinegar. But those vinegars are IGP. That doesn't mean that they are not good. They are just very different from the traditional balsamic vinegar dop. In the word traditional, there are twelve years of aging because the industrial and the and the balsamic vinegar, the the balsamic vinegar IGP is made in a few hours. The traditional balsamic vinegar that we make in our balsamic vinegar facility at our state is aged minimum at least twelve years. Then if you come to visit us, you can taste the twenty years old Balsamic vinegar, the twenty five years old Balsamic vinegar, the thirty years old Balsamic vinegar, even older than me. And we say that we do the balsamic vinegar, the traditional balsamic vinegar for the next generation because it takes so much time. It's made with the solera method in these, barrels with all different shape, different votes, it's it's an experience. And just one drop of that traditional balsamic vinegar is an explosion in your mouth. True. Your aunt and Cassandra said, that producing balsamic vinegar is very difficult business because it takes so much time for the for the for the vinegar to be made. Do you think it is possible, to keep the high quality and make it still profitable? Make it a good business project with a Balsamic vinegar? The traditional Balsamic vinegar is profitable. It's profitable for the second generation that, get the business. Because otherwise, if you wanna want to start a business of traditional Balsami vinegar, please don't do that. Or you are very rich or don't do that. Why? Because you have to keep every year barrels of product for at least I mean, at least twelve years. So the second generation, your son or your daughter will enjoy the product that you did for twelve years. Every year you you have to keep uh-uh few barrels of this traditional balsamic vinegar. And then you have to wait at least twelve years. Okay. So after twelve years, the bottle that you sell has a an important margin because the real, the traditional balsamic vinegar, it's very expensive. It's our it's a million romania truffle. You know, it's immediately a romagna white truffle because it's very, very expensive. But it's profitable in the generations. And then I have to say that is a very, very small production and So we are not talking about uh-uh million or million and million of small bottles. We are talking about thousand of bottles. Our annual production is one thousand bottles, not zero point seventy liter, but one hundred milliliters. So it's it's very small. And we sell and that's why we sell, our balsamic just at our state. In two thousand and eighteen, we had more than ten thousand tourists. So we dedicated our production to them and also as a gift to our to our friends and to our customers around the world. So probably you will you will receive a bottle of Balsamic vinegar for free. Well, I must say I have a bottle of, your balsamic vinegar at home, and it's such a pleasure. I use it once in a while for seasoning in my salad and, add just a little, spirit of me, La Romania, to my, to my dinner. It's so, delicious. Oh, my god. It's it's unbelievable how what what a change this drop makes to the to the dish, to the salad, or meat, or vegetable, whatever I put it with with, with cheese. It's also amazing. It's really great product indeed. So Thank you. Well, wishing you a good luck. So, we're about to to finish our session. So let me see if there are some other questions, for Alessandro. Yes. Hi. Hello. I'm back. Hold on one second. Yes, T. V. Yes. That's so that's good. Congratulations. What a a great session. I know I stepped away for a few minutes because as you know, my middle name is multitasking. I understand there was a question for me. But let's let's get a question from federico. Hello, everybody. My apologies for leaving the room so quickly, but, I'm based in the Netherlands. And here, it's dinner time I was preparing you know, for my kids and for a little bit of a mess here. No. So you're also multitasking. Congratulations. Usually men cannot do that. Yes. I'm used to it. Yes. So I'm originally from Argentina, so I I'm used to multitask. So have you got a question for Aleksandra? Yes. First, I want to congratulate him for the enthusiasm being such a young guy. It's fantastic. And I'm curious to know what the the vineyard or the company is doing to promote in the younger generation, this feeling for Lamroud for knowing that the millennial generation and below are more inclined to stop drinking alcohol or drinking a lot less with, beverages that are very low in alcohol. What are they doing in order to promote this history? This feeling of of logistical in order to consume it. Right? Great question. No. This is the topic, you know, because we could talk for hours about sustainability and everything. But if we don't communicate to the new generation, what is the real, we have a problem. You know? So this is basically what we do in the company. We ask to ourselves what we have to do to arrive to new consumers to explain to, people that, you know, are less than forty how to communicate Lambrusco. And then before I just said, I think an important thing, that Lambbrusco is an extremely contemporary wine. Why? Because the the new generation of white lovers in in my opinion are searching for more drinkable wines, more refreshing wines, maybe with less alcohol too, as you said, more gastronomic, more versatile And I think Lambrusco is the perfect, this the is the perfect concentration of all these concepts. Lambrusco is, as I said, it's very hard for me to say that Lambrusco is one of the most important, variety in the world. But it's very easy to say that Lambrusco is one of the most gastronomic, one of the most versatile. The alcohol level of Lambrusco is always around ten point five, eleven point five. So it's it's limited if you think other important or still red wines. And is an extremely contemporary wine. Then the first thing that my father told me when I joined to the winery as as a new generation, so I wanted to do too many things. Is that in the wine business, we have to run the marathon, not that one under not the one under meters. So it takes time and it takes a lot of promotion, and this is what we are doing around the war. We are going to the market. We are going to educate people to communicate to the new consumers. What is the real Lambrusco? Because it's true that people over fifty have a wrong idea of Lambrusco, but people under fifty, they just don't know Lambrusco. They they didn't remember that sweet wines and cheap wines from the seventies because we weren't born. So this is what we are doing. Great, Alexandra. Thank you so much. But I I have a follow-up on that, if I may. So, Alejandro, I mean, what are you guys doing? How are you communicating to the younger generation? That's all fine. Yes. We know the problem areas, but what are you guys doing? How are you how are you stepping up your communication with the younger generation. Can you give me some, like, concrete examples? One easy example, just taking an example from your last bin Italy. You did a a sexual with mixology, you know, in some markets like British Columbia. We selected many bartenders and we are doing cocktails with Lambrusco. We don't have any problem with a great bartender. Select our Lambrusco to make a cocktail to mix with an unbelievable gene or to mix with an unbelievable other spirit. I think it's a great way to arrive to the new generation, to the new consumers. This is just in his examples, TV. Then locally, we are doing many events dedicated to the to the to the new generation. I just did an example for us, in some countries like British Columbia, especially. In Japan, we are working on this too. Cocktails are a good way to arrive to the to the new consumers, you know, because usually, a young guy when go outside with, his friends usually order a cocktail outside of Italy, not a glass of wine. So this is an example. That's interesting. Because there was a guy I don't know if you know him. His his name is also Alecanto, and he invented this thing called Barbera tonic. It was from Kinato, from not Barolo, but from barbara in with mixed week tonic water. And he said this was a it it was an interesting way to, introduce wine to the younger generation because a lot of people come to the bar because he owns a bar. He runs a bar. In in Pemonte. And he said, the the younger generation, they just ask for, you know, those spritz, aperol, or or, campari just because they don't know what else to ask. Right? So he said by trying this, introducing Barvera, he said that this became a little bit more approachable. So I guess that you are kind of having the same, idea in terms of how to make the wine more approachable for the younger generation? Absolutely, Stevy. And let me add that, with a bartender of Reginaldia that is from a cocktail bar that has been nominated best cocktail bar in Italy in two thousand. I don't remember. One eighteen or eighteen. We did the the the name of the bar is Jigger, like the Jigger. Yes. J I g g e r. Let's visit that plate. It's very cool. It's in Regemedia, my hometown. We did a list of cocktail, you know, premium cocktails. We don't want to work with the industrial cocktail bars. We are not the apparel, you know, brand. We we are making sure matter. We have more than one hundred years. So we have to do. We have to have, how can I say? We we have to choose, not all the bars. Some bars, we selected that, target of bars, and we did a list of premium cocktails made with Lambrisco. So we give to our importers, this this list that they can use to their customers in their countries, and they can give some suggestion to the important bartenders of the city. You can make a Blue Coast Pritz, you can make a Americano with, Lambrusco and Amelia Romania Americano. We did so many different cocktails, and we are giving some ideas. But this is just an example. That's interesting. I have too sure in the audience who's working, of course, at various bought, wines, restaurants in Dubai, and doing some consulting. I would love to hear from him sometime as well. Listen, it's, I have to close-up the room now because it's almost time. But, Leica, did you want to tell us the next who's coming up next and when? Just so that I remind me. Alright. So, it's gonna be on Thursday. It's gonna be another Alessandro. So Erin Demara is going to interview Alejandro Gallo. He's the winemaker of Castello di alpola, in Radar and Roca Dimon Dimashi in Marima. So that's gonna be at six PM, the same time. While you're butchering everything, they tie in. Yes. And what what about, the week after? So that's this week, right, Thursday, the day after tomorrow, six PM? Six PM, the same time. For next week, we're still not, sure. So it's still an open slot. So if to Shar, we would like to have a clubhouse with us. You are really invited. I sent you a message. Okay. Not for sure. Okay. Okay. You you know, with the COVID and everything, there are, we have to juggle a lot, not jiggle, juggle, a bit of nowadays, but that is kinda the sign of the times. Okay. Alejandro, Anna, thank you so much for joining us. Federico, great question. I think Christina had a question, but it was more of a reminder that I had Kirami is suing the fridge that have to take home. So that that was it. I think that was the message. So thank you very much, Chad Agati. Chad, David. I guess. Thursday. Okay. Come back Thursday, you guys. And it will be planned. Italian wine podcast. Italian wine podcast. Chincin with Italian wine people. 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 love and we are committed to bringing you free content every day. 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