Ep. 59 Monty Waldin interviews Paolo Berluti (La Calcinara Winery) | Discover Italian Regions: Marche

Italian wine podcast. Chinching with Italian wine people. Hello. This is the Italian wine podcast with Me Monty Walden. Today, we are in the Marquer region on Italy's Eastern Adriatic coast. My guest is Paulo Belluti. His winery is called La Cal Cinera. Tell me a little bit about your family history because you're quite young. Yeah. Hello to everybody. My family. I mean, my grandfather comes in reality from the verdicure area. So in the sixties, he, moved in Montecarotto. That is always the verdicchio area. So we're all this is all in the market region of Italy. Yeah. Sure. I mean, it is thirty, forty kilometers far from here, from Conero area. In Montecarota, had married with my grandmother and then moved in Encona. And he started before the I mean, he, was the founder of the, first winery, that is Beluti winery. Now me and my sister sir, we opened this new winery that is La calcinara that we are trying to produce premium wines, but the older one was Belluti winery that at the moment is still work king and producing just bulk wine. So the difference between the two is you're making bottled wine. Yeah. And the other part of the family is still making bulk wine. Yeah. So what about your approach to the vineyards? What are you doing that's different in the vineyards to add that kind of extra quality for a bottle wine? With your system. Yeah. La calcinara is just biological. We are organic, at the moment, we are in transaction. But, I mean, it's just diff is different ears that we are practicing with organic, withiculture, but then finally, our father was convinced to enter in transaction. I mean, in transition with the organic way. Was he a bit worried that you would ruin the vineyards that you would destroy his work? Yeah. He was worried because when you always worked in a way at the beginning, our father was worried by, organic Viticulture because if you always use antibiotic in your vineyard. It means that you can be relaxed because if some disease comes out, you have the solution for the disease. In organic viticulture is the opposite. I mean, you have to prevent all the disease is. So if a disease comes out, it means that you don't have so many way to solve the problem. So that's the main reason that he was worried. So best at the moment he saw that we, so that if you prevent everything, you will not have any disease. Prevention rather than cure. Yes. Everything is prevention. So why I believe really strong in, organic production because if you are a good producer, you can obtain a grape, so a wine better than in the other way because it means that the plant never had disease. So in the not organic. It means that, okay, a problem, disease, and use substances against the this disease. In organic production, if you work well, you will pick wonderful grapes with no problems. And also for example in multiple channel in Conero. I'm not so sure, but, in this moment, I love to think about it. Everything you do with the plants. You have reaction of the plants. So if you use poison in the plants, the plants will have a reaction against the poison. So it means that we'll produce stronger tenons, bitter tenons, and also the right equilibrium of the gray will be not the same. For example, the moment we are trying. So we use just the copper and, Zulfurame, copper, and sulfur, and we are trying to don't, trim the shoots for example. Is it trim the right story? It'll trim the top of the the vine shoots, the branches. Yeah. So because if you cut, all the shoe if you cut the shoots, it mean that the plants feel an aggression and will react producing stronger tendons. And, you tasted before our wines, I mean, all the culinary wines, multiple channel. For us, the strong tendons, are something usual. I mean, so we don't have, a problem of, structure in our wines. No? So, what we are looking for is to have so rich grapes, but as smooth and relaxed. It's a little bit like you. You're making more in line. You're pretty smooth and relaxed. When I speak. Yeah. Yeah. Lots of my teachers, and the schools told me that it was smooth and relaxed, but it depends of the day. Okay. Alright. Well, I have to say when I have tasted your wines, your wines do show very smooth challenge with a lot of fruit, and that's not easy to obtain with the multiple chana grape, which can be quite tough sometimes. So, obviously, you're doing something right in the vineyard. Let me just go back a little bit to the actual terroir. When we talk about cornoro, how far are you from the sea? What are your soils it's a very special place. Tell me a little bit about it. Year after year, everyone of us is, recognizing that, our soil is so special, our area. The soil is the the first thing that is different from, other places in our area is the limestone for sure because every soil here is rich of limestone. I mean, is marne. So marne is composed by clay and limestone. Then could change, from a hill to another hill. So from a village, we are in Kanya. Kanya, it could be a little bit different from Kamerano or from Varano. It depends. I mean, it depends the the composition, so more limes stone, less clay or more clay less limestone. So what does that give to the to the to the fruit to the Montaport Charnico? And also to the tannins, how does that affect them or the acidity? I think that the clay gives gives us the structure, the full body and the tendons, but the minerality, the freshness is because of the limestone. For example, it's really easy, have a walk in the vineyard and find fossils, marine fossils, our soils are looks like sandstone. So it's a sedimentary rocks. So, I mean, it's easy to understand that you are working in in a place in which millions years ago, was under the sea. Before Africa started pushing Italy Yeah. Up into Switzerland because the mountains were formed and it came out of the sea. That's the reason. I also, for sure, the influence of the sea is really strong because to does that do to the wine though? Does it change the taste? Does it make it taste salty? Yes. I think. Yes. I think. I mean, the the first element is, the temperature that the difference between, day and night is not so high, like, thirty, forty kilometers inside of Italy. But you still, you do still get change in temperature between the days, which can be very hot and the the nights are much cooler here, aren't they? Yeah. The day is not so hot, like, fifty kilometers in side of Italy, and the night is not so cold. So for the red wine is a really nice thing. If you are speaking about white grapes, could be different. Yeah. Because, you know, the the of the temperature between day and night is really important for the aroma of white grapes. But for multiple channel, we are not just working for the fruity aroma because multiple channel have it. We looking for a relaxed grape because we have strong grapes. We have strong personality. Well, you mean, it's a it's a tenant grape, but you want some of those tenants to be smooth. Yeah. And elegant. I mean Is the date that you pick really important? Because if you pick Montaport journal too early, it's if you pick it too late, it tastes like jam. How do you make that judgment call tasting? Really different, difficult. Yeah. Just tasting. You know, I'm a technologist, but ten years ago when a star to study and working better in the vineyard. I was doing lots of analysis. At the moment, I'm not doing anymore. I mean, not so many analysis. So to understand the motivation of the grapes, everything is pasting. Tasting grapes. So the the the good method is to take three berry. Three grapes. Yeah. Yeah. Three berry of grapes and put in your mouth without using your teeth. So before you to analyze the Jewish and so the sugar is important but the acidity is important because multiple channel have a good high sugar but also good acidity and but the acidity fall down in one week. So in general, the quantity of acid gives me the maturation of the grape. Then at the end, you start to break the skin with your fifth, the bitterness. If you feel if you taste bitter on your mouth, it means that is not ready yet. In the multiple chance. Yeah. The beater and the syringency, you know. Do you have a do you have a similar does your sister come and taste early in order? Does she come out with me and taste it? Do you have the same view or do you argue? Does she say, oh, I think it's ready? He said, no, no, we need to wait another three days? My sister is a little bit more extreme. Like, in what way? For example She likes pushing boundaries small. No. No. She likes a stringency. Okay. Now just tell me one last thing about you have so you have twenty hectares of land, twelve hectares of vines, four hectares of olives, and the rest is habitat. Why do you have so much wild habitat? What does that do to your vineyard? It is really, really important because, the bushes, the wild habitat is full of antagonists. Beneficial insights. Yeah. Yeah. It's really, really important. For example, in organic agriculture, Viticulture, you cannot use insect decide. So you must use the antagonist of your bad insect. I mean, of your problem. So sometimes you bring in your vineyard. When you bring in the vineyard, is really important that you have all the habitat to keep the long life of the insect. So in your vineyard, you get inside also without a copper and sulfur and sulfates and sulfates are not so easy. I mean, it's a really strong, a strong metered, for the disease. And could be also dangerous also for other insects. So if you have bushes, otherwise, habitat is really important for that. Alright. So, paulo Balutti of La Carcinada, very fascinating talking to you today, hearing all about your organic vineyard and, what you and your sister are doing on the corner of in the market, and I hope to come and see your vineyard at some stage. How we can go and, check out how many insects have you got flying around. Nice to meet you. Take it easy. Thank you. Follow Italian wine podcast on Facebook and Instagram.