Ep. 89 Monty Waldin interviews Denise Marrone (Agricola Gian Piero Marrone) | Discover Italian Regions: Piedmont / Piemonte

Italian wine podcast. Chinching with Italian wine people. Hello. My name is Monty Moore. This is the Italian wine podcast. My guest today is Denise Maroney, who is from Agricola Jampier Maroney in La Mora in Italy region. Welcome. Thanks a lot. So I'm a little bit nervous. You have an audience of audience of four million for this show. So Nothing to be nervous about. We're only the three of us here now. No. Live streaming. So, who first question is, who was Jam Pieroni? How many generations ago did he create this estate? Nah. Who is because he's still with us? And he's there good part of the company because without his forty three years of experience, we won't be here. First of all. To see your dad? Yes. He is. So how many children did he have? Three of us, but we are all good. Right. So Denise said I'm in Valentina who's the animal. Who's the white maker? Alright. So what's your role, Denise? I live in a luggage. So I travel around and I present the wines. And what I'm doing now talking about my family, I do all day long, almost every day. So your three sisters Yes. We are. So who are the three sisters? Yeah. I'm the eldest. I'm Denise, and I'm the the marketing side. So I try to sell what my second, so my third, the sister makes, who's Valentina, the youngest, she's the analog. The second sister's name is Serena, and she's marketing side as well, plus the office side, plus the more boring, administration stuff. Okay. So how easy is it to work in a family winery? Uh-uh. It's not that easy, but it's To well scoop that. What we have been happy to do since we were born so we can survive. Okay. So tell me a little bit about your father he was in some ways quite pioneering. Yeah? Yes. Because it was the one starting to follow really the quality because our one, the one of our three sisters is the fourth generation. So we come from more than hundred years, but the one who really started to bottle to label to increase the quality was my our dad. So when did he start bottling? Nineteen seventy three is the the first, the meaning, the first, bottle that I seen, the shelves. Okay. What about your vineyards? What a blessing or denominator are you talking about? We are talking about the barolo barbaresco, which are the most important ones, and then Barbiano, some whites planted more or less twenty five and thirty years ago, taking away the hazelnut trees. So it's a replacing in the right side of the hill to produce something else to produce something more. Still, my grandfather, our grandfather produced their names to drink in the first part of the year. Okay. And then, yes, we planted Farator. We planted Chardonnay, but this is something that was particular in our family because he was drinking white wine before the beginning of the reds in the vintage. Okay. So what's biggest marker for your barolo. For barolo, the market is in the central part of Europe. So Germany, Switzerland, of course, at home, the visitors ador by barolo directly the seller, America and Russia. Those are the main markets because this is the most well known name that we have in our area. What about climate change? How much is that affecting the nebula? We have a lot to say about that. Because climate changing, change the the way of production change the vineyards and change the way we think about the vineyards. So first of all, my sister Valentina told me just a few days ago that the important stuff is to let the plants live in the best possible way. So, for example, just as an example, we bought a machine that cuts the grass, the underground, the roots of the grass, to let the soil breathe better, so to give more air to the roots that go deeper, to of the vineyards, and so to be more green. So everything we do is to make the plants live better and to respect them. So respect is the most important of what we are doing now, about that, about the climate changing. And the expert, they say that is continuing so it's not just a matter of two thousand and seventeen. Okay. Are you changing your winemaking as well in terms of the use of oak with the climate change? Yes. Yes. For example, they started to use, a special producer of big barrels called the Stocking, and these one, again, in the respect of wine, the pieces of wood that constitute the barrels, they are deeper. They are thicker. Bigger. Bigger. And so it means that there's a less exchange with the air. For example, our best barolo, the barolo boussia can remain three years in the same barrel, not being overwhelmed with the taste of it. So which cruise in borolo do you have then? Boussia, boussia is the the most important. Then we have Vigna Zau in La Mora as well, not with a specific name. They are in the village of Santa Maria. And for our second, the best barolo, we mix them up. So we have the elegance, and we have the structure of the two areas. Okay. So you gotta blend under the just the Jampier maroni label. VK is the name of label that in our dialect means more than good, p k may, because we couldn't use the name Bousia by itself that we use on the specific hundred percent Bousia. Okay. What's special about Bousia is it that one? It's on the left side of the valley. That means because of this climate changing, a little bit in the shadow. So more humidity in the soil, so not the risk as it was happening in canoob in the last years of having dried two dry grips. So which way does pussy a face? Sorry. It's in this side. It's on the left side. Hang on. Your hand. What does that mean? No. Left side. That's all you know. I'm never getting on a plane with you if you're driving it. It's like, you know, we're gonna go this way. What? Hang on. It's on the north eastern. Because West is La Mara. Okay. Yeah. And it faces northeast? Yes. Okay. Yeah. And the altitude? In between three hundred and fifty and four hundred. More or less. Okay. You need to visit because it is so beautiful. It is around here, and you really need to see to understand how beautiful wine can come from there. Okay. So apart from Barola, what other wines do you make? Nebiola Barbera are the main quantities? Nebriodalba Dasi? Nebriodalba. Nebriodalba, Barriodalba. And they come from this hill where there's the home where my grandmother lived all the lifelong. So it's ten kilometers from LaMara on the region, the region of Alba. So and which white wine grape varieties do you have? Farita Arnese, Chardonay, and a little bit of Moscow to make Moscowogasti. Tell me about the favorita. February is a special variety similar to the Ernest in term of octopus nousness. And, it is the same DNA as the Vermentino. So more well known. Fabory that because the legend says it was the favorite grape of the king Vitorium Manuel Escaldo. Okay. When was he King? Before eighteen under the fifty. Is it fortunate having a white wine to be able to sell with your or do people just want we just want Burardo. We're not interested in white wine. How to consume how to how to trade clients see that? No. The trade, the the trend in the last years is to drink almost as much white as red. And so we are lucky that, my grandfather started planting because it's really important to accompany a good white with a good red. So that was Jampiero's father. Your father your father's father. He was called Carlo. Yeah. Calo. So when was he born? Do you remember? Nineteen twenty four. Okay. My dad was born nineteen twenty. Okay. That's interesting. Yeah. So he was really the the driving force of the estate. Yes. It was with someone who wasn't speaking too much, but acting a lot. So who built the winery? The one we know it was him because before our Grand Grand grandfather. We didn't meet, of course, but he was also running a factory. So he had some animals. So it was the one focusing on the Wainwright. Okay. So when you said wood factory, that just means a farm. Yes. That's what it is. Yeah. Okay. So so the first generation was the Jampiano is your dad. Yeah? Yes, he is. So your father Jampiano is going to retire soon? He will never retire. Right? Yeah. But, officially, he's gonna have to attack. Yeah. He says that. Right. So, and when the next generation takes over, what will the Maroney winery be called. Would I get a new name? Lord. Yeah. We are right now in a generational change. So he's trying to give us, I can't say more power because it's not true, but the more responsibilities more markets. I don't know all our customers, and he is trying to make one step back. And right now, we are changing our labels. Coming back, it means it seems that the contrary, but coming back to an old style and all the fashion labels, more easy to read, clear, white, elegant because we are all girls, we are all sisters. So this is the way we want to follow, and there's no more Jampiero Marconi on the logo. There's just Maroney. So is it a case that with your dad? If everything goes well, he's like, oh, let's thanks to me because I set everything up for my daughters. And if somebody makes a mistake, oh, you shouldn't have done that. Oh, Really? He's a bit of a he's a tough guy. Yeah. Yeah. No. We continue listening to him. We continue following him. Did you really listen or did you just make him think that you listen to him? No. No. No. Because he has very smart ideas. And if not, I would be the first to not listen to him anymore, but so we need and then we argue every day. At least me and him, we argue every day. I'm not surprised. Having met your father. And met me. No, I think one of the good ideas he had was, which he did explain briefly is what was called subsoil in this idea of taking the weeds away by putting a blade underneath the grass and lifting the soil up a little bit to get air in, but you don't cause any erosion. Yeah. Yes. And when trains so the water can fall down, but gently softly because our hills, they are very steep. And so it's not easy when it rains like that with this climate change, it's like storms. So we need to be prepared to wait for this kind of Do you see organics as part of your future? Three suspects? We are still doing it, because we are not declaring it on the label because it's quite difficult to follow the rules in the proper way, and we want to make the things so serious, but it's what we are doing. We are making the working with tractors, organic fertilizers, and, natural activities. We planted the roses at the top of the line. So, it's something that we like. We want to walk around with our kids, not having any troubles, first of all. And so, yes, the path is that in the future. Think it's there. I think also in Burruddy, you've got some bigger producers who've shown that it can be done. Whereas twenty years ago, it was you had maybe smaller producers who maybe always didn't make fantastic wine that were organic, one or two did. And then maybe you didn't set a great example. Now you really have some serious producers that are high really world class wineries. Yes. And they're doing it not because they need more points in famous magazines, but they just see it as because they believe in it. Yeah. And it works. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I think your father's laid a very good base for you, so hopefully, have every confidence in in no acceleration that you will continue his, excellent work. Very nice to meet you, Denise, and, you've got one of your sisters sitting next to you who's being very quiet. You're a funny one. Yeah. And, I I can't understand why she's been so quiet. I mean, you sitting next to, honestly, because you're pretty you're pretty quiet kind of person. So for a moment of calm. But no seriously, it's it's a very nice family winery, and I think you will take it to even greater heights for the next generation. So hopefully, yeah, middle book out for you. Across the fingers. Thanks for coming into it. Follow Italian wine podcast on Facebook and Instagram.