Ep. 119 Monty Waldin interviews Carole Bouquet (Sangue d'Oro Winery) | Discover Italian Regions: Sicily / Sicilia

Italian wine podcast. Chinching with Italian wine people. This is the Italian one forecast. My name is Monte Ward, and my guest today is Carol Bouque. Yes. Who's winery is? San Guidoro. Why did you call it Saint Guidola? And where is it? It's in Sicily, more than Sicily it's an island between Sicily and Indonesia called Panteria. It's the the front door of orient. And, at the same time, it's, extremely Italian, but, I mean, there's, there's a a culture since more than centuries, because we have to go back to more than two thousands, three thousand, four thousand years ago, where there were people living in this island. It was a very at that time, very strong and powerful island because there was a passage between orient and back to Europe for spices, for many things. I mean, that was even before spicy, that was a very important place. But then something like, yes, a long time ago, but almost two thousand years ago, they, there were grapes, but they were not using it to, which which are called, TBo. Moscado de la, Sarto. But they went using it to do wine. They were wine for themselves but not outside of Montreal. They were selling the dry grapes who were called Malaga to, Malaga, which is in Sicily in front to trapani where they could do, you know, the Malaga, the Altra. And, they're starting to make wine. I would say, really wine, not more than five hundred years ago, really. And really more than that, only a few years, really ago. I mean, like, a century ago, really to produce their own wine realizing that, they had an amazing quality of wine that everybody was buying and why not do themselves, you know, something with such amazing grapes. And, did you from a farming background. I know you obviously had a career as a, you know, one of the world's best known actresses, but No. Not at all. That's that's all my my father was an engineer, and and my mother was not working and, and she was a scientist. I was nothing to do with the So that's a good match. You got the I was born. I'm a city girl. Yeah. Well, you got the practical side from your dad. Yes. Yeah. And the scientific side from your mom. Well, I'm not sure I've got any of that. I can tell you the truth. We're good in school. I went to school until what you call the baccalaurea, then I had a choice. I went first to do studies of philosophy, but after a few weeks, I went out of university thinking I'm not made to be able to learn by my myself. Me alone with the book, I couldn't do it. I needed somebody to To guide you. Exactly. So that's how I became an actress almost from one day to another. I mean, it became it happened very quickly. How does it happen from one day to another? The studying philosophy a fee. Yeah. Because I went to a dinner at that time, and I was seventeen and, and a man next to me. I didn't know who he was, but he was running a channel at that time, like, channel four in England, and he was asking me what I wanted do in life, and I answered out of the blue because I really don't know why and so that at that moment acting. So he looked at me and he said, yes. Okay. Well, what have you done to do then? I said, no, not nothing for the moment. He said, okay, you should go to the National School of Ferra. You have to register, and and there's there's a conquest, you know, that there's, an exam or did you say that? You're like a competition. In competition. And and, I went to register, but at the same time, I didn't do anything to to do the the competition. And I called him the day before. And I said, okay. I registered myself, but I have no play, no actors. Nothing. Can you help me? There were three days before, in fact. And he said, well, I might try, and that's what we did. And then I went with the National School of Ferra. So my life changed really in one day to another one and being in the national school of theater where normally you're not supposed to be allowed to work outside, which is crazy. That has changed. So you are you are that when you're studying in a lab to get get paid work. Exactly. Which now they have changed, I mean, their mentality because that was crazy to say. I mean, if you imagine if you have an important, you know, which happened to me because, then I met I met a casting with Reese Buenuel, and, and I did the movie. So that was the first year I was in the school. Was your breakthrough. Yes. Which was like immediate. And I was eighteen and the school fired me because I said, so but they took me back because I went out, you're saying, you can't, you know, how can I say no, I mean, that's I'm trying to learn, you know, that kind of job, and and you have one of the best director in the world asking me to work with him? Am I supposed to say, no, it's it's insane. So anyway, that's how it started. He must be very pragmatic because, you know, at your age, you know, fairly young You're gonna say, Hey, this is the live. I'm a movie star now. I don't need to study. The fact that you went back to study shows that you really want to be sure of what you're doing. Because I was extremely insecure, like most actors are, especially when they're young. We pretend, you know, to but we we are not. Why you're actors. Yes. And, I think for the next ten years, I was not at ease at all on a set. It took me ten years to feel better and and not to be too scared. I mean, I was really scared. Do you feel scared in entering the wine world? No. That happen again in, like, an accident because I, I was renting a place in Panteleria since years, and I was, driving every day from the house. I was renting through the mountains, then there was, descending two tombs where I was driving up to a place in the mountains where there was no electricity completely lost and then driving back to a lake. I was doing that every day before I was going to the sea with with a boat. The lake is extremely beautiful, so I was doing like an enormous swimming pool and and but there was a place. I always felt in love with that mountain with the peace and that the fact it was untouched for at least two thousand years, but worked by men because it it's passes. So only handmade with volcanic stones since centuries and centuries. And I love, for example, being in Rome in Italy, where you can have sitting on on the same we're looking at the same building or you know, centuries of my own culture, of your own culture because we share the same where you have thousands of years in front of you on sometimes on the same building. You have Greek and Roman and herbs and Spanish, whatever, you know, relationships you go in Sicily, you have, you know, all the cool that I've left traces sometimes where you just sit or look at. And that's what I felt when I was in Panteleria, even though there's no monuments. And, one day there was a little ad on a small house, maybe as small as we are now in that office, return for sale, and I wanted to buy it. And I went to see an architect who was a friend of mine, she said absolutely not. There's no water. There's no electricity. You won't be able that's a national park. You won't be able to I didn't buy that time. But the following year, I came back and without saying anybody, telling anybody, I went to buy it anyway because I wanted a piece of land, and I never wanted that before, and I was forty at that time. I decided because I'm really a city girl to put my roots in Pantelaria saying that I was belonging there more than any place in the world, even though I was not Italian, that was my way. I'm so in love with Italy. That was my way of daring to say that I was Italian because I had a not a house only. I have I had some land. It was very small at the beginning. But then with the man, I bought the first house, he helped me to buy then the one next door, then the one next door, then we bought, you know, I think to seventy people trying to put together a land. A land. And at the beginning, the land was abandoned sometimes for twenty years, fifty years. I do have some, plans where more than didn't suffer the Locera. So I have somewhere more than a hundred twenty years old. So somebody some of this land had vines on then? Yes. And and oh, yes. It was all grapes. Grapes and olive trees, which are like a huge bonsai because of the win, you have to make them very low on the ground and and keepers. And keepers was easy because you can sell that to the cooperative. So I'm doing tons of capers, three times agile, and you say that in in in in in in Italian. Yeah. Yeah. So it's enormous in in Capers, but the so the the grapes, it was Zibbo Moscado de la. I went to sell it at the beginning. Then I thought that's a shame I should do some wine just for myself, you know, just to have and I went to somebody to, you know, that it will they gave me, I don't know which language I'm speaking anymore. A tank, you know, A fermentation tank. Yes. On a side, if they could let me do that, they said, yes. The following year, I came back to taste the wine, and I said, I don't like it. And they said, okay. If you don't like it, I mean, there's nothing we can do. And I said, well, yes, because I'm going to drink it. So let me, you know, go and find a, and thenalog, which I was dreaming about. I mean, then it was true or three at that period of time where that was as I loved drinking wine that I knew. Didn't I didn't know them personally, but when I like it, why I always ask, you know, who does it or, you know, who's responsible for that So I called one and everybody said he will never work with you. He will never. So I called him and he said, yes. His name is Donato Alati. He said yes, and I will help you until you break even. So I came back to that person saying, okay, he's going to help me, you know, and they said, no. We're not putting one foot. I said, okay, I'm leaving, and I'll do my own wine. And they said, you don't know how to do it. I said, no, but I will learn. I love drinking, you know, I will learn. But that was like a child, you know, if you tell a child or a little girl, you know, you can't, you can't, can't do that because you're too young. I mean, there was something that I saw I was like a bet, you know, I was I was furious of the of their answers. So Don't don't not to, help you a little bit. Oh, no. Oh, did. Tree is still the Oh, this is my analog. And It's a good choice. We built we built a, a seller together. It took me a year to fix it. It took me ten years to fix my little houses. The vineyard, we really the the the winery went extremely quick. And a year after, we could do the wine with a permission to do it with a Oh. The legal status. Everything was done in a yoke was a miracle, and that's how it started. Finally. So how does your wine taste? It's all muscat of Alexandria. Yes. It it it's like one of thousand nights. I mean, that's the idea. That's why I call it San Guidora because it's really the fruit of that. I mean, it's the blood of that really land. So the blood of gold, it's essentially And and it did is because, I mean, the the light so sunny, it belongs so much of a dream. The dream you can have a volume centuries ago that, and because the the what you have in in in the wine because one third of the production, you have to dry it on the floor. To dry the grapes? Yes. On the floor. And then you have women who wants to do it. Yeah. And they have to do it in there, not in the kitchen or where they will take, you know, some smell of the of the the the the the whatever garlic or so so they do that, you know, and it's a very hard work because we're using a third of the production to to put back in the in the tanks in in in December for example, my house, it took me ten years. I mean, I swear to to fix it because of the of the permission, you know, the winery went extremely quick. It was like a miracle because I mean, that shouldn't happen that quick. And in a year time, I I was able to do, you know, open it and I mean, how'd you get there? Do you go there by boat, or do you fly, or how do you do it? You you can do both. You can go by boat. Which do you prefer? Oh, no. But the the boat depends what kind of boat, which you take the night boat between trap penny or palermo. It's not a fun boat. Right. So there's a small plan. It takes only twenty minutes from from palermo. It's much better. Gloria. Why is the name is San Guermo? It may it it went so obvious because somebody asked me when we were doing the lead, in one second, I answered what's the title? What's the name of the title? It was like, it's not title, you know, while you see it's my my job back. What's the the the name of that wine and the San Guidore came out of me immediately because such a hard work. It's so heroic for who still does work on that land because you have a piece of stone, volcanic stone in between, you know, the the the grapes, which are in what we call it, arberello. I don't know in English. In so you have that and then you are you have one cable and then the caper, and then you have one olive tree. So everything is mixed. And in between, you, I mean, on terraces and in between with enormous stones. So to work such a land is really and that's why eighty percent of the of Panteleria talking about the the terraces which have been made since two thousand years ago are being lost because nobody wants to work that land anymore. It's such a work and of course doing wine is something that almost Everybody could do if I, I mean, somebody who likes, you know, drinking could could make, you know, I mean, a while. But the problem nowadays, of course, is to sell it. And, this it's an enormous market where you have a lot of competition you know, and to enter such a market. Oh, you were very big or you were very small like I was, but at the same time trying to do the best wine ever that could be done in Pantelaria. And I was fortunate enough to be able to have free press because I when I was talking about a movie or the premiere of a movie, I was only inviting in a log or sommelier or press from the wine business, you know, for the last ten years touring, you know, I couldn't care less about movie actors. I mean, everything, all the invitation, everything was about winemaking. So I mean, you know, it's amazing that you say that because so many people, I came from quite an artsy background, you know, they might, you know, just one of the most famous actresses in the world, and she's you know, hefting stones on a boiling hot island in the middle of nowhere, making a wine that a lot of people have never heard of, and a style of wine that a lot of people say they don't like, oh, I don't like sweet wine, but you're doing it. It's it's quite eccentric, isn't it? Do you have that eccentric side to you. I guess so. When I looked at it, you know, and and friends of mine, because I said at the beginning, some friends, you know, told me, but of course you were going to do wine. I mean, you you bought, you know, grapes of whatever, you know, the the it's in Saint Carol. I said, no, I didn't know about that. They said, well, we knew. I said, I'd never dare to because I could have done it in France. I could have done it in in Italy and other places which are easier than Pantelaria. But I would have never dared really there. They were so small and could leave me, you know, the fact to try and and make something, you know, modest at the beginning, you know, giving me the time to learn and, but it's the piece of street policy on that. Way of getting being Italian, and I knew I needed all the people in the island to help me and they did. Yeah. They've been friendly to you. Oh, extremely. So I'm not, but I'm in very little. The first for example, Avast is stole one of my truck. So that was just a welcoming, a welcome to the islands. But somebody came to me from the island and said I know where is your truck. So you see, you know, and and the where the man was my wine maker in in Pantalaria, I could build a statue. Is is I can't imagine of such a man being so honest, so hardworking at the same time having such an amazing taste for what it does, you know, because we agreed of what I wanted to do as a as a as a pacito. I did. I wanted something that I could be able to drink, not only with this, not only with, you know, I wanted something that I could drink at the operative, being balanced as the acidity. You know, I wanted something really that I could drink, even though it had to belong to Pantelaria, of course, but it was me doing it. So it had to be Pantelaria and I. So that's why we tried to to do, and I think now we succeed of doing that. Well, it's funny. You'll, you know, talk about film business on hours film, but da da da da da. Why do you up and put you on wine? You explode with passion and you know exactly what you want to do. I mean, it's so funny that you don't have a background in wine. I interview people wine every single day, and you have people that are highly qualified that are clearly bored by their jobs, and you aren't highly qualified. But you've got the greatest qualification of all, which is complete and utter enthusiasm for what you're doing and a love for the place. So you think it's the tranquility that you you found a place for you that's physically tranquil mountains, the isolation, and in what you create from that physically, which is obviously your bottle of wine, that is something that gives you tranquility. I I suspect more tranquility than any of your films and awards and awards ceremonies and fancy dresses and famous directors and bright lights and all that sort of stuff. What turns you on is someone says, you know what? Had a glass of your wine last night. Absolutely fantastic. How the hell did you make that? Alright? I even don't know. I know a little bit now, of course. Yeah. Of course. It's been fifteen years. We started. We kept it very quiet. I mean, not like you. Because I do so little that I don't need, you know, to I even I sold it, the place where I sold it in America. I sold it in China. I sold it because that I could do, but at the same time, it makes huge trips too. I don't need that. So I don't need the fame to, you know, I don't need to be proud of saying, oh, I sell it in New York. Yeah. I could do it. I did it, but I don't need it because it's the the there are months, you know, of bottles. It's so small. So what's your average production roughly? Between twelve thousand bottles and and and four team could go down to nine thousand bottles. They're bottles of fifty centimeters. So, that's very, that's that's very small. What do you drink it with? I used to drinking for the aperitif with a piece of Parmesan. They're not with capers. Not with capers. Yeah. It's a good mix, isn't it the savory, salty cheese with the sweet white wine? No. Yeah. It's a good match. A lot of people would drink it with, like, ice cream or at all. No. It's too much for me because I mean, sweet on sweet is really too much. And then at the end, drinking. So at the end of a meal, I had already I, you know, I have already read wine, you know, in in my head and and, in my body, that's it's enough. But if I drink it, you know, at the sunset or mean, on a beautiful day. And it has to be really cold with a piece of cheese that's an in France could be could be other cheese, but then it's a moment where it's extremely as it's extremely peaceful. And and if I drinking in Pantelaria, of course, it belongs to Pantelaria, but when I drink in somewhere else, as soon as I smell my wine, I put my nose in the glass, I'm back not only in Pantelaria. I'm back in a fantasy world, which is true. They start thousand and hundred nights, million. It brings back to fantasy of, something extremely voluptuous. I mean, the way you're dressed, it would obviously be radio, but, you know, you'd look like you are wearing clothes that are sort of two thousand years old. In as in the design, not that they're falling off your back. Yeah. But these, embroidered brightly colored robe that you're wearing. Yeah. It's good. It's coming from Iran. Right. Okay. From Perch. Which is also famous historically for for wine. So maybe I've probably suggest you stick on, Pantelaria rather than hop off to Iran to start making one, I think. No. I think that might be a little bit trickier. No. No. No. No. No. No. Somebody more than somebody. I mean, so many people told me. And people who were selling my wine, for will say, okay. Now, when are we starting to make business, you know, together? And I said, no, I'm not going to do something else. I'm not buying any other lead in CCD where I can produce to to million bottles, three millions, but, no, it's not my job. My job is, by the way, Zach and my land and where I belong is Panteria. That's something else. Thanks very much, Carol, for coming in. It's been brilliant, to meet you and to share your passion here of your passion for your wine. And for that for the place, I think, really. And I think you've you've almost morphed into an expression of that place bodily and emotionally, and it's, been a real pleasure. Thank you. Thank you very much. And the good thing is my sons, I have two sons. It was not supposed to be us when they were, you know, adolescents. It's not the place that you can imagine. Kids would love to go. And they loved from from they were ten years old. And until now, they love going back, where a place, there's no night clubs, which is fine for me. Of course, we went into teenager they might have wanted, you know, to have, you know, they're completely in love with Pantelaria. So I'm very happy about that. Do you think they'll succeed you? No. They don't want to do. I have nothing to do with why they they they they want to drink it. Yes. But for the moment, they don't want to have anything to do with it. Maybe one day, yes, if I just can't do it, maybe they will do it. Okay. Well, at least they they they've got something that they can hang on to if they need to. Yes. Yes. Thanks, Carol. Thank you. Follow Italian wine podcast on Facebook and Instagram.