Ep. 174 Monty Waldin interviews Caterina Dei (Cantine Dei) | Discover Italian Regions: Tuscany / Toscana

Italian wine podcast. Chinching with Italian wine people. Hello. This is the Italian White podcast. My guest today is Katarina Day from the Day winery in Vina Nobile in Tuscany. Welcome, Katarina. Thank you so much. Give me a little brief summer of the family history. How did you get to become the head of the day winery? So it was my grandfather who started, coming to the area to the Motipla motipla January first. Where was he from originally? Yeah. Yes. He's just gone, but, the family core business has always been stoned. So we have quarries of stone in the surrounding of Sienna, but he loved the Monteputano area. And he went discovering the area in order to find a place to spend the summer holidays, being aware of the great potential about wine making. So he discovered a beautiful piece of land where he planted first vineyard, which is actually persona, and now the most important vineyard of ours. Okay. So what was his name, though? Alibaba, my father's father, Alibaba Day. And then your father is? My father is Glauco. And then you'll And I am Katarina. So do you have any siblings brothers and sisters? I have one sister, but she's mainly, yes, taking care of the stone. So I choose the best part of the Alright. So she does the quarry. She does the hard work. You did the glamorous job of making wine. Yeah. I think I'm the lucky one. You are. Yeah. So you just mentioned, the idea of coming to the areas about the terroir, the potential. What is special about the Monteppucciano area specifically for San Giovanni or as you call it? We have different, lens in terms of composition of the soil, exposition, and altitude, and we feel absolutely privileged in this case because in my case, I have five different vineyards in five different eras. So there are five different units that vary where the soil vary from, sandy clay. So for example, the Villanoblete comes from, sandy clay. So oil. So what what taste does the sand Sandy clay give to the wine? How does it shape the sangiovese? So the the clay give the structure, but the finesse at the same time. So we have a full bodied, but smooth, and elegant wine, and this is the goal for us, for example. Then the sand really emphasizes on the flavors on the sangiovese, so that the fruit comes out a lot. And by the way, comes to my mind, you know, going back to our history, the history of multiple channel that goes back to, you know, centuries and centuries. The sixteen hundreds. The sixteen hundreds. At least. Exactly. So the golden age for the the area for the vino nobility. Exactly. When Santellangelo at that time, the the Sommelier of pope Paul the third from the Vanessa family. So Paul Santelancheria said, the pope loves the wines from Montepulciano overall Italian wines because, it's a it's a wine that is really appealing. It's Paul Puto. He says this word, and I love this word. So Paul Puto, what is that translate? Puto means it's a lot of material, a lot of character, personality, but still it's an elegant wine. In fact, it's not, a wine called Agristino. So it's not, for the country people, but it's for the nobles, for the noble families. Yeah. He only mentioned wrote an article. He wrote the noble men. He didn't make mention make any mention of noble women, unfortunately, but luckily luckily things are changing under the Things are changing. So let's go back to Postona, which is, one of your single sites. Just tell me what is special about that. I mean, in terms of in terms of the the style that you're trying to get out of that. The persona vineyard is really something different. It's like an amphitheatre of thirteen hatters, and it's sand on top, and with, the caries materials, rocks, and fossils. Okay. So we have the finesse, the structure, and the minerality. So we think that it's the most complex. And, So it's your flagship then. Is it Bosona? Yeah. Exactly. Okay. So I was in the region recently, and I've I've heard you went a little bit crazy, in your vineyards, sowing a lot of, cover crops and flowers things like that. What is going on? Yeah. We we really by the way, we are sustainable and organic. I didn't apply for the organic certification yet, but I'm going to do that very soon. Because, you know, we we we we wait because bureaucracy in Italy doesn't really help. But, and that's the only reason why I'm not officially organic yet, but we are definitely organic, sustainable in the way we process. So only a very natural way of, you know, taking care of the of the vineyards, a hundred percent no pesticides. So green cover, meaning we plant the different kind of seeds depending on the nature of the soil. So the the the seeds vary from barley to fava beans. Yeah. So barley is good at, providing organic matter. And beans are very good at providing food in the form of nitrogen. Food so that, you know, we want the soil to be healthy to be, breathing and so that exactly. So that if the roots are breathing and that if the roots are healthy, we'll have a healthy vine and healthy fruits. So this is the way we we process. So, let's say prevention rather than cure it. Okay. This is our goal. Now in terms of winemaking style, you are known for making wines that are very, smooth, but they don't taste like they're really technical. They taste like they have a bit of behind them. How do you do that? Well, I remember one. Is that is that correct? Absolutely. I was gonna cover your own borders, and that's what they that's what they say. Wonderful. And I know the wines as well. Thank you for saying that. This is really our style. I would say classic style many, really, you know, paying attention to the territory, focusing on Los Angeles, but also focusing on the nature of our own vineyards. So we want the primary roles of the grapes to express at best. And so for me, the one has to be, yes, representing the territory, but also being smooth and elegant. I don't personally like aggressive wines, so we're working companions a lot making really very strong selection, vineyard, by vineyard. So Is that also where your farming is changing, where you're really I've spoken to your vineyard manager really looking at each little bit of land that you have as an individuality. So you talk about cover crops. So this particular vineyard is gonna get this kind of cover crop because the is like this. It's on a slope. It faces this way. And then on another, say, a flatter or higher or hot rockier area, you're gonna sow different plants between the rows, to have a different effect. So again, you're gonna get that that diversity of flavor so that you have more mature able to make a blend from. Is that is that true? Absolutely. Sorry. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But please Do you like blending? Well, I like blending, as far as, you know, our tasty blend represents the two wires. So but we definitely focus on purnia, Argentina. So ninety percent of our grapes is bring a pineal Argentina. Oh, and what about your main markets? The United States, I would say, number one expert market, which is thirty percent of our expert. That all the European countries, let's say, from Germany to Switzerland, Great Britain. How's the US market changing? Do you detect changes there? I'm not just talking about green, green initiatives, and organic. Very happy because I see them turning to specific wines to the docG, you know, while probably in the past they used to, to like more, like, very international wines or a more. So you said the two Supertuscans are actually Yes. They were probably more in the Superdaskan some years ago, and now they're really going back to the roots, which is absolutely, you know, great for us. So what opportunity is there for Vina Nobili in general in America? Name to pronounce. I mean, it's one of those Italian phrases. It's quite easy for people to pronounce Vino Nobale or Vino Noble, you could call it if you wanted to Americanize it. Does that help? I think it really, you know, represents, the the the the personality of the wine, of the area. And, yeah, it is a noble wine. It's easy to pronounce, and it's a distinguished wine, wine that has really has its personality. And, I think it's really very well appreciated. And, and people know it because it's it's been there for, for decades. So So what about a typical food match? A good food match for Vena nobelle? I would say the Vena nobelle is very versatile wine. So it's afraid with all the red meats with, with game, but not only with red meats. Well, I recently had, you know, dinner menu, testing menu with, for example, fish going to Norway or going to China. What kind of fish? Well, very very strong meaty fish or Strong many fish, but, yes, of course, depending on the way it's prepared, but definitely, it's a versatile wine. And that's one of the most important characteristic of the vena nobility. I love to say that it's the important friendly wine. So and by the way, it doesn't, need you don't need to wait ten years before saying, you know, it's perfectly right. It's perfect much more in the bottle. It's, also come down to a little bit to the winemaking, you know, you you do make a win that is quite easy to approach without being simple. So you make it a complex one, which is which has got drinkability early on, and that's I think that's what you're known for that you've really understood what the market wants. Yeah. A friendly wine. You know, it's an important wine, but still We mean a big wine. It's it's quite a a a a concentrated wine. Of course, we have the different the different categories, the different wines. So, for example, I like to call the rosso di Montepuchano, which is the younger brother, the younger brother, the younger brother, the Villanobili. I would say the important everyday wine. If you want something tasty, fruity, but, you know, not as complex as a vinaobili. Of course, the vinaobili is a versatile wine but still friendly smooth. And then I'll have the bassona in my case or a super tough count that are, of course, a little bit, even more complex and need richer food. Yeah. Or, you know, I think that you can enjoy the wines, not necessarily with food. But, we are more Italians that definitely need to pair, you know, wine and food. But, for example, I think you, you can enjoy a wonderful glass of wine on Hobby at midnight before going to bed to relax. I'll bear that in mind next I'm writing a book and I get stuck. I'll give you a ring. Okay. So give you just premiere, a bottle of, Vina Nobley, Katarina Day from the day winery in Montepulciano, in Tuscany, Vina Nobley area. Thanks very much for coming in. I love this word, Pauluto. I'm gonna say pomputo all day long now. It's it's stuck in my brain. That's a great one. Thanks for coming in. Thank you. Great to see you. And, I'll hopefully come and see you soon and check out all your wonderful cover crops and your vineyards. Thank you so much. Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot. Follow Italian wine podcast on Facebook and Instagram.