Ep. 2 Monty Waldin interviews Francesco Marone Cinzano of Col d'Orcia Winery in Montalcino | Discover Italian Regions: Tuscany / Toscana

Italian wine podcast. Chinching with Italian wine people. Hello. My name is Monte Woodin. I'm with Franchesca Maroney Chinsano from Goldortia in Montecino. Welcome. Hello. Hello, Monte. Okay, Franchesca. Just tell me a little bit about your your your family name, Chinsano, obviously is a name that people will know what is Chinsano, what was Chinsano, and and what is your family connection to it? Well, we can go back to the late, fifteenth century in the surroundings of the city of Turin in Northern Italy. Producing wines and distilled spirits, was licensed to sell to the capital city of Churid. And since then, my family from father to son, we've been producing wines, the most in the eighteenth century, sparkling wines, in the nineteenth century, and, and so on. And then in nineteen seventy three, we arrived in Montecino, you know, at the time when Montecino was, almost unknown, even on the Thailand market. And there we started a new adventure that has seen Montacino become probably the best known wine place in Italy these days. And I think we contributed to that. We contributed to distributing the wines from Montecino, the Bruno, around Italy, around the world, and, contributed to make it, make it famous. So what you're saying is the fact that you, you came from a your family company had international reputation, it meant that when you went into the market with your new, Bruno wines, it sort of helped internationalize things. That's right. Yes. We had the distribution network in Italy and overseas and that helped to receive the first, in Montecino, there are two wines produced Brunell de Montecino and the rosecito Montecino, and the first, medal, international medal won by a a rosecito in, in Brussels in nineteen seventy eight was from, from Coldolce. Okay. So just explain the difference for those who don't know. What is Brunoo made from? What's the name of the grape? And what is the difference between Brunoo de Montecino and Roso de Montecino? What makes Montecino special is the fact that we're allowed, to use only the sangiovese grape If we want to write the word Montecino on the label, the law of the state of Italy, mandates only Montecino, only, San Jose. Great. Nothing else but Sanjay. And we have a a younger wine, from the SandroV inconvenience called Roso that can be released one year after harvest. And then, the brunello, brunello has to be aged at least, twenty four months in wooden barrels and then has to wait in the bottle until the fifth year to be released. So, a wine that, has a lot of age ability, aging potential. Now you're one of the largest states in Montecino. Whereabouts are you located? Because there's the hill in the middle. There's a northern part of Montecino, then the hill, and then the southern part, which part are you in? We're on the southern side, facing south, southwest. So in full sun all day long, until sunset, and we're actually the the part of Matocino closest to the sea closest to the Mediterranean coast. So very much influenced by sea winds and, and by the coastal weather. Okay. And you're also one of the largest organic producers in Italy and you're the largest in Monteachines. Well, why did you make that choice It came as a natural evolution, in in our work of, research and development in the vineyard, trying to obtain the maximum quality. We understood that, it all hinged on the balance of the vineyard, the balance of the vines with, with the environment. And so, to achieve that, it led us naturally towards, sustainability and, eventually to, organic practices. And, So in the year twenty ten, we decided to start the procedure for certification. And since twenty thirteen, we are now certified organic. So you're not an organic fundamentalist. You're an organic realist and you did it for quality rather than for philosophy. You cannot, divide it to. I think you, you have to apply some, some strict, there are strict rules. You have to be a little bit, extremist to a certain extent. Also because you have to understand that, the the vineyard by itself, cannot survive. It it is the eco ecosystem. It is the biodiversity of the surroundings that allow you to practice, the organic farming. If you don't take care of the habitors around the vineyard, then you you cannot achieve, healthy grapes with organic, farming. So do you have any animals on the estate or birds or anything like that to increase your biodiversity? That's an area. I need to develop further, but, we, we are bringing back, farm animals, especially chickens. We have now two chicken houses, on the state, next to the orchards and with fruit trees and, and we're looking at, bringing back sheep in the, in the surrounding fields as well. So, I mean, would you be able to milk those sheep for cheese likely do in Pienza nearby the pecorino cheese or would they would they end up on the dinner plate? Dinner plate. We have, we have a big, refrigerators. Okay. And, is is Bruno a good match for for lamb? Production was a great match, for Lam, a great match for, game generally. I'm not too strict about, pairings. Wine with food, I believe that, recipes that contain the aromatic, ingredients of the Mediterranean bushland. So, like, rosemary or sage or fennel or all the different aromas of, of the Mediterranean would, are suitable and, you can find them in the wine if you if you cook a recipe of, tortellini with butter and sage. Well, you will find the sage in the in the aromas of the wine. And, so pretty liberal on the, on the paying side. Okay. So, I mean, sitting in front of me here, you're very, very smart and you dressed in a very fine suit. You are bearded, but you're not a weirdie beardie, not an organic fundamentalist. However, you are at the forefront of developing Montecino as what in Italian called a or sort of, environmental place, environmental area. How is, how does that work? Is it just wine growers or was it you trying to get everybody involved? Well, one, unique, fact about Montecino is that although it is arguably the most famous wine, municipality in Italy. Only fifteen percent of the land is, planted with vineyards. So there is a large proportion of the of the municipality that's, either, used for other crops or it's, woodland. And, this is an opportunity, and that's why, we're talking about a Montalcino Bio biological. Because it is, all that, multatino can produce from grains to breeding animals, fruits and vegetables, and, and, and so on. We want to, bring value to all the aspects of the Montacino offer of the Montacino product, even tourism is a product. So we, we need to, develop better infrastructure for walking for bicycles, for horse rides, for all kinds of, activities, and, and, of course, our agriculture products. So, all encompassing, project of, making Montecino a a beacon of sustainability for for the future. Now you also make one very unusual one that's quite rarely found a Moscatellity Montancin. Just explain a bit about the history of Moscadella because a few years ago, was seen to be the grape or the the Weinstein, then it changed to explain that to us a little bit if you can. In, in history, and we're we're looking back, five hundred years and more in, late middle ages in, early renaissance, Montacino found itself on the way, on on the road for the pilgrims to Rome. And it was famous for its wine, but the wine of the made Montuccino famous in those days was not red wine. It was a sweet, muscadello, late harvest made with the white muscanto grape. Only very few, grape growers are still, using that grape in Montecino, less than ten, and, still producing the historic wine that was, even exported to Paris in in the in the renaissance. Tell me about your top red brunello wine. You have a single vineyard one. How old is the vineyard and why is it so special? The single vineyard, brunello, the Montecino Reserva. It's called the, the windy height, the hill, a ridge, the characterized by, sandy soil, or at least was more sand than the rest of the state and the rest of Montecino, quite alkaline, with, it it used to be a former seabed. So it has a lot of faucales, a lot of, little shells and, that release calcium, which is, very, limestone, as you call it, beneficial to the quality of the of the wine and delivers very silky and fine tannins, that make for a, wine of great eligibility and great elegance. Okay. Final question is what is your next challenge? Well, I, I'm a farmer and I believe, We don't own the land. We just, care for it and, have to leave it in the best conditions for future generations. So, handing it over in the best possible condition to to the next generation. Francesco Maroni Chintano. Thank you very much for entertaining to talk to you. I look forward to eating one of your chickens at some stage in the future. Thank you. Okay. I'm looking forward to sharing together. Follow us at Italian wine podcast on Facebook.