Ep. 162 Monty Waldin interviews Leonardo Ricci (Leo Ricci Winery) | Discover Italian Regions: Veneto

Italian wine podcast. Chinching with Italian wine people. Hello. This is the Italian wine podcast. My guest today is leonardo ritchie, and leonardo's winery is called leonardo ritchie, and you are in the province of Treviso. So I'm guessing is that is the world capital of prossecco? You are a prossecco producer. Well, not really prossecco producer. I'm a l b, why not? He's not a prossecco producer because I I love prossecco. It's my I I I sure drink much more prosecco than making my life, for sure. But, the the the story of my wine in the name of the group is a Souliability is coming from two friend, which we I was coming from a seller experience. I was working for a longer octave, very nice winery. Inumbria? Inumbria. Yes. Where the quality is important. And, and then Colato, which is a prosecco producer, also very important. And then I quit. My When when did you quit? I quit something like five years ago, something like that. And, then we find ourself and say, okay, let's make it Orion. And he is very keen on, say, biochemistry. Fine. Okay. Okay. He has a a almost a medicine degree. What's his name again? Carlos Mistani. Carlos is his first name Charles. Charles. Yes. And his second name is? Amistani. Amistani? Yes. Is italian? Yes. He's a Italian. Where's he from Italy then? Yeah. He's from montebelluna. So it's crossed there. Alright. Okay. Still per second. So, basically, you're both from the same region. Yes. Yes. Okay. We are friends in when we were sixteen. Right. We are now fighting for the same girl. Okay. That's alright. So, and then you create which is a limited company, which is a limited company, which means food and agriculture for agri food. Yes. Well, my I'm much more keen on food than in wine. Wine to me is a part of food. Yep. A way, which is not something to say in this particular, but A wine is food. Yeah. I totally agree. In fact, when I was traveling around the world, my my best sport was making wine dinner, pairing wine with food, and also the wine everywhere I was going with. It was to find any kind of food that was pairing perfectly with my with my wine. And, making wine dinner with a with a good chef was very happy. I have don't know, I mean, I I don't know how to say this diplomatically. If somebody met you and they and I didn't know didn't know you and the question was, does this guy like food? We would we would have to say that yes, he probably does. Yeah. Yeah. From my one number forty five kilos, and I can see it. Yeah. You said it. So, you obviously like your food. Right. So go on. Carry on. So we we are we are fine ourselves. Say, okay. We are we are to do our wine. We have to do the wine we like and what, so how has to be this wine. This wine has to be technically perfect. So not very smell or nothing like that. But there also, we don't want to be beyond the mainstream. This wine has to be as you have to have very much the the aromas of the varieties, and you had to find the terroir out of it. And then other thing, both of us in our wine life, we develop this allergy for so fight. Oh, really? This is a this is another problem. So how to make a wine, which tastes, like, perfectly, which give you the aromas of the varieties and the teruar without sulfide. It's easy. Look at the history is the Vino Colfondo. So in the old time, the wine was self protecting. So Vino Colfondo, do you want me to explain, or would you like to explain? Or would you like to explain? Or would you like to explain? Or is not really Vino Colfondor? But, you know, is a wine represented in the bottle? And it's with its yeast with a fondant with a with a with a gift. Why is that important to so that you can avoid the sulfur? So first of all, if you put sulfurite in the in the in the battle before to battle it, the the the gift doesn't work. Right. So you doesn't have the refer in the bottle. Second, the wine, the guests, when they hit all the sugar, they die. And so, the remains of that is a very powerful and informative. Sorry antioxidant. So, basically, what the yeast do in in bold language is they eat the grape sugar. They get the sugar. You make alco and co2. So this is what what they do. And then in this process, they also eat the oxygen. So, you know, you have a very much, very good protection. Other other thing, when they die, they make this antioxidant, which name is glutatione, very bad name, but very And, so this is a very good preservative. So the wine is self preserving. This is why we call integral. Our category, we are called Venus Pumante integrale. So it's a sparkling wine made by the Charmat method, I guess. Yeah. No. No. No. Is there is a kind of champagne wine that is made with the second fermentation bottle. Yeah. The second fermentation bottle. And you'd leave it on the lease, coral fonder with a with a f a fonder of a sediment, and those is what allows you to bottle it without sulfites because there's no risk of oxidation. In fact, in fact, this wine, for instance, is it the Vantage, is it the fifth two two thousand fifteen, and has been bottled in two thousand sixteen. Right. So a wine, prosaic co wine in two thousand fifteen. Now it's a very, really, really, it should be really, really old. So if I look at your label here, so that this wine, it's, it's a Venus Pomencibrutte, eleven point five alcohol, and you've made four thousand four hundred bottles of very smart label. And what is interesting on the bottom of the board, I just seen. Which basically means you are supposed to pour it and have a cloudy glass full. Yeah. I listed this wine or saw in a three star Michelin restaurant. And do they do that as do they follow your instructions to the letter then? Yes. And then the interesting thing is when you drink this wine, so if you drink you and a friend a maximum of four people, you have to put in the fridge on top. And so when you open, you pour the wine and the first day is crystal and then became more and more dusty. Okay. So the first pour, if you stand the bottle upright, does it normally would be on the on the fat side? Obviously the, if you put it in the fridge, all the sediment will sink to the bottom. Yes. So the first pour will be a clean, a clear glass of of sparkling wine. But on the second, it will start getting cloudy as you start hitting the the More and more. The font or the the the In this way, you will have it changing on the taste of the wine while you're drinking it. Right. And so in this kind, he has a minority of this this chef. And then it was growing up the taste. So, with the same bottle, it was a six courses menu. The first three, you can can be covered by one bottle of wine because the taste was growing. Right. We're changing, you mean. Yeah. It's changing. Yeah. The the the one of the the the bigger pointer strength of this wine is that is light, but is very long lasting. It's a lot. You mean intense, do you mean? Never leave you alone. You have your mouth for a long time. And then a seat of the safety, you have differences This decision makes this wine interesting. It's not such a, you know, outstanding in the beginning, but it's growing step by step. Okay. And believe me, one bottle per person for meal is normal. You're a big lad. You're a big lad, for you. Yeah. One bottle. I mean, a lot of people wouldn't be able to drink a bottle, but I see I see where you're going. Believe me. You too. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I can. I have years of practice, mate. Don't worry about me. So what about food with it, there's only eleven and there's only eleven and there's only eleven and there's only eleven and there's only eleven and a half alcohol kind of backs up your point that you could over the evening. I like when I write, sometimes late into the night, I have a bottle of wine. And, if writing goes well, I finish out, I have like half a glass. And if I'm up until three in the morning, I may have three glasses, which keeps me going, but this is eleven point five What food would you recommend with this sparkling wine that is is gonna have that yeasty sediment in it most of the time? Is it a full bodied wine that would go with a rich dislike, I don't know, pork or something like that, or is it is it more delicate? Well, let's go a little bit outside from the regular consideration of wine. This wine is a complex wine, but not strong. So, if you want, you can drink like sparkling water. If you don't want to think about it, you can just drink like that. But if you want to think at is give you cessation and different associations. So, for instance, I am a president of the Speed Academy, you know. Of the What Academy? Speed Academy. What what hang on. It's not speed. It's what what? Speed. Ross to me. Oh, get roast meat, spit, spit Academy. Yeah. Okay. So, That's obviously. Yeah. That's an interesting title. And, in So he's getting his phone out now. What are we gonna see? Would you see some animal? Yeah. I can show you something not the animal to death. Right. That is, spit roasting. I don't know what they are. Is that beef? No. This is pork and chicken. And, this is, to cook this, it takes from five to nine hours. Right. Very, very slow. And, the taste the only the only other taste is sage. Again, there's no sage. This is a very typical food of our region. And, you can have with this, but you can have also with some cheese. You can have as aperitif with, of course, with some raw fish No problem about that. So, of course, then there are if you have a a Brazato demands or beef raised, you know, take something more strong, but it's extremely, extremely versatile as wine. So what is your main market for this wine? Is it Italy or is it abroad? Actually, it's Italy. The main market more than, more than for the area is for a knowledgeable consumer. People who does who know what does it mean while to wine or does it mean the quality in wine? So, basically, you mean the people that have a like fine fine wine, they're like fine dining, fine food, and they're prepared to be a little bit curious and and drink a sparkling wine that is actually a little bit cloudy because they see it as a gas dronomic product. Yes. That's all part of the food and wine experience. Not at all afraid. The fact that it has that little bit of cetera. In fact, they like it. That's what they want. I guarantee that this is has to be like that. Mhmm. You know, it's is trying something different, you know, in the old time, why they choose not to put the the guests, though they remain the sediment in the wine. Because, you can think in the hair right now, we have thousands of different kind of gist. So, you'd never know what's happening in your battle when you battle it. So you can be lucky or not. Of course, the farmer, when they do this system in the old time. Colfounder. Colfounder, they they were sure to be able to drink this wine until late because It would it would age, and it wouldn't spoil. Yes. Otherwise, around March, they were acid. And the the fact that the farmer, they use it to drink the wine in the cave in the in the in the cap. Right. Very large cap because so the volatile activity is going away. Okay. So when they they when they take out from the from the big gask. Does your wine do in blind tastings? Because, obviously, I do a lot of blind tasting my job, and some people, they pour in a bunch of sparkling wines. They're all gonna be clear, light, the yellow, light, very pale colors normally, and lovely fears absolutely clean and clear to look through. And then, they pour a blind ensemble of yours with a paper background. They know what it is. They said, hang on. This is a bit cloudy. What's going on? They immediately stick their hand up and say, excuse me, faulty wine. Can we get another bottle, please? Well, how do you change people's perceptions? Well, this one has to be explained to be like that. Also, they have a a fair in Germany. So it's something that can be accepted, but you you have to advise the people this wine is like that. This is a characteristic of wine. That's my favorite bit, East. Yeah. I love the fact that it has a settlement on it. Yeah. I I'll have to really, but this probably because it's also part of my my childhood. My grandfather was, was one of the first academic of, prosecco, and he was the one who invented the Livino Bianco, and just wine, wine road? Yes. Yes. And, I the first, the first, he was I was a kid when I tried the first, it was a a Cartice with sediment in this cave. I remember, like, today. So Cartite is like the creme de la creme of prosecco effectively. Yeah. It's the top of the top of the prosecco. In that time, they have no no sophistication on the prosecco. So the cartiz characteristic is because they have some particular leaf that make this kind of taste. So very steep slopes and, very steep, very, very low, very small area. Yeah. Hot warm climate. So small berries, with quite a bit of texture. Yeah. It's it's a prosecco, but, but, they have they have this climber and this, this particular gift that give you a particular taste of that. And this was a prosecco with, participate with sediment. And I remember today also the complexity of this, of this matter of worry. It really influenced you when you were small. Yeah. Yeah. Shrewh and your your your career, hasn't it? Yours was your second career. You've had this always in your mind that you're gonna replicate what you had kid. Right? Yeah. Well, this is this is something. Yes. I think so. Yeah. You'll you'll get that. Yeah. Yeah. So you must have been quite fun at school, you know, everyone else is gonna wanna go on a bit train driver. I wanna post money. You're like, no, I wanna make a fizzy sparkling wine with to yeast in the bottom and change people's perceptions for that. Who's this guy? But for instance, another part of my life, I when I was killed, my father used to go to United States to see he has a poultry farm and to see the market of, corn because corn was a sixty percent of the expensive of the year. So you go there and, to find out how was the market, there was a consumption like that, and they come back to Italy and they say, you know, the American have some eggs in the morning, have some in the money. I was five years old. So all the families start to cook by themselves with the fire is on the eggs. And from that, all my family is really developed, devoted to food. We all are cookie. We all are, are looking for, for some different. I I, for instance, I've been, I am also actually a a culinary advisor for some restaurant, making a recipe, making menu, try to give to some, for instance, I've been working for two years in Sri Lanka, giving the seasonal food of the of it actually carrying their the thing and making them try the real taste of this kind of, for another example, the third third of May. I have a dinner close to the Major Lake where I go in the morning to the farmer, I keep pick up asparagus pickup just that morning, and I carry during the day to to there, and we make a asparagus dinner with a very fresh asparagus. You know, this kind of, what does the main excellence? What does it mean top quality? What does it mean gastronomy? Fresh and local. Fresh. They have to be fresh or not. What is the best? So that's your thing with your cold fonder, though, isn't it with your sparkling wine? It's like when you open it, you want it to taste vibrant and fresh and not at all oxidized. That was your point right at the back of the beginning of this this interview was this this idea of freshness. Yeah. And what about freshness in terms of friend temperature a freshest intensity profile and and the wine's profile. Yeah. Yes. This this wine has to be, you know, temperature a little bit fresh, but not that much. Otherwise, you don't feel the the temperature. And, and then also during the time you you you you have from the beginning to the hand of the battle, you have this developing development of the of the of the taste that give you the the kind of sensation of it. Which are which are influenced by the east at the bottom at all? Yes. The east and those, I think, a kind of oxidation of, or the wine. Beneficial oxidation. Yes. Yeah. Inolutionary. Let's say what is, say normally the wine is all opening Yeah. When this kind of, by which is not normal in the white wine, but this has also three years in the battle. So I'll try a little bit of a brief. Cool. Alright. Now, the interview is closing, and I have I I kind of I have said my mouth is watering. Look at this beautiful presentation of your bottle and you can just see the yeast, a little bit in the bottom of the bottle. And that looks like a mouth watering proposition that you're sparkling wine. Thank you very for coming in today. Thank you. Leonardo ritchie. I like the fact that, you can't see this at home, but, on his business card, he's got a sort of a hedgehog because in Italian, Aricchio is, porcupine. Yeah. As a porcupine, but you know, as a Haricier and yeah, let me just do that again. So what you can't see is on Leonardo's business card. His surname is Leonard is Richi, and Aruchi, you don't wanna hit one if you drive around, letty, because it's a porcupine. You have a very nasty accident because it will just completely blow all your tires and his business card. There's a fantastic little drawing of a porcupine. So if you're not interested in the wine, get the guy's business card and if you're interested in, him get his business card and get the wine. Thanks a lot. Leonardo dietsci for coming in today, and explaining to us about Proseco Colfon. Thank you. Follow Italian wine podcast on Facebook and Instagram.