Ep. 209 Monty Waldin interviews Barbara Widmer (Brancaia Winery)

Italian wine podcast. Chinching with Italian wine people. This podcast is brought to you by Lux wines, importer of fine wines, bringing you exceptional wines from esteemed winemaking families, Alegini, Arcano, Pierman, Pieropan, Pogio Altezoro, Renato Rati and Touratorre. Find out more at deluxe wines dot com. Hello. This is the Italian White podcast on the Montewood. My guest today is Barbara Whitmer of the Brang kai a winery in Canti Classic. Welcome Barbara. Hi. Thank you for having me. Yeah. It won't last long. Don't worry. We won't be here long. Oh, not. Thanks, Barbara. That was a great interview. That's cool. Actually, you know Canti Classicico in, like, in four nine zero seconds. I'm really impressed. Have a nice journey. Okay. So tell me a little about the the history of Brankai. It's your family winery. Brankai is owned by my family. You can hear it. You can't see it, but I'm doesn't look and sound very Italian. I'm Swiss. I grew up in Rick and, a bit more than forty years ago, my parents had the great idea to go to Tuscany for Christmas holiday, and you make an imagine. It was easy for them to fall in love with the region with the people, and, of course, with the food and wine. So during this Christmas holiday, they created the wish and the dream to have a holiday house, in Tuscany, a holiday house, not the winery. And so they looked around like they found a house on a on a soft hill, and, around this hill, there were some acres of vineyards. And, instead of just having a holiday house, they became the proud owner of a small winery. Which, commune or commune we talking about in Canti Classicico? Frankaya belongs to Castellina in county. Castellina in county. So that is which part of Canti Glasgow in the West East, north south? That's really pretty much between Florence and Sierra in the middle. It's it's slightly closer to Sienna, so for just to give you an idea year by car, it would be, like, forty minutes, hard ride from, Florence and the thirty from Siena. Okay. Your parents still around? They are still around, but, they never ever really became winemakers. So, it was for them, a very, interesting and and and serious hobby, but the hobby, and the hobby just increased, more and more and, and a bit more than twenty five years ago. I decided myself to study wine making and moved to Tuscany a bit more than twenty years ago. So, Where did you study winemaking in? I studied in Switzerland. Okay. And so you're an ologist? I am. And do you work for, obviously, you work for the family winery? Would you work for other wineries as well? Only only as a as a small stage before my this. So I was, for one year in the French part of, Switzerland, and I worked there. But, after university, I moved to Tuscany, and I took it over the production of the family estate. So what was your first vintage with you in charge? Ninety eight. And to be honest, how how long did you did you did you think you the your first vintage, you got it right? Immediately, or was there like a period of you a growing period or learning period where you got more and more comfortable with both with the estate and the winemaking the whole thing? Well, first of all, I do believe that, winemaking is always a learning process. So there's always something to learn and to improve, but it goes without saying as more vintages you have, more experience you have, more ideas, and and you feel more comfortable with the decisions you have to take because you have to take a lot of decisions very often you don't have so much time to rethink and reanalyze. So it's it's a lot of it's important and crucial to study while making, but it's, important and crucial to believe in in what you feel. So a lot of decisions, we are taking our stomach decisions. That's also why I may would call, especially if you want to make high call a Tewine. It's more philosophy than science. Okay. Let's run through, your Kanty classical range. What what wines have you got? What are they called? We have, as Kounte classic, we have a Kounte classic or anata, and we have a Ruserra. So they did both called just Kire, basically. Yeah. Our label is always the same. So we could you have a square, and in the middle of the square, you have the name of the winery, and then we just add subtitles if you want, so, with the Count de glossigonata and the risera, well, we want actually to show you the two extremes you can do today in the county classical region. So is the blend the same? Is it always hundred percent Sanjuvasio, is it Sanjuvesio with tuscan grapes or border grapes, for example? It's the Anata, so the, let's say, entry level County classical. It's a hundred percent on Cheviso. So that's quite new, actually, in the county classical, county classical, traditionally, it was always a blend. And today, you can make a hundred percent on Chavisa in Cotte County Closico, and it's, this wine is without oak. So it's very fresh, very very fruit driven, straightforward, only San Chavese and it matures in concrete and stainless steel, totally the opposite to a reserve, where we want to show the complexity and the elegance of the San Chavese. So the reserve we do eighty percent on Sherese, which is today the minimum of what you need in a county classico, and we add a twenty percent Merlo. And it ages actually for sixty months in small barrels. So we go from one very clean fresh fruity one to a very complex and full body wine. But your wine, even though it is quite okay, it's not like overroaked. It's, integrated. That's Brockaya style. We always are keen to find a well balanced, so nothing should be dominated, special the Sancho Vese. If I do compare a bit how we worked, in the previous year, we used for Sancho Vese for all our wines, Oryk, which are the smallest, let's say, wood barrels, and today we mainly use tono, which is still very small. I'm bad in gallons, but in liters, a baric is two hundred twenty five liter, and the Dono is five hundred liter. So Dono is a bit more than the double. Small, but it really if, from my point of view, the right shape for Sanchez. You will want to add something. You don't want to kill something. Sure. So that trend of, maybe turning down the oak slightly is is kind of apparent in Kenticlaskin, the fact that you touched on, that you make a hundred percent sangiovese as well. That also seems to be a trend in in anti classical. Do you think that's good or unambitious or too traditional? Or You know, why making in the most vibration from my point of view is something quite modern? We are actually in a in a very sighting moments of the world, we can bring outstanding wines from all over the world, which was not, common forty years ago. So whatever we have today in a bottle or in a glass in front of us is something quite new. It's that the county classical as a region is a very old wine region with a very old wine tradition. But the wine tradition in this region, as in most of the other wine region was producing a easy everyday wine, which was not supposed to be elegant and complex and, was not supposed to age for twenty or thirty years. So most wines we do have today are not in a classical way old fashioned. They are modern because they are clean. They're done with ripe grapes without failures. So for me, the focus is to doing a wine with the perfect ripe grape, which matures at the spot there, where I am in the best possible way. And there, it's crucial to respect and understand nature. So, intend us to about food and wine. That's okay. What are some suggestions with your Swiss hat on, and then with your Tuscan hat on for Canti Clasico or maybe a hundred hundred percent Sanjuvedi Clasico. With the with our county classical hundred percent, sun Visa, you have a a slightly higher acidity beside that bronchial wines do have always a clear acidity. I think acidity, is important for a wine. It gives a backbone, and I I purse only enjoy wine always with some food even if it's just, a piece of cheese and to have a perfect fit fit food, you need some acidity. But anyhow, Anatto does have a little bit more acidity. It's a bit pressure. So in the summer, you also can actually drink it a bit cooler. And as it is so fresh and light, it goes with, tomato sauce pasta as with, also a grilled fish, actually. It's goes very well with many dishes, easy drinking. And as I just mentioned, easily, also a bit cooler than what may, a so many would recommend. Is is more complex, more deeper. So, for me, personally, already a bit more in evening wine than probably a lunch wine. My my favorite, fit would probably be, bisteca, but it's, their wines which are very strongly linked to the terroir, so to the region, but they go easily with all kinds of food. So you don't really need to make, Italian food if you're not feeling like. Sure. What plans have you got for the future as a family? Well, one one focus we we have since since beginning is never ever making any kind of compromising quality. In the meanwhile, I was happy enough to find out that this rule goes extremely well with the maximum respect to nature. So all our wines are natural fermentation, and and, so we have a lot of tiny and bigger steps to improve this, and we will follow this, as a moderator of, two teenagers, it goes without saying that I will hope that this business will remain in our family. Okay. That's quite a strong statement. Not easy though, is it to keep it in the family? Do your kids get on with each other? So far. Yeah. How old are they? They are, fifteen and seventeen. That's interesting. Nine to ten. We only got one. So, so we're just difficult with this sort of family ratio. Well, let's hope it does, stay in the family. Oh, I have also two brothers with kids. So, we are convinced that it would great. If if if this is part of our family and, but, you need luck, and, they have to take their own decision. Waimaking is a a beautiful job. It's a challenging job, but it's also a tough job, and it's not romantic. It's really a lot of work and and whoever is doing it needs to be, convinced that this is what she or he wants to do. What was the biggest lesson you file for your father Bruno taught you? Belief in yourself. But as a as a just as a human or as a as a woman in mine, there is a bit of a difference, isn't there? I think he teaches me this as as a person. You know, I I grew up in Switzerland. I have two older brothers, and my father always showed me that I can do one ever I want to do. So today, that seems probably totally normal. At that time, I would say he was probably quite modern, so there was never ever discussion. If I can do something or I have to do something different, then he supported me in every thing, all the time. So I I never had the feeling that's that I don't have the same options as my brothers. Great. That's pretty far forward forward thinking, I guess. Yeah. Yep. That's cool. That's a nice little family note to end on. Say thanks to my guest today, Barbara widmer, CEO of Parangakiya. I see us as a corporate, doesn't it? I just say with Barbara widmer, the widmer. The widmer, the widmer family of Brangkeye in, in Canti Glasgow. Thanks very much for coming on the Italian White podcast. I'll do thank you for for Amy and, They won't they won't happen again. But why not? Probably next time in Tuscany at the minus state. Yeah. No. I should come and visit you, actually. Yeah. Yeah. We actually we like having people at this state. That's the Do you know one of the most the one of the folks is a I most come across is a picture of you with your arms outstretched and your chin on your wrist, I think. I think I've seen that more more time, a picture more times in more places across the world than any other wine picture, honestly. It's for striking. I mean, you're a very striking lady. To default degree. No. Oh, no. You were striking lady, and, and I just said, I don't know why is why that why that picture seems to follow me, when we're on a go. So I could've, like, the night before it's last night, I talked to you Barbara tomorrow, and I just had this picture of my mind. I thought, now what am I gonna say? You know, it's gonna be completely phased out by you. And, and in fact, it's all gone, I think, like a dream. I mean, our audiences will probably drop for this podcast because I waffling on as usual, but, no, it's lovely to see you. That's great being here. And, hope to see you in Kente Classic. Yeah. You should come. It's a great great place to go and to visit. Thanks, Barbara. Thank you. This podcast has been brought to you by Lux wines, importer of fine wines, bringing you exceptional wines from esteemed winemaking families. Alegrini, Arcano, Pierman, Pieropan, for Joel tezoro Renato Rati and Toranatori. Find out more at lox wines dot com. Follow Italian wine podcast on Facebook and Instagram.