Ep. 2057 Cococciola, Fumin, Gaglioppo by Davy Leung | Italian Grape Geek

Who wants to be the next Italian wine Ambassador? Join an exclusive network of four hundred Italian wine ambassadors across forty eight countries. Vineetly International Academy is coming to Chicago on October nineteenth is twenty first. And Walmatikazakhstan from November sixteenth to eighteenth. Don't miss out. Register now at Vineetri dot com. Welcome to the Italian GreatGeek Podcast. Join us as we explore personal stories of travel and tasting with Italy's must know grape varietals. Chart your own course with my Italian Greatkeeb journal, your personal tasting companion to accompany the series, available now on Amazon. With thanks to Colangelo and partners for their generous support with this Okay. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening, everyone. Depends on where you are and what time you are listening to the podcast. My name is Dave William, Italian White Ambassador, and certified wine educator in Hong Kong, Y Academy. So people call me daytime corporate finance specialists, and nighttime wine educator in Hong Kong. I travel Italy for all the local indigenous grape varieties and also around the world to seek for the same varieties and find out how these germs perform outside the Italian. Since then, I fail enough with all the Italian wines because there's no other way we could offer the complexity and varieties to my to my wine drinking map. So I'm going to introduce three grapes today. The first grape is called Fumins. Some background about the Foomin grape. The grape is planted exclusively in the central valley of our star valley, and the name is derived from the root work Fumo or smoke. Thanks to the generous dusty boom on the mature grape berries, and perhaps the smoke flavors it demonstrates with age. It was in decline because in the Valdosta valley, the sunshine can easily cause sunburn and requires very careful canopy management. It is usually a very good blending partner that gives color and body to his friend, Patty Hush, and not until thirty years ago, or since nineteen ninety, a few wineries has decided to winify it into a single varietal with great success. We've helped of the climate change Fumind is getting better phenolic brightness. Some key information about the grave. Fumind is a lake maturing varieties that is harbors around late October to beginning November. It requires a very good sunshine exposure And that's why you will find a lot of the full means, you know, steep incarnation and a self western exposure to get maximum sunlight in the region. It is quite suitable to the Alpine climate because it is quite resilient and this is resistant. Lake budding, and early ripening suitable in the winter temperatures and dry climates of the alpine condition, compact cylindrical, small medium bunches, and small medium berries. Nowadays, Gaia training is more preferred than the low pergola training method. So it type range from the glacial Marine to Arluvio gravel and sand with some spot out pockets of schist and limestone. This grape also likes steep slopes of up to seventy percent with dry stone terraces at six hundred to six hundred fifty meters above the sea level. In the glass, it is usually deep ruby color with a slight purple tinge. It can be quite complex and intense favor of ripe dry wrap fruits, smokiness, spiciness, black pepper, licorice, vanilla, soft leather, clove, graphite, and alpine flowers. Or sometimes we like the Italian terms called balsamic. In the glass, is it's likely to be very high acid, moderate to high tanning level when it is well extracted. And large format barrels to polish the tannings and stabilize the acidity. Have I tried the wires with this grape? Yes, of course. I've tried hundred percent Fumens in a tasting back in two thousand twenty one. We have a bunch of white friends, and we all loved how Fumens is expressing its prettiness and elegance at the same time displaying the alpine flowers and pure fresh fruits of the mountain, all happening in the glass. I really like it. I'm always keen to try the varieties at very high elevations because you can associate the aromas and flavors grown without any pollution. Fruit purity and clarity is what interests me the most, and it always display perfume and spicy quality to inner wine. It is wine available in my market. Yes and no, food means it's available in a few Italian wine gigs supply in Hong Kong. However, I found it very difficult to find a few bottles in my hometown back in Melbourne. If you know who is selling some bottles in Melbourne, please let me know. Any benchmark producers that is worth trying? Yes. I will suggest, like, crates who ferment some of their full mints with dry grapes for the smoother and creamier wine, Grosian, and Elio or Tang. They are the free producers that I would highly recommend. If you ask me what is the food pairing recommendation for this grape varieties? That is a very good question. So I'd love to pair this wine with the typical spices salami of the region. If you ask me the same question in Hong Kong, I will say duck or goose made in brine marinade, and that is made of sichuan peppers. Stylanes and other vegetables to cope with. The select perfume and spiciness of the wine will bring out all the aromatics and elegance of the marination to a, very precise balance level. If we are in Australia, I will recommend the local soft cheese or the OC version of a carbonate, which is the rich, dry, salted beef stew, which is very delicious. So the second grape that I am going to share is a called Galliapo. So Gallipol, the principal red grapes of Calabrio, and the base of his best known d o c y is called Chiro, which was established since nineteen sixty nine. His name is derived from the Greek word meaning beautiful foods, yes, beautiful foods about human. And in fact, right great bunches of Galliapo are very thorough, plump and very appealing. It's very beautiful. If you take a, if you like picture, take some picture, you will find that it's look like beautiful food. It is also one of the Italy's oldest grape varieties, a wine that retained was made with Galliofo called Kremissa. Also, we work for winners of the Olympic Games. And Kremissa talks his name from Kremissa. The ancient name for the city of Chiro, one of the three important Greek cities in what is now Calabrio, and famous in antique for a town called devoted to wine. Recent DNA study have clarified that Galeopold is a natural crossing of San Jose and Montecino. And the later is a very typical grape of Calabrio. So some key information about the grape. The grape has a very light color cube, And although the skin are very thick and compact bunches, and are also very susceptible to powdery mildew and Pronospora. It has unstable anthocyanins, and therefore, breaking in color is very common. For a grape with character like this, and in such a warm climate, some of the producers are harvesting the grape a little bit earlier to maintain acidity. If you want to get a very good extraction of the grape, it is very difficult for the color and the structure. Else, you may need a very long maturation and temperature control facilities, which means higher cost and labor for a well structured wine. But there are some wines which is very highly structured on the market. On the palette, it is always dry. Color can range from pale to medium ruby at youth and showcasing a lot of wild berries, raspberries, red currants, earthiness, roses, cinnamon, clove, and due to his low hanging character. It is quite prone to oxidation if not handled with care. However, it performs best in a dry and droughts condition on clay limestone. And sandy clay soil, which is quite typical in the Calabrio region. This proof why Galliapo is growing happily in Calabrio. So my personal connection to the grape, it is a very long story. So when I did my first Italian wine, my actual courses education back four years ago. I remember I wanted to find a picture of a beautiful foot on the internet for the for the power button slides. And I found a picture of a beautiful foot without any trademark or without any copyright. It's super hard to get. It's super, super hard to get. I almost spent two hours searching on the internet for the best photo. So after two hours, I found a very good picture. So maybe some of my students who listened to the podcast may may know the picture that I found was really, really beautiful. So after I found the picture, my wife knocked it all, and saw my saw my screen with a beautiful foot and she asked me what are you doing? So I love and I burst into tears. And luckily, I show her this picture was used for powerpoint and education for my Calabrio classes, and that was a very funny story. So did I try any wines with this grape? Of course. A producer is very famous after the call may call the job, of course, and some importers in Hong Kong has brought in some nice labels for the tasting in a tasting event. I quite like the finance and the structure of the wines, which shows that indigenous varieties can reach to such a high level of finesse. And of course, the price is very reasonable price. The wines has sought structure, has got a lot of, like, good flavors good concentration. Everything is in finance. Everything is in precise balance. I quite like the wine. So what interested me the most when learning about the grape? The beautiful food story about the internet picture and my wife dropped it all. Now wines made from this grape readily available in my market. Of course, you've got to find the right person, or you could ask your Italian White ambassador friend where you could get hold of some bottles. They are not quite widely available, but you've got to ask someone the right person. Any benchmark producers that is worth trying. Yep. The Brandy Chiro Russell Classicosa Perioli reserva, the Y score, Duca Zernfelice, two thousand twenty. So this is the one that I've tried and also available in my market. About the food pairing recommendation for this grape varieties. I will suggest Cantones' food, pan fry, meatloaf in Cantones' is gong gong gong gong gong gong gong gong gong gong because the savoriness and the slack saltiness of the salty fish. The cantonese salt fish is the Asian version of the anchovy, but in a drier version. That brings out the the sweetness of the meats. And if you pair with the wine, everything will be in precise balance. It's very delicious. So the next grape is Coca Cola. When we stay in Abruso, people will fall about Monteputiano and Trebiano, the two most famous DOC, DOC G wines in the region. However, in a super exciting Italian wine production, there are always some little known wines produced from native varieties with real success. Here you go, Coca Cola. This grape is a fascinating and versatile white wine grape varieties from the Russo region of the Italy. This red grape demonstrates a character reminiscent of the grape white wine grapes. Making it suitable not only for steel wine, but also for sparkling wine production. The origin of the name called Sheola is rather uncertain, but there are several in integrating a hypothesis. One suggests it derived from the abrocessy dialect with Chikoshi meaning pumpkins due to the distinctive look on the grape that resemble those of the certain vegetables. Another hypothesis linked the name to the culture or fake peel of the grape itself. And it's quite fair to speculate that, not too distant future. The viticulture of Abruzzo may increasingly embrace the production of Coca Cola. This excellent wine captivates the palate with its remarkable flavor profile. And its adaptability to various wine making style, suggesting it could become a more prominent future of the region celebrated wine heritage. So some background information about the grape. The grape has a historic history in the Abruso region. But until recently, its potential was largely overlooked. Traditionally, this ancient vine was used primarily as a blending component for Tribrionel da Russo. It's high natural acidity served to boost your lighter tribiano in terms of structure and also the wine. However, a new generation of pass away winemakers has rediscovered the inherent charm of Coca Cola. Through careful cultivation and innovative identification techniques They have enough grips, exceptional, organoleptic, and chemical physical qualities. Cogal chillers can shine on his own right, celebrated for his robust character, generous, alcohol content, and also vibrant acidity. This surprisingly productive varieties is distinguished by its large, fixed skin barriers that develops striking brown stripes when they reach their peak ripeness. The ARbruso pergola training system which is a traditional high yielding method, helps to cause the best from these versatile grips. The results are wines of remarkable capacity, both distinctive expression that bears the unique quality of Coca Cola. The regulation says Cogo Sheela must account for eighty five percent of the grape blend in steel wines and sixty percent in a sparkling wine. So my personal connection to the grape that was happening three years ago when I was traveling in Italy, I went to a restaurant in Florence. And I I was so eager to try the local lesser known wine grapes to pair with seafood. So I asked the Someli to recommend something, and I counted proposed. I want something that is quite obscure, and, it's not it's not selling every day. So the Someli was so surprised by my request. But I released the opportunity to discover a unique regional specialty. As an adventurous white enthusiast, like me, I find a great satisfaction in exploring obscure varieties that may not be available widely. During that evening, The wine proved to be a very delightful component to the meal, expanding my palate and reinforcing my passion for seeking out distinctive of the beaten path wine experience. What interested me the most when learning about the grape? The most in triggering aspect of this rare local grape was learning about its deep roots in the regions, winemaking history and culture, exploring their grip's unique characters and how they have been shaped by the terroir and was a fascinating journey of discovery as a wine enthusiast. The wine is hard to find and making it a choice for true wine gigs and highly involve consumers like me. Are these wines available in my market, Hong Kong and also in Melbourne? This one is Calabrio, and we've the only one or two labels physically available. My contacts in the wine import business have indicated it is also struggled to gain tractions in overseas market, like in the UK or also in USA, But for one of us like me, I don't mind to order online, and then to send to Hong Kong and also send to send to Melbourne. I am hopeful that to improve the visibility of these great varieties and also in the distribution of this uniquely regional wine that could allow more consumers to discover their delicious qualities. So any benchmark producers worth trying. I've got two on hand, and Cantina Tolo will be the two suggestions. So if you ask me what is a pairing, obviously you can tell I'm also a foodie. For this great varieties, it has a very high acidity and provides an exceptionally refreshing profile that repairs wonderfully with, very simple and light dishes. That allows the wines inherent flavors to shine. So don't try to match anything without too much of sauces or too salty. I think along the lines of briny, shellfish, like, very simple oyster or other lightly prepared seafood. This type of pairings can rival the versatility of other internationally famous white wine style. The Coca Chiella vibrant acidity and pure character makes it a fantastic alternative to explore for wine lovers. In search for a novel and captivating foot and wine harmonies. So try this grape. If you get a chance, buy a few bottles and so in the in a wine cellar. If you get a wine gift like like us or like me, make sure you open some some other grape varieties that we can't find in our market. So thanks for listening, child. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, ImaliFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. 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