Ep. 203 Monty Waldin interviews Alojz Felix Jermann (Jermann) Pt. 2 | LUX Wines Producers

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 Argiano Yerman, Pierro for Joaltesoro Renato Rati and Toranatorre. Find out more at luvs wines dot com. Hello. This is the Italian wine podcast with me, Montewood, and my guest today? Yes. Felix Herman. Yeah. Okay. Can you introduce me? Go on. Just say, guys, this is Italian White Boggers with a detailed amount of my guest today is Monty. Go and do that. We're gonna talk about virtual reality, so this could make one. One, two, three. Well, welcome to the Italian wine podcast with the Felix Yerman from Yermon winery, and I would like to introduce our guest speaker today. You trying to steal my job? Yeah. It's far better than me. And it's not even speaking in his in his native language. Anyway, Felix, it's very good to have you here. Now, very brief couple of words about your family, and then we'll get into the virtual reality side of things. Exciting. Yeah. What do you wanna know? Everything. Everything. That's that's very general though. Is it very brief where is where is the Yerman winery in Vineyard briefly? Okay. Where is it? We are in Fueley, North East, Italy, so right on the border with Slovakia and, right below Austria. And which generation of Yerman are you? We are the sixth generation. The sixth generation. So based we talk about what would normally be classed as a traditional family owned winery that does pretty much the same thing as everybody else in its region, but you are No. No. That's how it does. No. No. No. I'm not saying that in a paterative, so have just saying that. But you would are doing something different. Yeah. So tell me, what it is that you're doing that is particularly different. Particularly different. Some And when you're a fashion eater, seeing down there, you could be if I was looking at you, I think we could be in the fashion industry because you're very flamboyant address, should we say? Obviously, you're in the wine industry, but also you have another street to your boat in terms of this thing called augmented or virtual reality. Is that correct? Yes. So tell me what is that? And why do you why are you developing it at the Yoderman wine on me? Basically, it's an experience, we're bringing you the winery and our vineyards to you. So, when we travel, we will have it with us, and we will be able to exactly show you how our winery is. You'll basically be able to be in the vineyard be in the winery, you almost wanna touch the grapes. You will almost touch the grapes. Okay. Because all three all three sixty around you, you will have you will have us, you'll have our vineyards, you'll have the plants, you'll have the grapes, you'll be tasty with us in the in our own environment in Frioli on our heels. And, everywhere you look around, you will see something. So it's it's quite unique. You really feel like you're in it. The first time I've tried it, actually, I was standing and I fed a little bit, disorientated, disorientated because if I just found myself in another in another space. So let's say how do you I'm still no nearer to understanding what what Okay. Or virtual reality is. So we're in the winery, And, I'm the virtual reality salesman, and you've bought that virtual reality kit. Mhmm. What is in the box? What is the kit? Well, the kit is the set of goggles. Set of goggles. Goggles. These glasses were you'll be able to have different experiences. So there's, believe there's five chapters, five different things you can actually dive into. So one of them is the winery. One of them is our vineyards. One of them is our experience in the wineries, our hospitality service, our kitchen, tasting with us on the Capo Martinez Hill, which is, one of our, one of our most prestigious, vineyards and prime location. And, you'll be in the winery with me, my father, my grandfather. You will have elements where you have other brother, Mikkele, my sister Sylvia. There's another moment where we are cheering together basically at the end of harvest, which is we normally always gather around at the end of harvest. So at each day, we gather we gather together. Just basically talk of how the day went we basically taste the grapes with our with our grandparents, with our father, with our other family members, and then we see what's what's what's up tomorrow, what we can improve. Basically, just like a little catch up of the day because we are all spread out. So what is the between, I put these goggles on. Mhmm. Why don't I just, why don't you just put a little film up on the internet like any, but any normal sane person would do? How do you actually make the the the the bit that when I put the goggles on, I can see if I move my head, you're I can see different things. How do you what is the technology that allows you to do that? So I'm not the expert of the technology. They were just Well, it's nice to see you. Doors on the left hand side. No. But basically, if it's like imagine being so you don't see us, but right now if you'll be here talking with us, you I'll be able to look at you Monty and see you. I'll be able to look at my brother on my left side and I will see him. Who is actually physically in the studio? He is actually. Jesse's car. So now we know he's here. She's got a glass of water in his hand. And, and if I look behind, I see here the, your logo of the Italian wine podcast, and I can look be below and I see my feet in the ground. And that's exactly how, this thing works. Whereas in the video, you just see this screen, and you see what the screen basically tells you to see. Here, you while you hear us talking, while you while we're basically in the doing, in the harvest, in the winery making the wine in the experience in the kitchen cooking, you'll basically be able to explore all the room and all of the aspects of that room. Okay. So you obviously, had a company come in to help you with a virtual reality. Yes. So this was actually a partnership with our, import our American Porter. It was like a kind of a marketing idea that we decided to do so that not a lot of people can actually come all the way there to our winery. So we decided to bring it to them with this virtual reality experience. So what is the so somebody come to your estate and film the estate? Yes. So, basically, during harvest, during the end of the harvest, we filmed for two to three days. I don't remember exactly, but, like, all full days from the morning until the night, and, they will This is like the special cameras that basically have eyes or like all around it. It's like a ball. It has eyes all around it. So that's how it captures everything. And then through their computers of their program, they basically, put it all together. We have like ground footage in vineyards. We have sky footage, drone footage, drone footage above our vineyards, you know, actually coming into our vineyards as well. So it's it's very kind of interacting. You, like twenty minutes, which is like the full experience. If you decide to have all the five experiences, all the five journeys is, you don't get bored. Like, you honestly, you wanna see more. So when they came to film you and your brother or brothers, you know, they turned up and they stood high, you know, with a with a virtual reality team, what did they make you do. Talk, climb. Everything. So, basically, they were with us doing the harvest. So they came and filmed us, you know, vineyards when we were doing harvest, so they picked the grapes with us. Then we were in the winery making the wine, tasting the wine, we were in kitchen cooking. So it's, we, we basically just did what we do every day just this time it wasn't filled. So it's, not thing new for us. The only part new that it was new was the recording in the in the video. So it was just like somebody making a normal documentary TV thing, with very with, obviously, the cameras look different. I guess. Yes. Yes. Yes. But it was fundamentally, it was was men and women, a camera crew walking around taking images, which is Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I guess, yeah. I mean, I'm not very used to this. It wasn't, it wasn't, like, intrusive or anything like that. It was true. No. No. It was it was something we planned they interviewed you. Did they ask you questions and interview you? Yes. Yes. Why they don't ask us questions? This is we that we kind of narrate about our family of our lives. Are you narrate it? Yes. Right. So they make the the the image, the actual image track. Exactly. And then when they've done that, you and your brothers or your family will make it. Exactly. He would yeah. They explained here we're making the wine or whatever. Yes. Not so simply, but How are you good as yeah. How are you as a narrator? Are you good? I don't know. I tried my best. You're very good. The forecast. I mean, I, you know, if you, if you, if the point making thing doesn't work out and this whole virtual reality thing turns out to be a bankrupt kind of a waste of time, you could certainly feel my shoes here. Okay. You could far better dress, far more ridiculous. English is in your first language. You speak it better than me. I'm feeling a little bit so I'd one thought I had had about this virtual reality thing is it must be incredibly useful to save you guys from having to get on a plane and meet people face to face that they can get a real experience of you, by sitting at home or sitting in in their office if they're a wine importer, say in San Francisco, Fruta. They don't need you to get on a plane and burn lots of gas and stick lots of carbon in the atmosphere. We can get the experience of you without necessarily being in the same room as you. Is that is that why you've done it in certain sense? It's definitely an aspect of it. Our main idea behind it is to bring you the winery because even though we show you with pictures or we show you we explain it to you in words, seeing it in three sixty and feeling like you're actually in the winery or inner vineyards. It's a whole different experience. Not our words cannot express express that. Sure. But, yes, it will, it will be very useful for us, especially in the American market where we would a lot of work, and we are focusing a lot of our energies in the market. And, this we hope will really show you how Eiermann is different. You know, you asked me before, why Eiermann is different? You know, we have You're clothing? Well, in Italian, they say that clothing doesn't make the priest. Take which is, which is, which is very true. We are we are definitely, our clothing maybe represents how our wines are, which are very vibrant, very energetic, young, and exciting to drink and taste, and definitely very as well because you drink a glass and you wanna have another one and you wanna finish the bottle and then you goes two and three and you don't know if you're finished studying, studying. But yeah, our generations really like build upon. My father really did a lot of work in a winery, but basically turning our kind of, my kind of simple wine style of my grandfather into more sophisticated, elegant, white wines that can be drink at at dinners, prepared with food, they have a long life to it before it was a little bit of different concept. We made basically the wine where we also had the cows. So imagine what kind of product you will be able to receive, out of this. And my father really focused its it's ideas and, it's work into making wine. And slowly, we're slowly basically a raised or not raised, but we kind of eliminated the farm aspect to the to our family and to our business, basically. My grandfather main the main business was actually selling fruit. But, smartly, my father realized that you will never be able to be successful or become, like, a little bit more economically wealthy. If you only sell fruit, you have to take this fruit and then turn it into a special product your product, our wine, your wine. We're adding value by making the wine yourself. Exactly. I want to say thanks to my guest today, Felix Yerman, who's been telling us about a little bit more about the family winery in Frioli and also about this, augmented reality way of presenting the wine Mhmm. Using, special glasses. Special glasses. And, so basically, a few generations you've gone from making wine in the cow shed, as you said Mhmm. To, creating experiential audio video films Exactly. To sell your wine. Alright. And I think it's, as I said earlier on, I think one of the advantages of this is we can get the whole you experience when you're a very charismatic guy, obviously watching you and goggles will be slightly different, but still I'm sure your Christmas, I'm quite sure your Christmas would come through and those are the rest of your family. And I think if it allows a lot of the wine traders, we spend far too much time on planes, all of us burning gas and sticking up in the atmosphere, which is just not sustainable on any level. If this helps us reduce that footprint, without diluting your charisma and your your brown values and your your family history, even augmenting it or mentally. I don't think it's a really good thing. Well, yeah. Definitely, very pro on the sustainability. And, you see that in our wines, you see it now with this with this initiative, and, you know, we live in our, in our environment. So if we destroy that, then there's also normal wine. Yeah. So it's a it's a bad, it's a bad ending. Nice one. Okay. Thanks a lot, Felix C. Yudman, and, hope to see you in free audio sometime. Thank you, Monte. With or without the goggles on. We're waiting for you. Alright. Nice one. Take your these. So This podcast has been brought to you by Lux wines, importer of fine wines, bringing you exceptional wines from esteemed making families. Alegini, Arcano, Pierman, Pieropan, for Joaltesoro, Renato Rati and Toranatorre. Find out more at lockswines dot com. Follow Italian White Podcast on Facebook and Instagram.