Ep. 1053 Annalisa Zorzettig & Alan Gaddi | Get US Market Ready With Italian Wine People

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This episode has been brought to you by the wine to wine business forum twenty twenty two. This year, we'll mark the ninth edition of the forum to be held on November seventh and eighth of twenty twenty two. In Verona Italy, this year will be an explosively in person edition. The main theme of the event will be all around wine communication. And tickets are on sale now. The second early bird discount will be available until September eighteenth. For more information, please visit us at Thanks for tuning in to Get US Market Ready with Italian wine people on the Italian wine podcast. I'm Steve Ray, your host. And this podcast features interviews with the people actually making a difference in the Italian wine market in America, their experiences, challenges, and personal stories. And I'll be adding a practical focus to the conversation based on my thirty years in the business. So If you're interested in not just learning how, but also how else, then this pod is for you. Hi. This is Steve Ray, and welcome to this week's edition of Get US Market Ready with Italian wine people. My guests are Annelisa Zorzetich of Zorzetich winery, and also Alan Godi, who is the export manager. Alan, Annelisa. Welcome to the show. Hello. And good morning to everyone. Tell me why Frioli is unique in Italian wine regions. Part of it is the border, but it hasn't always been Italy. I mean, that land's been fought over and owned by all kinds of different people for many years. Right? So there's this whole difference in friullian people dialect, the wines that you the the grapes that you grow and the wines that you make, because of that proximity to Slovakia and, Austria. How our winery is, in the northeast of Italy. The our region, the name is free. We are on the board of, two other countries, Slovakia. At yugoslavia and Austria. And, that means that the, the people that, live in this region, at at that particular in the entity. Okay? And our wines sometimes are representative or this identity is different of the other regions of, Italy. But, a small, thing. All Italy is very various mentalities, is is the same of, a lot of flowers together, but everyone different, different color, different different parts from Frulli, is located in the north and, in the past, for example, the two words that we have in, in Europe, all the north arrived in friuli for, for arrive to the sea. And the the people of Rioli was, a very, was very dangerous for us. And the mentality is a lot of close, close. For example, also the Romans are, different, the kind of words, the Romans are because they, during the word, the words, they must work, organize for, for, for, for the survive? For the survive for, and, we, in particular, is recognized that the woman's inferiorly are strong. This is our, tradition in, for example, or I, for us, sometimes for the tourism, our identity that is, a little bit close is, can be can be a problem but it's not a problem because in this world, world where, there is the, globally, Zazione. Everywhere is the same. Here is a little bit different. When you arrive, you you think that, is a close mentality, ma'am, when we see that the people for us is okay, we open our doors and our house is your house. Okay. There is, a lot of hospitality. So one of the other things that is particularly unique about friuli is most of the wines are white. Why is that? The wines and the kind of land is a one region that, has nine kinds of different soil of we have all. We have the lakes. We have the the mountains. We have the sea. We have the the different soil. It's very particular region. For this, for example, is very famous for the wind. Bora is a particular the wind that is only in three years then. Different, and this is very good as for the kinds of, for example, for the wines, our area, Collioreen Valley is very, special in particular for the wild wines. The kind of soil and the place where we are. We have, in front of us, the the sea that arrived the hair from the sea. Behind behind, leprey alpi, the mountains that repair for the cold, hair. And then very important is, the kind of soil. The name is Panka. So, Panka is the name, Alan, why don't you, fill us in on what Panka means? So Panka is the classic fuel and soil on the on the hills, which is a kind of soil, created in a EOCemic, Sarah. So this mean more than thirty millos of years ago. And it's a perfect balance mix of, marble. Chalk, clay, and sandstone, and very rich in organic substance and very rich in iron. So that's the perfect kind of solution for the agriculture because actually it act as a perfect humidity regulator. So this means that during the more dry season like this one, it creates a crust on the upper level, trapping the humidity and the water and disposal for the for the groups. It's differently in the very, heavy, rainfall season, like, happened a few years ago, eat, let's flue the water away in order to keep quite dry the roots. Good drainage. Okay. So when we're thinking about Frioli, Coli orientale, you immediately think or as Americans, we immediately think of pinot grigio. We'll talk about some of your other varietals, in a moment, but, pinot grigio, as you know, has become a a very important varietal in the US driven by Santa Margarita, principally and established a relatively high price point. Are you guys making, pinot grigio? And, how would you describe your pinot grigio versus the other wines that are, pinot grigios that are sold in the United States. So definitely that is to introduce pinot grigio becoming became, of course, a very classic Italian white vibrato. So definitely be one of the biogas in the US market, as you say, the thirty four years ago, and it became, of course, on one hand, very popular from scratch, but on the other hand, a kind of a wild bunch. So differently, different style, different level of prices and different items. So definitely inferiorly, and, of course, here, even more, on the hilly side, in the call, you're entirely, the trulyaga, and, of course, it's synthetic wine. We're a strong believer of the pinot region. As a classic varietal that have a huge potential in terms of macerations as well and in terms of a structure and texture. So this means that after the harvest, we do a course of maceration, for about twenty four hours in order to extract more texture, more aromas. And, of course, this nice, gentler shade of, copper coloration. In order also to keep the link of the pinot grigio with, the coloration of the grapes, which, in fact, this grape, it's not a purple white wine as most of the people think. Yeah. That's interesting. I'm, I guess, I didn't know that, but, okay. Okay. So, Pino Grigio, and what are some of the other varietals that you guys work with? Alan, speak some about, but, all other wild wines important in this area are the typical, friulano. That is the first wine, that we consume in particular this wine. Is, white wine, a lot of minerality, a good activity, but the different is, offer other other wines is, with a lot of stroke tour. Is very, is a white, wine that in the past, the people here drink also normally the with the meat, drink red wine. But Freulano is, also for the with the meat, the people in our region, consume this wine, and is, a good wine for age. Okay. An age age able white. That's interesting. Yes. Yes. Another wine that, find a good terroir in a friuli is also an international wine, sauvignon. Sauvignon blanc? Yes. Yes. The the parfums are, very delicate, delicate, not too much in Vasdivo. And, and we are working also for, Ribola is, in particular white wine, very fresh, very, it's very young wine, and is good with the in particular in this summer is a wine with good activity fresh and, perfect with, the crowfish. Crowfish. Wow. Great. Yes. In particular, for example, in Italy, also not in Italy or in Japan or in other countries with, Sushimi Rybola is, is very good. Wow. Okay. Well, that's something for me to try when I go to those kinds of things. Actually, I'll be in New Orleans next week and be eating a lot of crawfish. So we've talked about some of the varietals, but I think, one of the things that underlies and defines Zorzettage as a winery is the bedrock philosophy, that sustainability has in your, the way that guides everything. So maybe you guys, Alan, maybe you wanna talk about this one, the importance of sustainability how long you guys have been doing it. And all of a sudden, the rest of the world is kinda catching up to sustainable as a point of difference that makes a difference. So could you share that? Some of your thoughts on that with us? Yeah. Of course. It's, so the sustainability, which for the protected family, this effect of common sense, not effect of a trend, let's say, proper heritage. So that common sense is the whiteboard for the family. So let's say that you produce wines, with a proper personality on soil such as use of the Chibidale hills, shaped by nature over millions of years and characterized by a unique microclimate. Of course, it's an accessory to focus on the vineyards, plan by plan. From going to the harvest. This is a follow-up by a rigorous word in the seller made of balance refinements, respect for the varieties and integrity in the processing of, the grapes. So let's say that Zorevatic strength is a meticulous word, conducted in the field to reach other good practices such as the restoration of, various waterways, careful management of the roots, the arrangement of the hills, and the substantial vision of service to the environment, from the agriculture. Geometrically, opposite drug re culture that has characterized the last, fifty to sixty years. This advantage family has always cultivated, the land as a precious asset with a particular attention to respect for the land and the plants even when they hold. The company has always followed respect for the biodiversity continuously, for serving environments such as the food land, that borders some vineyards and which in itself constitutes a natural regulator of climate, humidity, and wind. And the recent years, olive trees and native white fruit trees have also been reintroduced and restocked which he truly had practically disappeared, in the recent, year and fiber of divine. A project that the company has started, together with a company agronomist and which has seen the construction of some ecological infrastructures for the creation of a functional biodiversity. These are areas in which the blending of plants is of some language specific purposes concerning the restorations of the presence of insect and useful organ is capable of biologically controlling, harmful insect, also called pyrocyte. To be this, native white plant, of the Iowa planted from the nursery of the forestry crops of the reach and trust them to the company. The intention is to restore lost by university in the last decades. With the intensive agriculture, which has created an imbalance of the ecosystem towards, our move insects and the conceptually toward pesticides. For many years, the company has not used, any herbicide and, practice doing the manual in the vineyard, which is an ancient, Roman practice more than three thousand years old. And the work in Varanets is a supported by the highly sustainable And since twenty sixteen, the company has also joined the regional and integrated defense project, SQL NPI, nationally quality system for the integrated product that system created, was created through the production and regulation including agronomic practices and limitation in the choices of, plant production, products, and the numbers of treatments with the aim of minimizing the use of synthetic chemicals and rationalizing a grounding techniques for environmental protection in order to improve the safety and the quality of the introduction. Systemability and care for biodiversity or the commitment, to be handed down a safe fundamental value to the new generations represented in the family by a little Leonie, Annalisa Siz. Are you enjoying this podcast? There's so much more high quality wine content available for mama jumbo shrimp Check out our new wine study maps, our books on Italian wine, including Italian wine unplugged, the jumbo shrimp guide to Italian wine, Sanjay Vazil, and other stories, and much much more. On our website, mama jumbo shrimp dot com. Now back to the show. So as we were talking when, well, actually, we met, probably three or four or five years ago at Van Italy, and we've been in conversation since. What is, your presence in the United States? What states are you imported into and who are your importers? Yeah. So, actually, US market, it's, it's an important for market for us right now. And so our president is split, with fifteen different importers and, distributors. And so, definitely, the US market has agreed, dynamics, combined with, agreed curiosity and a proactive sentiment of a listening to attendee stories from Italy. So because of that, definitely, for the Italian wine segment, could be one of the c it's still one of the most interesting and appealing, wine market. Okay. But so your structure is you've got multiple importers in multiple states, and that causes that that's good and bad. No importance acting in one state or one important acting in the surrounding states. Understood. So the the impact of that, the significance of that is it makes the job of the export manager a lot harder because instead of coordinating with just one master importer, you've got to do the same amount of work multiplied by the number of importers that you're going. That that makes your job really, really hard. Doesn't it? Oh, definitely. Yes. Because actually compared to the nationally border systems, that's much more people and a situation to to follow different visits, different, situation, of course. But let's say that in this way, for, a family company with the true values from, let's say, unconventional region and still to be discovered in a deep way as fluidly it's an added value because actually you can grow in the way to be aware what's happening in the US market. Oh, sometimes, we as Italian introduced we see the US mark in the wrong way because US, it's not a country. It's a continent like Europe. You can compare the French wine market with a Danish wine market. It's like to compare the California one with the Midwest one and the Florida one. It's it's there's three different countries, not three different states. So in this way, so to have multiple importers, this mean much more, back office, much more following ups, much more visit, different information to an age. But in this way, the opportunity is to be always aware of the situation in the US market and always to be, so to let's grow the brand together with a different importance with a proper declination of contents of communication, of advertising, and actions dedicated for the single imported, single distributor, and for the single market. Okay. So what states are the most important for you guys? So let's say that if we can't New England, it's, it's generate a nice turnover. And actually, it has room for us a Florida in the last couple of years. Despite the pandemic situation. So thanks, of course, to the partner we have there. But definitely, it's a it's a market that still has compared to other states, a lot of opportunities. So more East Coast dominant is what you're saying. Not so much on the West Coast. Right. So, of course, we have presence in California, Oregon, Nevada in the mid state. So we operate a market in Michigan and Illinois in the recent times. And Of course, there it's it's by different. A lot of opportunities, but we guess that actually Florida, it's still the state that had a high potential to be discovered. Okay. So the winery was refurbished or modernized, I guess you could say, recently. Tell us why that was, what was replaced and what was re what was replaced with what And what impact that's has that had on, the production of the winery? The new seller in effect is not all new. It's a risk through to production, That's refurbished renovated. Yes. Renovate. Yes. For us, it's very important. It's very simply. And, when I spoke with the architecture and with the all the staff that work for this new seller. We spoke together that for us is important. You remember when you work in a for a in a seller for you, it is important. The, area where you are. You are in the hills in the middle of the nature. For you, are important the air, the fire, the water, the the land. For you are important, the wind, the, the humidity, you for you must be important. All the the best things singly, what you see, what you touch, you understand me. Yes. And, in the seller, they must use only, stones and, wood things of our land. Local materials. Yeah. It's very simply. It's the house of the wine. The house of the wine must be hunter the grapes and, exceed the bottle for the consumer. It's an interesting way of putting it. I like that. I like that. K. It's very simply. And we are very happy because now when you enter, we think we've finished in October, October December. When you enter, you listen in your skin, the temperature, the humidity with your nose, you listen the correct parfums or almost. Okay? Of the you in Mediatry, you understand I'm in a seller. This is very important for us. But and another thing, we the seller is a place where our people's word. It's important also for day, the inside, for the coordination, for the word. For work, better. The the light, the everything is for the the first for the wine, and for the workers is important. I must be say one thing. We are We have the, we are the caretaker, the caretaker. Custodian. Yeah. We have one and one hundred fifty eight act, circa actors. Okay. And, in our area, there are some rivers. So there are some, also wood. And we are, we must work better because, okay, the property is of our family, but it's important for all the people that work that live live in our area. We work the land also for the other people. Our work is important for the network. It's a responsibility. So your flagship wine is? Yes. Is a a selection. In this moment, we we have, we we have the white wines, the, the, here, the vintages twenty twenty. The white wines. The red wines are, twenty fifteen. It depends, are, important red wines, native grapes, native grapes from, friuli. Is, the name of, means that, my. In English, means my. My because we produce, but when you you have this wine, when you buy this wine, or when I offer you this wine, did, this wine, is yours. You understand. It's, Conivision, sharing. Sharing. I was gonna say a gift. Right? Yeah. Yes. It's sharing. And, the label is a glass with the inside, there are some small animals that you can find in our area. And it means we work for the for the protection for the nature. We work with the network every day. It's, we have an it's important in this part to to persons that work with us. One is Antonio Antonio is the agronomist, and the severity of Saverio is the analogies with their staff, with their group. They are very important. They are they they like to to work in the, Antonio, in the vineyard. He loves the, build diversity. And, he makes with us a very, very good word. When we go in the vineyard, with him, he can open our mind and our heart. No. I love it. That's great. Also, Severio, in the seller, he's, innovative, but inside him. He wants them, that the wines of the that are representative of this area. But with innovation, with right wine, fresh wine. He works very well. He loves the the vineyards in particular, the native, the adoptum. Wines, but, likes to watch in the future what the people like to eat and drink because, the world changed. Okay. Change, but with tradition is important for us. Okay. I gotta switch over to Alan and ask you this question. Clearly, there's a passion in the way the one is produced here. How do you communicate that in the United States? I mean, how do you tell the Zoresettage story in the United States? When it's from a region, people don't know about its varietals with the exception of Pinobrillo, generally are are unknown. You don't have huge distribution. I'm sure you're doing very well in specialty wine shops and on premise where there are people who are more knowledgeable about wines. But you're out here competing with, you know, in the US, with Chardonay and Santa Margarita and all of these other things. How do you tell the Zorzetted story? How do you differentiate Zorzetted from all of the other things that are available to American consumers. So let's say that actually so to our point of view, it's very important, sometimes to speak what is the market, what's the need of the market, and what are the stories that you wanna communicate. So let's say that definitely the our top analyst, the native or writers from Fluen represent, a historical, link with tradition. So something with authentic feelings, to be shared and told in a in a current way. So identifying, a precise and emotional way, to tell our history. So let's say that, obviously, the classic varieties interpreted and produced in a fuel end key, represent, a fundamental, historical element of the fluid region, which must be preserved and, used in a respectful way to communicate the key selling points, even to a more, let's say, novice public. So it's more less wine mix, so definitely a little bit more, mainstream, back passionate and ready to discover authentic, stories. So let's say that about the two different lines we produce so that the authentic sign in the neo selection, they're very useful in order also to identify difference get integrated targets of consumers and audience. So on one hand, it's a voltage line. I represent a modern expression of flu, which has found excellent spaces in the by the glass offers. By restaurants and bars, and wine bars in the in the US market, offering, kind of dynamic path in the Eastern deals. Also, from known native varieties such, of course, as mentioned at the peanut regions, so we don't like that so far are still the two bestsellers in the US market. Of course, paired with some Greek natives, like the Lebula Jolla, the Flulano for the whites, and the refosco is a representative, of a red variety of this refosco. It's the quite unique native varieties, but very easy to understand since it's very juicy, fruity. It's nice, spicy overtones. So it has been a perfect introduction to the rich panorama of varieties and stories from flu in this sense, together with, our network of importers and distributors, we have launched an important campaigns of in session and the programs for the body class. We can affect the supports of our sharing, of insiders. Training of the staff with the partners of, for each account, and developing, some, post on, Instagram and Facebook campaigns as well with the aim of introducing the very meaning of the Zillzetich classic line. So this mean tradition, but in a contemporary key. So this mean when the history becomes, contemporary. So it's very versatile and dynamic. I bought a neo selection. Definitely has found the best positioning, the high end wine shops and in the wild list of the restaurant, which can make use of passionate figures from the wall of the one, and some able to communicate and translate, some more spendable content. And some of the autonomous methods for rentals, they had to be fully discovered, such as Malvasier Steliana, and pinolio. So, of course, this kind of training and inside the share must actively supported by consent supervision on our side and from the distributors. In order to keep the offer always careful than, precisely the content. Of course, pair it also with, incoming, programs for the key person in a for the restaurant's accounts. For, for us, the the wine is, is a pleasure of the wine, the life. The wine is, taking side a lot of parts of our life, the culture, the music. The wine stay with all. And I can say, I can say this. For us, it's very it's very, we are very lucky for tonight. Mhmm. We are very lucky. That we make this work with the nature. But for all that is, listen, in particular, in this period, in this years, take a glass of wine. And if this glass of wine is come from Italy, inside you, you have whole stay with you, we drink a good glass of wine and is harmony and harmony for your life, for you inside. I can say this for, because a glass of wine as inside, a lot of things. The best music that, for example, right Moza, was when you drink a glass of wine. When you, when you stay, with you and appreciate these good things and If you know that derived from Italy where the life is colors love life in particular, take a glass of wine and stay with yourself. Cool. I like it. Okay. Alright. Thank you. I wanna say thank you to Annelisa, Zorzettig and Alan Gotti of Zorzettig winery for being my guest this week. Both of you, thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you for the discreet opportunity and the nice conversation. It's always useful to, share a nice window on the vineyards, from Italy, with a glance in the US market for the US audience. It's always very, engaging, from our side. So thank you again for this nice opportunity. Yes. So thank you. And, and, for all, we are every day here and our doors are open for, take a glass of wine in the hills of, friuli. Doesn't that sound wonderful? Yeah. Okay. This is Steve Ray signing off for this week, but tune in next week. To get US market ready with Italian wine people on the Italian wine podcast, and we'll have another interview of, interest. We hope you enjoy today's episode brought to you by the wine to wine business forum twenty twenty two. This year, we'll mark the ninth edition of the forum to be held on November seventh and eighth twenty twenty two in verona Italy. Remember, the second early bird discount on tickets will be available until September eighteenth. For more information, please visit us at wine to wine dot net. Hi, guys. I'm Joy Livingston, and I am the producer of the Italian wine podcast. Thank you for listening. We are the only wine podcast that has been doing a daily show since the pandemic began. This is a labor of love and we are committed to bringing you free content every day. Of course, this takes time and effort not to mention the cost of equipment, production, and editing. We would be grateful for your donations, suggestions, requests, and ideas. For more information on how to get in touch, go to Italianwine podcast dot com.