Ep. 859 Silvano Brescianini | Get US Market Ready With Italian Wine People

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This episode is brought to you by Vinitally international wine and spirits exhibition, the fifty fourth edition of Vinitally will be held from the tenth to the thirteenth of April right here in verona to discover more about Vinitally and get your tickets. Visit vineitally dot com. This year, the Italian wine podcast will be live and in person in Pavilion six. Stand a seven. So come on down and say hello. Thanks for tuning into my new show. Get US Market Ready with Italian wine people. I'm Steve Ray, author of the book how to get US Market Ready. And in my previous podcast, I shared some of the lessons I've learned from thirty years in the wine and spirit business helping brands enter and grow in the US market. This series will be dedicated to the personalities who have been working in the Italian wine sector in the US, their experiences, challenges, and personal stories. I'll uncover the roads that they walked, shedding light on current trends, business strategies, and their unique brands. So thanks for listening in, and let's get to the interview. Hi. This is Steve Ray, and welcome to this week's edition of Get US Market Ready with Italian wine people. My guest this week is Sylvano Brescianini, who is, president of consortio, Francacorta. Sylvano, welcome to the show. Thank you. Josie, may I help you, Bradley. Can you give us a short bio of yourself and kinda how you got here. I I thought you had a very interesting history with, experience on in fine restaurants, and that played a role into your appreciation, understanding, and ultimately, purchasing and managing a winery. K. So I did a study in, artillery school and, began to work in a restaurant at, very soon at, seventeen, eighteen years old. And I created the opportunity to work in a proper to start restaurant in in Italy. So the type is fundamentally for yamuna, which is also a great restaurant and, a very outside big mine base. And at that time, And also, I was part of the team of a Italian chef because I also work in a part of the kitchen restaurant. And some of the many people with thirty May opening, in New York, central parts out, may eighty eight, and I had a displayed opportunity to to work here in Manhattan in New York City at, twenty years old. Later, I went back to Chacorta. I opened a small restaurant, Kanabad, with, some friends. And, in nineteen ninety three, was part of the the team of, businessmen who bought the And the project for me was to open a restaurant, and I did it in some ninety four or later to your waiter, we start to follow the line production. And because my my my experience, my point of view, my background was civilian consumer, I start to feel different, and I try to avoid the earth side, the herbicide, and, in ninety eight, I started to produce a organic wine in front of the quarter, and it it's in the beginning. The first one I need to produce organic from tomorrow. Did you have any anticipation that, producing organic wines and then all that's since followed sustainability biodynamics and all that kind of stuff? Was it going to become that important in the world of fine wine back then? Absolutely for many reason. First of all, because, now we have a knowledge. In the nineties, the information about how working organic had had to do better was, not so deep. Right now, we have a experience over, not not only Italy, not in South, but in Europe, and all over the world. Second reason, the the feeling of the the white maker and the producer are different is, it's it's possible and it's important to work more sustainable. And, take care about the, not only avoid us by pesticide or herbicide, but at the same time, work in order to keep the richness from value lasting to the beginning. That's the key point. And today, we also need to be sustainable in term of, the the people who work through the vineyard as well, of course, and, the the the COVID save energy, save water, and, avoid the pesticide data. It's a little bit more complex, but, not nothing possible. Yeah. Well, let's be it's gone from not impossible to, certainly, not necessarily not common, but, pretty common now. And certainly on this, using the word sustainable, which has has less or fewer restrictions legally, a lot of people are are certainly leaning in that direction. So let's talk a little bit about French Accord and and the history. I know you had told me that the region has a history where it was first mentioned in twelve seventy seven, but French Accord has a sparkling wine producer is really only in the last twenty or thirty years or so. Can you give us a a a little background on French court as a region? Yeah. The hospital was produced by Flat in Miami in the middle of the fifty six years ago in nineteen sixty one. And, unfortunately, this gentleman from academia just left us, of course, the last, thirty years with a also with the consultant. The consultant was bombing March ninety, grew up. And, right now, we are around the thirty million bottle of shipment. French quarter is a major in Indonesia, and we are lucky because we have the the particular situation of, kills of, marine soils and, long tradition of white making and also maybe not sparkling that we do today. But, of course, you know, with, books written from, armies and Doctor in, in fifteen seventy, rich people, try to see this hidden eyes of Jews, and they explained they opened the barrel at this other with fifty, increase the wines. So, reach people to support and join if it reaches the minds, sensors, five seconds a week. But, today, we are a very important agent for the authority. And, the grape, more popular is the chardonnay, which is eighty percent of, the biggest of face, then pin on the year of fifteen and pin gun. Recently, since twenty seventeen after more than twenty years of study. We, introduce it into our law, a local variety or the local variety code element is now the beginning of the study because we we know how we'll pay in in India, but we need to understand how each quarter we talk about the program to develop in in in aging. Okay. Point I wanna make early on, I I I've been watching the sparkling wine industry in the US for more than thirty years, and I've been very impressed by the impact that Prosecco has had on the US. You know, it used to be in ninety percent or some large percentage of the Sparkling wine sales in the United States happened in, you know, November and December, the fourth quarter, sparkling wine, a k a champagne that is always thought of as a celebratory wine, not necessarily served with food, but, you know, kind of a separate celebratory thing. Prosecco has completely taken over the US, not only prossecco on its own, but also the concept of the spritz, aperol spritz, which, you know, we think is a wonderful invention from Italy almost as good as pizza. Probably goes well with pizza too, and has allowed Americans to think about sparkling wine and maybe new generations of Americans too, not old people like me, but think about, sparkling wine as a food wine as opposed to just a celebratory wine. Where does French Acorda sit? Because you're more on the champagne, the authenticity heritage, and all that kind of stuff than, and and more importantly, it's it's tradition method traditional, which means secondary fermentation in the in the bottle as opposed to, Charmot bulk, which is the way prosecco is. So talk a little bit about how French Corta has been impacted by the impact of prosecco in the United States. You know, I think that prossecco, it's a minor who been in the important role because bring a young consumer, new generation of, drinkers and joy bubble, but this is very good point. And, you know, it's not so. We do, we don't do not have to forget today in a country like US, the wine is not so a a tradition. It's it's something different. People like me, I grew up in a family where I would produce mine. And, since at the beginning of my life, a bunch of mine was four ways of the table, lots of dinner every day. Today, huge generation, even in Italy, they, they, the the digital pandas Experian wine is something new. And, Jose could bring the, new generation and joint bubble, joy wine, and this is perfect. This is possibly it's our afraid. Absolutely. And so we need to explain, a bubble is not only for a bar day. This is not only for a graduation or not only for a situation or race, butter, wine, and to to enjoy the the meat before they're doing, you know, lunch and dinner. And, the feeling we are lucky because today, bubble are very, very popular. This consumption is growing, and the decreasing is growing as well. Proseco is perfect, to introduce, but the single step is to start to you look at wine with more complex, more texture, more deeper, and more flexible, of course, but also, well, I like a touch of quota. So at the end of the day, we are, myself, I believe, I would say a call is a very good friend. And, It's a it's a good line, of course, the the the role of Seiko to open the door with a new consumer. It's a really important source of reaching a month. So here we have a whole new generation of people recognizing sparkling wine from Italy is a thing. Okay? And maybe they had some experience with champagne itself and probably more likely with American sparkling wine not produced, in the champagne region. And while your production is not outrageously large. You're only doing, twenty million bottles or hundred and sixty six thousand nine liter cases. The growth has been phenomenal over the last couple of years. And even in spite of the pandemic and the challenges that's had on the on premise, which is where Sparkling wine has always been strong. You've had significant growth up eighteen percent in twenty twenty one versus twenty. I presume twenty two is kind of following along similarly. How has that what what's been driving that, in in spite of this, you know, the impact that that COVID has had on the US market? You know, we we were waiting the, new Vigna, the production, but we are partnered. We have to fight also with the waiter. We had a big frost in, previous about two thousand seventeen. So we haven't at the the bottle enough for the market. And finally, after a couple of good vintage, like eighteen and nineteen, we were able to introduce year that the the model for meaningful retention two thousand eighteen. And so and we finally have a possibility to, open the market and send more cases into, to the the US, Japan. We we grew up spiritually last year also because in Italy, after the COVID, the the first quarter was a red zone with the restaurant close, but when we open in May and June, everybody want to rediscover the the the the joy of, meeting people gathering together. I enjoy a nice bottle. So we had a fantastic here. So at part of the right now, we are, talking during the war in Europe. So it's crazy. And, we are a little bit scared here because we don't know what's happened, but for sure, nothing good is a very big situation in Europe. You are compared a lot. French Corta is compared a lot to Trento Doc because for a couple of reasons, one, you're using some of the same varietals or traditional varietals. You're doing the secondary fermentation in the bottle, using mechanical riddling and so forth. But but, basically, the the comparison ends there. Can you explain to me why the what the difference is between Financial Corta and Tronto Dark, which are both Italian producers? I believe in the main difference, Alan, to the vineyard, especially because, here we will have a vineyard in Agoyo style and offer with five thousand or six thousand by Flexi Terrace. So, producer, also ten thousand trying to, they use the the paper system, with a lower number of fine for electric, and higher production. Also, for, for production for electric, because here, we to do, say, sixty five detectors and, in in trade though, if ever I'm correct, it's a it's more because it's, seventy percent to one hundred fifty. It could be eighty nine, twenty, thirty percent more. And also, the soil, of course, are different. Not the relation because, elevation is very similar. And of course, it's around two hundred or two, three hundred meters on the swing level. And as well, the trade, so it's very, very similar. But the soil here we have two kinds of soil many more in it, but also for the the the soil, order from, from the, Alabama left, from the sea. And, in the intent of the solaris model by the erosion of the Absa at the moment, they have, on the back, on the back. So this is the main, the main difference between, the the the bridge. Another region here. We have another main difference. We have one hundred and twenty one producing. Mainly, Ygoa. So ninety nine percent of the position here also put his mind. The scrape, and the vineyard, they will do all all the chains starting to prune to do a good strategy. In Trento, there is, some, big player, as a cooperative, and, one very, very big player. So it is different situation, but the main difference for sure are, in, in to the vineyard, how many bottle we can produce for activities, twenty two percent, less inventory quarter. And as well, the minimum aging in the bottle is, you know, because of course, I need to talk to fifty. So one of the questions I have is, about the awareness of French corda in the United States. Have you guys done any research or has any research been done that you're aware of that speaks to the awareness of French court of sparkling wines in the United States. Good. No yet. Probably it's too early. Argentina, we're lucky because we have the great Italian restaurant all over the US, and, of course, Italian food, Italian restaurant are the first ambassadors of Italian wines, or, you know, from the quarter. Of course, today, you know, we are as bone region as bone market, and the export is small and even the US, we are the beginning of this. We did a couple of efforts in eighteen nine and nineteen. So we were, we have to increase the the the direction to to the US market and increase the the activity after the COVID arrived. And, right now, we probably re this task, which you haven't seen in June, probably in New York. And we're waiting to to to be able to go back market, the meter and the information. Well, we welcome the visit. So one of the things I've seen is that, French Gorda has certainly has awareness and been embraced by the Sommelier community. Sommelier community has been, hit hard because of, COVID and and so forth. And so the challenge as I understand it is is is now focusing on consumer awareness and and interest. Can you talk about some of the programs that you plan to be running in the US in the next year or so? Yeah. So many already, you know, one expert already know from Chacorta. What we need to do today is do better, communication to to to to market for the for the consumer. And we just, start with a new PR agency, for a person. And, normally, we try to, first of all, to bring people or journalists, somebody to visit and support campus to make a choice because, if you can visit to the the the the Vimeo, the new one, it's always better. But at the same time, do have it and, occasionally in order to introduce such a both car in a nice, a location like, we did to LaSia, with the admins, I was in Los Angeles, but as well, we have a different partnership with a efficient brand, a beneficial brand because we are also partnered here in Minneapolis with the camera model who's the institution who, organized the efficient So partnership with the everything is the top quality, top brand, top luxury brand from Italy. We try to ship a dual activity to the adult senior session, high quality product, and, when it's possible to also act as a culture. So there's, a budding or growing, thing in in Malano called Malano Wine Week. Have you guys participated in that? And, how impactful do you think that is on your business in Italy and then what impact might it have in the US? Yes. We are, we participated in the beginning with the different kind of events. The main one is to collaborate with the restaurant in in, in the area, Minneapolis, offer to to to the customer a special, selection offer to to to the customer, a special, special, selection of conference call to my day last. During the week, of course. And, we are doing a admin hour a week, some different seminar in order to present to the different style of what you call the satan that was created in Brazil. And, as well, we normally do a testing with the producer if course. I mean, it has to wait, but, where do you have a opportunity to talk with a class of what you're gonna do. So one of the things I think that really differentiates you guys is is very interesting. The the concept of no dosage. Can you talk a little bit about that? And, you know, before you do, one of the comments I like to make is Americans have two favorite flavors crunchy and sweet. Right? And and zero dosage is is counter that but it's also kind of alternative to the very sweet prosseccos that tend to dominate the US market, which have somewhere between twelve and seventeen grams of residual sugar. So talk about no dosage as a style. It is growing and also the disastrous way with the protein. Because we lower, every year. So we are lucky because we have a there are lots of Italy. We have a good ripeness. So we do not, we do not have too much acidity. We have a very robust and ripeness. So we do need, sugar to balance the acidity. And, in the last, forty, thirty, forty, fifty years, we develop a high culture about, sparther way making. Sparther, I know it is not easy to explain that. We we do not produce wine, and then we add the documentation to get the bottle. White wine, when making is completely different, that's partly why making it to especially during the press of the first hour after hours with a to take care of the no rush to be able to separate the juices. So after, years and years of experience, now we have a very good knowledge, and we are able to to do a super mind and avoid to exit the EBITMS and the innovation. So at the end of the day, our artisans of sugar are very, very low just because we don't need it. We give you sugar. The the money is already balanced and we don't need to search. This is more clear in the last five seconds, and they probably will be decreasing. The number of auto search, even some are the labeled I think it would be, I'm important to support for our line in the future because, if you are a mask already without, without, I use sugar. It's, it will be better. For delivery. Okay. So it's it's a point of difference as as I like to phrase it. It's a point of difference that makes a difference. It also changes the wine consumption experience. I mean, if if you take out sugar or don't add sugar in in the concept of of no dosage, it changes the the flavor experience of the wine. How does that impact wine with food? No dosage, sparkling wine from branch corda versus brutes or extra gis or things that might be more common in the United States. I think, consumer is looking to have a pure wines, more, more, peer, I mean, something less, work at less, intervention or yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's intervention as possible. And, and, you know, as we said before, we are a small agent. I'm quoting you, but this is very small. We our number is not to have an impact from the market. We don't change, the market. But if you see me go on to the, a good experience of Lirena, and, they would enjoy it to qualify and even give it to Costa. Also, because of the disaster. So it's an opportunity to experience sparkling wine in an entirely new way that they've not experienced before. And in the case of the younger generations, shall we call the millennials and, Genex, it is discovery. And it's also a function of sharing and the impact of social media and all the rest of that stuff. Now that we're back on track, we've reduced the the mask wearing in the United States. People are going back out to restaurants. I think there is this kind of openness But the question I am asking is what cuisine goes better with zero dosage sparkling wine from French Acura in comparison to the type of cuisine we Americans are used to where I might be drinking, you know, Valpolicella or, you know, any of the segmentino de Montevaux or Privetivo or or no how does where does Italian cuisine fit vis à vis no dosage French quarter wine? But for sure, as aperitif, with appetizer, with fish, with pasta, and also white meat, like, villa, like, chicken, turkey, pick it. If you were doing, a barbecue with a barbecue sauce, maybe the second team would be able to focus better, but, have a good job, of course. With Sala, the appetizer, pasta, fish, and the sushi, sashimi, and that's right for Chacorta, we'll be friendly with the Mexican for the, you know, for for the Italian point of view, This is very, very popular and normally in a common in the US. Yeah. Like, index will be strange and new, especially the Mexican food or the Indian food, not so popular here. So, I don't know if you ask me the best, it could be a restaurant guy in Russia. I'm not sure who's this veteran to see in in in Russia. Well, for the record, I had a bottle of French cord at yours actually with Mexican the other night, and it was spectacular. The food was great. The wine was great. The experience was great. It was like, yeah, I was not planning that, but it just kinda happened, you know, every so often you find there's a bottle open. That needs to be consumed. So, I mean, with with with meat, if you try with a wheat roast or something, a butter, barbecue, especially barbecue, American start with a barbecue service, it's too sweet, and, and to to to support the disease business. And this is not a bell. You need something with, suite by suite or everybody. It's better maybe a matlala from Marlona. You need suite with suite with that kind of a situation. Yeah. So we've talked about a bunch of things here. If you were gonna if a listener was listening, what's the one takeaway that they can, take away from this conversation? Fact that they learned about French corda that they might not have known that you think is significant. What's the the practical piece of information that we've talked about? I think the, our history, you know, we are in Italian and we are full of history, but, from Chacorta, having a very important history for the position, for the city of operation, where, you know, basically is one of the most important, a Rowan city in North of Italy. It is a beautiful museum to to visit with, many, statway. It is the Museum City and, and of course, the church will meet you wherever there's a church. Very, very old, very interesting with the beautiful painters inside. And, half inch quarter, even if it's small, if there is different, So the north of the south, and it's nice to visit in order to discover also that the food we have, if you're running in the south, Costa of Atobre, through the Montal olive beef, which is typical. If you run the mouth close to the lake, breathe the fish from the lake. And, for our position, we are, in the middle of the corner, but you can go to to a joyous key in, one hour on our, self in the in the car. So We are in an active position with a lot of history and, file folder. So it can be the interesting place to visit. Well, I didn't know about the, the Roman history. That interests me and, you know, not a reason to come visit. So so we've been talking this week with Sylvano Bresienini, who's president of the consortio French Acorta. And I wanna thank you for sharing your time with us. And, I look forward to when you guys come to New York, and I can get a chance to taste all the wines at the same time. I think that will be really interesting. If people wanted to get a hold of you or the consortium, what email or what, how would you like them to contact you? It's easy. We have a website, w w w dot comcow dot night. And you guys are gonna be at, Van Italy this year as well. Of course. Absolutely. So I will I will be there as well, and I'll be stopping by. One one of my favorite experiences in Italy is the first day of Vin Italy. And the chaos that's outside the doors of the Pala Expo, which is just this massive people. And I've found a little secret that if you go along the wall all the way on the right, you can sneak your way in in in front of, like, a thousand people really quickly. I think the same, I had the podcasting. This will be no more secrets. Alright. Thank you again to, Sylvano. This is Steve Ray. Thank you for listening to this week's edition of get US market ready with Italian wine people. And please join us again next week. We're gonna have another fascinating, interview with somebody involved in the Italian wine industry. Thank you all. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Italian wine podcast brought to you by Vignitally international wine and spirits exhibition, the biggest drinks trade fair in the world. For more information about VINitelian tickets, visit VINitelie dot com, and remember to subscribe to Italian wine podcast and catch us on SoundCloud, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods. You can also find us at Italian wine podcast dot com. 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 Italian wine podcast dot com.