Ep. 971 Antonio Rallo | Get US Market Ready With Italian Wine People

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This episode is brought to you by Vinitally International Academy, announcing the twenty fourth of our Italian wine Ambassador courses to be held in London, Austria, and Hong Kong. From the twenty seventh to the twenty ninth of July. Are you up for the challenge of this demanding course? Do you want to be the next Italian wine Ambassador? Learn more and apply now at viniti international dot com. 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. Hello, and welcome to this week's edition of Get US Market Ready with Italian wine people on the Italian wine podcast. I'm your host Steve Ray, and I'm pleased this week to have Antonio Ralo of, DOC Cicilia as a guest. Antonio, welcome to the show. Oh, thank you, Steve. Thank you, everybody from Sicily. Sunny Sicily. You have two roles. Both of them significant. One at Donna Fugatta, and another one at a DOC, Cicilia. Can you give us a little bit about your background and what your responsibilities are at each? We're gonna focus on Cicilia today, but at some point in time, we're we'll come back and talk about Donna Fucata. Well, I'm a a winemaker. I've been, in the the wine business, since ever since I was a little child. I was going with my grandpa in the in the winery and the vineyards And then today, I'm, very happy to be the president of, the consortium of Syshilia, DOC. And as a matter of fact, I'll be, until today, the only one because, the consortium was founded in two thousand twelve. And as a matter of fact, the controlled denomination of a region comes to life, in November two thousand eleven. So first vintage two thousand twelve. So we are celebrating the first, tenth, vintages, yes, of Cecilia, DLC, and windy, very happy to put together the consortium because we got so many growers, wineries in Sicily. Just in case we got more than forty thousand growers in the in the island. Of course, it's a pretty big region. And you've gotta keep forty thousand people all thinking the same way and doing the same thing? More or less. Actually, we we got, something like, eight thousand. That is not too bad. And we are working on, today on sixty six thousand acres producing, more or less eight million cases, ninety five million of, modeled Okay. So one of the things that that most interested me in in having you on as a guest is the noise in the US around Sicily, as we call it. It's kind of taken the wine industry by storm. It's on the tip of everybody's tongues. The the varietals that you're producing are no longer just obscure indigenous varietals. They're they're primary ones. What drove all that? Why is Sicily so hot today? And I don't mean in temperature. Well, temperature is not too bad today, actually. But, well, we've been working very hard, we may concert you. We've been making wines, since they were more than three thousand years, but, unfortunately, we were not successful in the market, we're supposed to be. And the reason is, once again, that we are too many, too small, and it was, so difficult to, to promote our wines, but today, thanks, to the fact that we've been, discovering, finally, as well as produce good wines, as well as marketing and, and promotion and putting together all our efforts, we, been promoting, the wine, as well in the in the in the state. And, we got a couple of, varieties that are really interesting. And that we are, focusing today and, becoming pretty, pretty, known in the states right now. Okay. So let's get down into the specifics. Cisle is hot in the United States, and it seems to be driven by a couple of major varieties. Miradavala being the primary one. And then you're also focusing on Grillo. What do you think is driving that? Has it been publicity? Has it been good scores from wine spectator? Has it been travel people traveling to Italy? Why did all of a sudden Sicily come on on the on the screen, whereas islands like, Sardinia, are not there yet. Well, as a matter of fact, Fetsible, it's it's a pretty big region in terms of, winemaking. Between number one, number two, intense, of, vineyards, in Italy. And, actually, we we've been working really hard, on two varieties that are becoming being pretty popular in the states right now. First of all, I wanna talk about, Greenland. Now that it's a pretty recent variety. It's not really old as, as a sicilian, vines, but, there's something that, was discovered by Barona Mendel just in the end of nineteenth century. He was looking for, a variety that was, aromatic, but good as well, for the collection of, Marcella. But, likely, we, we had, the chance to have a a variety that was very good to produce, small wines, but very fresh. So I used to say people in, in the States that does know a grillo that, grillo is like a a pinot grigio, but with a nice, acidity freshness that, sometimes, can, as well remember as the seven year old brand. So smoothness and freshness, together. That's why I I think it's, so popular, right now, together with the the king of, Cecilian, wetworks variety that is, neurodawa. Something that someone want to compare to my back, but, probably there is, a little bit more fresh, than a mile back, even in the very dry vintages, of course, full of, red fruit like plum and cherry, but always, very soft, tannins. And it's becoming, so popular all around the world. I think because, as well. The quality of, of Nevodala is increasing so much in the last twenty years. And then geographically, when I look at at Sicily, and I I haven't had the pleasure of being there, but I I hope to is kinda dominated. The east is dominated by Mount Aetna, and the rest, the the west is kind of more planes. Is that correct? That the the wines then also fall into that kind of breakout? Well, more or less, actually, our vineyards as big as the one that you got in, in Germany or in South Africa, and three times bigger than New Zealand are mostly on ill sixty five percent on eels, a little bit more than five percent on mountains. So Ciso is not really flat, but, no, we we love to call it, our continent. Because we are so many different, terroir, so many different, combination of climate, and, and soil, together. So one of the commonalities you used the word in an earlier conversation, rustic, to describe sicilian wines. That has certain meaning to me, and I mentioned to other people as well, but what do you mean when you say rustic? Oh, well, I'm I I was thinking about, mostly, about the vines and all the wines. And sorry. Maybe I I I use the the the the good word. Actually, now when we think, about the the history of sicilian, with the culture, of course, you know, we had so much time, so long time to develop our native grape varieties that today, they are very resistant, to the drought. Very resistant to Valerie milieu and the only milieu so that's why we call it a very rustic now. And that's, El Paso's a lot. Of course, good day. In the climate changing, even if Mediterranean Sea until today, has been, quite consistent. Okay. There's a third variety, that warrants conversation, if only because it's fun to say. Zebbo. It happens to be, a personal favorite of mine, and also a friend of mine, Alter Yaro, who writes the Venography blog. And he seems to have a lot of joy in saying Zebbo. Tell us about Zebbo. And what significance it has in history? Well, the Zhibbo comes from, the Arab word, Zhib. That is a dry grape. And, actually, the Zhibbo was built by the Arab all through Mediterranean, and, of course, in, in Sicily. It's fantastic, as a fresh fruit. Well, in my opinion, is, the the the best you can eat, and it's fantastic as well because, that's big berries. So it was, number one, for, the production of, dry grades. Then, of course, we start making wine with that, with the city boys as well called Moscato, So it is part of the family of most cases. So it's a pretty aromatic with the aroma, typical aroma, of, of a mosquito grade, and was used in the past hundred percent for the production of, acetyl wine, wine with dry grades, or, or Street, Moscow. Then in the last, twenty years, more and more as well for the production of, dry wines, white wines very automatic, and, and, and fresh, being more and more problematic all around the world. And when you guys market Zabibo in products being sold in the United States, do you use the the Zabibo name, or do you talk about Moscado? We are talking about Zdivo, because, we we we like, so much, you know, the the the Moscado, that is, of course, pretty different to Moscado, white Moscado, or or gold Moscado, and, and, and cell one. Even if, of course, it's part of the family Moscado. Yeah. I mean, it's a similar thing. We have some confusion in America between Monteciano Debbruso and Montepulciano, the town. And, frankly, if I were pressed on it right now to explain the difference I couldn't, but we're we'll move on from that because I'm not studying for the Van Italy International Academy degree. Okay. Let's go back to, Sicily. And what have you guys done recently from a promotional organizational point of view that you think has made you successful in comparison to other Italian regions or or even other continents, which are doing things. Whether it's New Zealand, whether it's, you know, Bordeaux or Chile or or any of those things. What are some of the activities that, says Chile Doc is been involved in? Well, we start, less than, ten years ago to promote our, doc, Cecilia, so pretty recently. And we've been working, first only in the United States. Because, United States, as you know, is the biggest, why market, in the in the world. And Sicily was not really well known, at that time. Even if, you know, we are three times bigger than New Zealand. So Which is amazing to me. Three times bigger than New Zealand. Wow. In terms of total production, you mean. So it's it's, really incredible. So sometimes we say that we've been making, wines, since three thousand years ago, but, from time to time, we we are taking, so so so big map. No. It's leaving, like, Mexico in the in the in the suns, maybe because sometimes it can be, warm and seasonal, but, nevertheless, now we we we we be starting, in investing quite a lot, in these states. And especially concentrating, on, on social media, digital. And, when we start actually, we were investing much more than, Argentina, Chile, Australia, and New Zealand. So we had the chance really to become more and more popular through the the the the social. And as a matter of fact, we, have to, think about, the power of, as a brand. When we are thinking about, Italian, Italy, number one brand is, of course, Italian, Italy. The second one is, Tuscany, and then you got Sicily, and then nothing else, in terms of, awareness, we've been, as well, you know, checking the, the the brand, Sishida, in the States, in the past, and last year. And, among the wine region, Cecilia, today is, for US consumer is number seven. So it's really, popular. That's probably more because of the name of the island than, the the the the the the the wines, but but it's becoming more and more popular in these days for sure. And I think there's also a correlation between, you know, Italian food. The US is is is very, you know, obviously Italian food is one of the most popular cuisines that we have in the US, and most of the Italian food that we have here tends to be of sicilian origin, tomato based, and all that kind of stuff. Thank you for listening to Italian wine podcast. We know there are many of you listening out there, so we just want to interrupt for a small ask. Italian wine podcast is in the running for an award, the best podcast listening platform through the podcast awards, the people's choice. Lister nominations is from July first to the thirty first, and we would really appreciate your vote. We are hoping our listeners will come through for us. So if you have a second and could do this small thing for us, just head to Italian wine podcast dot com from July first to the thirty first and click the link. We thank you and back to the show. Steven, I can say, if you want, I can say, you know, all around the world, we are the sixteen millions of, sicilian. Only five, are in the island today, and the rest all around the world. And number one, sicilian population outside of Sicily is the states. And I think that's also made a big impact on the kind of food that we which when we think of it Italian food, it's mostly, from those who who immigrated in the late eighteen hundreds, early nineteen hundreds, influenced how we eat. But back to the the point of social and digital, you kinda generalized and said we've been doing a lot. Well, tell us exactly what you've been doing or give us a couple of examples of social media programs that you've, put in place and what kind of impact they've had. How do you measure it? So first of all, we decide to work with an American company because we we thought that, if we want to talk with the American consumer, we, to talk the same language, not to be more closer to the the the the the consumer. And, and then, of course, first of all, when we start, there was no Instagram. So we saw the, on, on Facebook, then we, we build up, our website whine, of, of of Sicily. And then, of course, we start working, as well on, Twitter. But, you know, what whatever we've been doing in the States, and that's it's really important for the board, of DOC, Chile, has been doing, through, a partner in the, in the States. That that's, I think, that was, really the the the reason why we've been so successful. So the good partner and as well and the US partner. Well, who's the partner? Our partner for social and digital today is, current is part of the IPG, group. And then we are working, together as well with the Colangelo, that got fantastic knowledge about, wines, and I think it's really number one about the Italian wines. Okay. So, you've got a whole lot of producers as you said on the island How do you keep them all organized and what what are the individual wineries doing to support the consortium and its programs? And and do you find that to be a challenge? So many different points of view? Well, as a matter of fact, concerns him, in in Italy, are they've got some rules, that that that were established, new rules were established, around two thousand ten and actually give us the chance to work much easier than in the past. As a matter of fact, if you wanna use the denomination of a region in your label, you have to, pay something to the consortium, so the community. And then the community can, of course, invest that in promotion as well in, of course, working on not a great varieties, you know, by doing some research, but, of course, most of of the budget is invested in, in, in, in promotion. So, what happened is that, no, we got lots of small, little wineries. They've got no power to come in the States. And, become, relevant. But, by putting it all together, our efforts, we build up a, a bigger budget that give us the chance, you know, to, to invest and to build up a project that give us, the the the chance, to become more popular in the States. And then together with the investment of the consortium, we still got investment from all the small, legal wineries. And there is a short of, synergy that works, really well in, develop the, market of CCN wine all over the world, but, I mean, especially in the States, in the last five, six years. Okay. Can you tell us what are the producer names of the wines that have the best distribution in the United States from Sicily? Yeah. Well, we got quite big, producer that is, a cantina, suchale, that is, set to Solly in the, west part of, Sicily Let's call up. Yeah. Then, we got in the most, more or less in the same area, another big producer that is, hermes and, con Tina, Columbabianca, growing together with with container Palini, they are pretty big. Now in terms of, quantity, they are they are, really big, even in the Italian, you know, wine production. Then, of course, we got, some, producer working, Ollie on, their own vineyards, like, I don't know, Tasca del marita, and Donna Fogada, that that they are, focusing more on, fine wines, and they are doing pretty well in the last couple of years. And then some other, a little bit more bigger, producer in terms of volumes, like, kuzumano that is doing pretty well in the in the States in the last couple of years. Or or duca di Sala, the producer of a Coruba wines that were that were really popular in in the past. You know, was one of the biggest brand of the Italian wines in the in the eighties, but, most of the people didn't know that was a sicilian wine, but they were big as, Santa Margarita with its pinot grigio. At that time, actually. And something like three hundred thousand cases that was not too bad. Wow. Yeah. Okay. So those are the big guys. Then there's a whole bunch of little guys. What what is the opportunity or or what is the strategy a smaller producer, and and I don't mean someone with, you know, like, just one hectare, two hectares. I'm talking about somebody who may be producing, I don't know, hundred to three hundred thousand bottles a year who's not in the US, but wants to be. What kind of advice or help does the, consortium provide? Oh, well, we've been, organizing, during the pandemic quite a lot of, video to present the market, to the producer. And as well, we build up, some, b to b, by sending, working together with the Colangelo We've been sending samples, to importers, and, then having tasting the wine together. So what we, gonna do in the future is organize more b to b you know, to, try to put together a producer from Sicily and importers, in, in, in the States. And then, of course, we will try to do the best to give our opportunity to our producer during, Van Italy, during some big events, to have the chance to let, the importers taste their own wines. Even if they are not around the fair. Okay. So we'd be remiss if we didn't talk about Donna Fugata specifically. And you and I had chatted, and I was particularly interested in Pantoleria as as part of Sicily. I don't know how many people know that this tiny little island off the coast of tunis, I believe. Right? Played a big role in World War two and is also a big, great producing area. But tell us a little bit about Donna Fugata, and its role Visa V, DOC Sicilia. Well, as a matter of fact, my father was, really one of the first to think about the opportunity of, DOC Sichelia. So, first of all, at the the end of the nineties, we've been working, on building up a group of, producer that is called, a So at that time, my father, Jacquamo, together with, Diego, Planeta, and, Lucia, built up this, at the beginning, a small group of producer of the highland. They've become, then, much bigger today. We are about ninety producer. It's a club of the the the the families and the fine wines of, of Sicily. But they understood that that that time that we really had to, put a bigger group together, to have a all together one big brand if, we, wanna be successful all all around the world. The the problem of, Sicily was, the sites, of the the the winery, the the the budget, to invest, no, in promotion, marketing. And, the only way to have, enough budget to, be relevant in the market was just to put, everybody together, working on a on a brand. That's why they decided that I'm to work on that project that, is the the the first, DOC that is, putting together an entire region, now in, in Italy. So, at the beginning, no, there was someone that was thinking that, was too big. It's easily was a a continent. But, no, today, most of, the the the the the producer, the stakeholder, and wines, They really, understood the the the reason why we are thinking about, Sichida, DOC. And as well, we have to think that we are giving the chance to use the brand of Cecilia to the smaller DOC. They are more unique. They are more, concentrated in a small territory. Just think about, you know, Victoria Sarasolo, Ditoria, Aetna. Aetna itself now can use, Cecilia. In the past, when Cetna was an IGT, there was no chance for Aetna for even a smaller, DLC, like, main fee, contest in Telena, content discovery, to use, Cecilia on the label. Of course, Cecilia is a powerful brand. He's, so well known all over the world through consumer. But, no, if you compare, the power of the brand, Cecilia, to main fee, compare this clafani, even Aetna or, Victoria. Now it's, it's, of course, it's not comparable at all. So by creating the DOC Syshelia, we gave, the chance to use the brand Syshelia to the small, DOC, and that was really, fantastic for those small, DOC area and production. Okay. I like to end in my, interviews with the question. What's the big takeaway of of all the things that we just talked about? What's the one thing that someone listening to this and most of the listeners I believe are, in the the trade and particularly in the US. What what's the one thing that someone listening can take away practically and put to work immediately from what we just talked about? Well, we go to the largest, organic a sustainable vineyards, for sure in Europe with more than one hundred thousand acres and a great range of wines, focus a lot on native grape varieties. With, amazing price quality to find wines. Okay. So, big shout out and thank you to, Antonio Ralo, who is, the president of, DOC Cecilia, and also winemaker at Donna Fugata. Yes. Thank you very much. Steve, for the opportunity. And thank you all, and I hope to see you in, in Sicily. All my friends, we're coming over. For dinner. A big stadium dinner. Why not? Sounds like fun to me. I look forward to it. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time. Thanks for listening to this episode of Italian wine podcast. Brought to you by Vineetli Academy, home of the gold standard of Italian wine education. Do you want to be the next ambassador? Apply online at benetli international dot com. For courses in London, Austria, and Hong Kong, the twenty seventh to the twenty ninth of July. Remember to subscribe and like Italian wine podcast and catch us on SoundCloud, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods. You can also find our entire back catalog of episodes at Italian wine podcast dot com. Hi, guys. 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