Ep. 830 Marilisa Allegrini & Sarah Bray | Maze Row Wine Merchant Series

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. We are thrilled to be presenting a seven part series with our fantastic partner, May's Row wine merchant. We are proud to present this series of interviews, diving deep into the heritage and legacy of May's Rose excellent Italian producers tune in every Saturday from March fifth through to April sixteenth as we take an intimate look at these respected historic producers and their role as part of the May's Row family of Luxury wines. And remember to check out our YouTube channel, mama jumbo shrimp, for incredible video content featuring a visit to Arjanno. Good morning, everyone, or evening for those of you in Italy. Well, I'm Sarah Bray. I'm returning this week, for this fantastic interview. I'm a wine writer and educator based in the Napa Valley. And today, I'll be talking with this incredible woman and wine, Marilisa La Grimi. CEO of her family's company, Allegrini. We will be talking about the Valpoliceller region in the northeastern part of Italy outside of Verona. The wines produced there such as Amarrone and specifically about her family's contributions to the region's quality renaissance over the last forty years. So it's gonna be very exciting. Then we are going to move into a discussion of Poggio Altezoro, the family's next project out on the Bulgaria coast. And we are going to taste some delicious wines together as we do so. And then finally, today coincides with the launch of May's Row wine merchants in the US previously known as Lex wines. Alagrini was actually the first winery to join this arm of Gallo, and it's one that celebrates the values of excellence, family, legacy, and sincerity. So it's really apt that we begin this new chapter talking with Marissa. So with that, Ben Benoit Duval. Thank you very much, Sarah. Thank you. I'm very pleased to be here with you and to present the Alegreens family story to wine lovers and connoisseurs. Well, you've been doing that for a long time, and we will get into that. But let's begin with a little history. I know your family has been in the policella region for a long time. So can you give us a little bit of that history? When was it that allegroini started? How long have you been working in in wine? So the history of my family, grape growing dates back six generation. And there is an official year of the company foundation, which is eighteen fifty four. But, historical documents, that, grape growing that dates back even earlier than the fifteenth century. Originally mine was a typical rural and patriarchal family, but then in the fifties, my father expanded the winery by buying new vineyards and the increasing production. We deny to the export market. So is really it was really a kind of, person that understood the importance of innovation and also that it was also important to internationalize the company. And, when my father took over, the company was quite small, but the most important in printing or impetus he gave was, his shift toward the quality. Something that was not taken for granted in those years in Italy. In fact, quantity was more important than quality. We're going to dive into all of the innovations because it really sounds like he was a tremendous man. But before we do that, I do want to talk a little bit about you first. Did you always know that you would be working with your family and wine? No. No. It was not my first choice as a teenager, but, you have to keep in mind that the social environment at that time. And also that, the agricultural sector was completely dominated by men at that time. And so I wanted to quit, not because I didn't like the family business, but because I wanted to leave the continuation of the company to my brothers as they were already involved in the company. And, at the end, the pressure that came from my father because I worked for five years, as a physical therapist in the hospital, but then the pressure that came from him together with the feeling that my family legacy was something that, I too wanted to continue brought me back into the company. And this happened in nineteen eighty one. I started in the administration sector And, because back then, it was less common to travel the world. Plus, when I asked my dad, he always said, no. And, but also the to work in the hospital, it was a fantastic experience for me because I think that, when, when, you learn, when you work with people that suffer, you really have an intimate, feeling that, also help you in the business. My father unfortunately passed away two years later in nineteen eighty three. So at least I had the opportunity to work with him for two years. Too short a time, I know. Yes. Definitely. Definitely. Well, we'll talk about you and your brothers in that moment a little later on, but let's talk a little bit more about your father because He really did so much to set the stage for everything you've done. And even though he said no, you became a globe trotting CEO anyway. So Yes. So can you tell me a bit more about sort of his love of Valpolicella and and what he brought to Viticulture and winemaking in the in the course of his two short lifetime. So, definitely, my father was extremely proud to belong to by Pollicella, which at that time was not a very highly considered wine producing area. In term of quality. But, he wanted to demonstrate the region's true potential and create a reputation for quality. And, he was a visionary. He studied deeply the geology and the type of soil and the type of grapes in the area and they compare this with other great wine region around the world. He brought back innovations First in the vineyard with things like, higher density planting and, also a different wine training method. Like, double Guio, instead of the traditional pergola. The pergola was heavily planted in Brazil, but the pergola facilitate heavy crop. He discovered, for example, that Guio training system was very important to control the viscosity of Corvina and Corvina on the two most important grape variety in Valpolicella. And then he studying this grape variety with this very high yield. He understood that the concept of yield per vine instead of just yield per actor. And it was very clear to him that, high yield means lower quality. He was very excited to start this, new trend in the quality trailer, but, he was criticized sometime even by people he respected. You could say that, he was the sort of person who was prepared to think outside the box, to be experimental to push boundaries in the search for better quality and innovation. Well, we take so much of what you just described for granted now, but like you said back in that time, it was a quantity versus quality argument and, you know, the yield having to produce lots of wine. So I can imagine that the criticism came, but because they didn't understand what he was trying to achieve. And that has to be stressful because with vineyards, it all takes so long to actually see whether you're right or not? Yes. At least twenty years, and this is the big, big challenge when you deal with new vineyards and when you introduce this, kind of innovation. But, I think that, my feeling is that if you don't have the courage to innovate, it means that things will never change. Well, that's that's a good mentality. It probably has taken you far. But let's let's talk a minute about some of this concept of the vineyards and these experiments. When and where did he actually start with these experiments and the changing of the training system? Are there particular vineyards that you're still working with where you really have seen the fruits of these results over the years. Yes. I I want to make this, introduction, being the winery that have this, very long history. Allegrini owns some of the best single vineyard in the Valpolicella classic area, all located up on the hillside. And in, nineteen seventy nine, my father purchased, what he called his lifetime dream with the acquisition of the two vineyards Laderolla and the Poya. He started the it's experiment in term of Viticulture. This, LaGrola is a hill, and the La Polla is a plateau located in the top of the hill, and overlooking Lake Garda toward West the mountain to the north and the Louisville plane facing south. So he found with this focus, on quality, he found these two vineyards, the best place to take over the experimental experiments that he was doing with the Corvina and the Corvina grape. And, he gave a new impetus to grind while growing and, made an immense contribution to the rebirth of Viticulture and wine maker in Vipolicella. It was probably a qualitative revolution not only for his company, but for the entire Vipolicella. That's pretty tremendous, but it's quite sad that he did not get to see the fruits of all of that labor. He passed away so shortly after nineteen seventy nine. So, really, this quality Well, this revolution was carried on by you and your brothers. Can you talk about those early years and the difficulties of that transition? Oh, in we were young. When he passed away, I had just joined the company two years before, and of course my dad was still in charge of everything and his knowledge and understanding across all sectors of the company was enormous. So under his control, we looked after separate areas, Walter managing the vineyard, the Franco running the winery and while making operation. And I took care of the administration. But we were young and it was, much easier to work under his responsibility. So it was a big challenge for us to demonstrate that we were able to carry on what he did trying to be as successful as he was. So after he passed away, we had to learn together how to go on. And, we had to believe in our self and thus accept to learn from our mistakes. As we went along. And also to learn about each other other areas of expertise. And that was especially true for me. And, at the beginning, it was a big challenge, as I said, first because we were not used to manage the company. But then we became aware that it was important to have the same mission, even if sometime, our vision for the future were different. Because of our different personalities. I can't imagine. And, I love my brother, but I don't know how well we'd work together. So I I imagine even just the interpersonal sibling relationships could be a little challenging too. Yes. You can imagine myself growing up with two strong boys, made me aware that I had to find against, against gender prejudice, it it was a give and take relationship, but it made me stronger. And I discovered my real passion in the company, which was, I was I was so, safe when them were were taking care of the production that, I decide to start to travel in the world, becoming the ambassador of the family. And this, I mean, that relationship work very, very well. Well, and knowing that people you trust and share your your vision and your mission are taking care of the product at home means you can travel and and go build the brand in the market like you were saying. So were there areas that you were focused on in those early years? You coming a lot to America, for example? Yes. I learn a lot, from the United States because I I learn, the first thing was, that, the wine world was not just by politella or not just Italy. But, the entire world could produce a great wine. And so I learn, to taste different wines from my area. And also, I learn how to communicate. I learn I learned many many things. So I'm really, thankful to America and to the American people in the wine industry. Well, and it sounds like those casings and that exposure really helped you start to think differently about the wine that your region was making and, allowed you to begin to build differently on your father's legacy. So can you talk me through some of the innovations that Allegrini has made specifically maybe we can begin with Ameroni and the production of of that famous wine? Yes. I I explained before the innovation that we introduced in the Vineyard Manage event, but I think that one of the really big, big innovation happen in the amarone field. And we have to look at little bit at the history of amarone. Amarone in the past used to be a wine, quite unknown. A very small group of, wine lovers really know Amerona and, like, really like the wine. And, I think that it was because Amerona in the past used to have a different personality from, the one that it has now. It was heavy or pulling, sometime a bit sweet in the aftertaste, but the most important feature was the oxidative heavy character on the nose and on the palate. This, what I like to call part like flavor was the most important characteristic of a of a marone. And of course, this type of wine can be poor at the end of a meal. It would be difficult to find a food that could match could match well with this, organoleptic characteristics. My father first understood amarone could do more. Could be better. He planted the seeds of the idea that, we could make an amarone that was, more food friendly while at the same time maintaining its personality. And when when Franco took over, the way making process, he realized that it was a motoritis, or noble wrote that could occur during the drying process that give to the wine that touch of oxidation. And so he started experimenting how to prevent it. Before we go into his experiments. Let's just pause quickly because like you said, not everyone knows exactly how amarone has made. So can you just describe briefly kind of the traditional winemaking process? And then we can go into what the changes are that Franco kind of pioneered. Yes, sir. It's a very interesting, and unique process. And that belonged to Valpolicella for thousand of years, the, a passing process. It was known at the Roman time. But originally it was, invented to produce a sweet wine de ricciardo. The marrone is a very, very recent discover. It happened only in the fifties. So how can we manage the production of a marrone? In September, when the grapes are, ripen, we go in the field. We select, the best, branches, and we have to select, by law, by the DOC regulation, a maximum of fifty percent of the grapes in the vineyard. And then we have to take away any single damage buried. And if it is dry or gray, we have to take away. And then, we put the grapes into small boxes. And in these boxes, we put only one layer of grape, and then we put the boxes on pallet, and we take the pallet to the drying facility. And this is a covered area, provided with the windows and doors. So we can open the windows and doors when outside there is very good ventilation or close when there is humidity outside. And the grapes stayed in this stay in this place for ninety hundred maximum of one hundred and ten days. And during this period, they become like raising. So the water evaporate and, at least forty percent of the liquid inside the water evaporate. But, this is the most evident thing to the that happened to the battery. Cause what happened is that instead, there is an intense metabolic change, and this is reflected into the final wine. So the end result is a wine higher in alcohol because of the evaporation of the water inside the belly, but very rich in body in structure and also rich in alcohol because the sugar content when we press the grapes, for a morone, is quite high. So this is the process. It's unique because from dried grapes, we produce dry wine. No. It it is quite an unique wine in the world of wine. But it does sound like there could have things go wrong if you have fresh fruit drying on Iraq for about ninety days. So Could we talk a little bit about that moment in the winemaking process and how allegrini has really pushed forward some changes and innovations there? You are perfectly right. There are some event that can happen during the drying stage that, in the past, because of this event undesirable event, we were not able to make amarone every year. And, this is due to the humidity that, we can experience in full or in winter. Remember that we are, the forty fifth parallel in the north part of Italy. So it's an era where they there is a lot of rain and also because of the proximity to the lake, there is a lot of humidity. So what we, understood was that the humidity was the factor that brought the mold or the boturities to the grapes during the drying stage. And, in nineteen eighty five, after we discovered this, Franco started to experiment how to prevent the motoritis during the drying stage. So a few at the beginning, we experimented in our drying facility. But then in, nineteen ninety eight, the the method developed, developed, much in a much better way And, we built this facility that is called Terre de Fumane, is a state of the art drawing facility where the grapes are carefully monitor and control during the four months period of drying. And we circulate the air. This is the only technology that, we use believe it or not, but this circulation of air and keeping the right humidity help to keep the grapes healthy. And by doing this, we know that we can arrive at the end of the drying process with perfectly healthy grapes. And by doing so, we prevent the butroitis, and the result is what we we were looking for. So it sounds like for you, the vintage doesn't end when you pick because humidity can change from year to year as well. Right? Yes. Humidity can change, a lot from one, the image to another. Of course, the grape growing period must be great in order to have great grapes. But the final part. So the drying process is something that we can manage. And, we age the wine from ninety to a hundred and ten days depending on the humidity. And just to give you an example, we if we have a sixty percent humidity outside, we can dry the grapes in, a shorter period of time than if it is, seventy percent. And the two last vintages, two thousand and twenty, twenty, we press, late December and two thousand and twenty one, where the the fall was a little bit more humid fifteen days later. So this variation depends, on the vintage. So interesting. So are you the only ones that are using this Terardi Fumane facility? No. Because, when we built the facility, my brother got other other farmers and producer to share the experience. And because it was his idea, he runs the company as a CEO, but, be, Allegrini being the largest shell shareholder. And all the other participant have shared based on the space they need. So we there are a few other wineries, but there are several, grape growers that, do not transform the grape into wine, but they sell the one their grapes. That's really incredible. Not just from a technical perspective, which there was a lot of research that went into building that facility. And I think you have a second one now. Right? That you put later on. The process, help so much for the quality of a Maronek that, in two thousand and eighteen, there was one, dismissed warehouse here in Fumane in the same village where Alegrene is located. And so we built a we we purchased an this new one, and, we restore to be a drying facility. And now, we have a great potential to control a good amount of grapes because, in total, we can control the production of six million bottles. Of course, not only are the greeny, but, with the other producer, and also is a potential production. So we have the possibility to to grow. But what I want to focus is the fact that, the method, the the drying process is still carry out in a very artisanal way. Technology helps, but it doesn't create force, a natural condition. So this is, our mantra. We always, want to have a very craftmanship way to, manage the drying facility. But the impact of that, I mean, six million bottles of wine is huge. And and, yes, I understand they're not all, like, allagini wines, but, that's an impact on an entire region with that quantity. So it really sounds like you are looking to raise the quality of all the wines coming out of Valpolicella and not just your own. Yes. Yes. I think that there is a quarter rising tides will raise all boats. And this is, true also for the Amaroni. We are very proud to be considered the pioneer in this project. And that now many other producers in Balicella follow this method. And I think that in general, Amarrone has become a different wines from twenty years ago ago. And in fact, also the worldwide success of amarone demonstrate this. Amarone not longer show its original oxidized character, but is a wine that is, perfect to match, with food and to enjoy with, a wide, many different dishes. This is probably a good moment for us to taste our first wine together, the twenty seventeen Amarone de la valpolicella classico. So I poured my glass about forty five minutes ago and have been just smelling it this entire time that we've been talking, and it's been changing so much. But I'd love to hear you talk about this wine a little bit. What what do you expect on the nose? What does it deliver for you? And this, Sarah, to open the bottle first or to put today wine in the glass is always a a big idea because, through the tasting and waiting five minutes you discover the nuances that comes out from amarone. So on the nose, you can smell the razing, of course. You don't sense the excess of alcohol because the wine is power. But, at the same time, with great, great balance. So this, structure that the wine has do not allow the alcohol just to express itself. You can smell mental, plants that come from the raising grape and then gray aromatic intensity of dark fruit. And On the nose, I'm sure that you don't feel this, the oxidation that I was, described on it all. No. No. And then in the mouth, in the mouth of the wine, it has a powerful impact on the palate. And, with the mouthfeel gaining finesse and elegance because of the good acidity that the wine have. Remember that another important thing for the balance is the acidity because, normally, if you over ripen the grapes, acidity tend to drop. Right. But, when we go through the drying process, all the element concentrate, including the acidity. So the acidity is what is the, give the structure and the longevity of the amarone surprising because, you know, Amarrone is a higher alcohol wine. This wine is sixteen percent, but there's a freshness and it finishes so dry and bright. Really quite I can only imagine what I want to be eating with this wine. And another thing that, you can feel in the aftertaste, is softness, without residual sugar. This was another thing of the amarone of the past. The very high residual sugar, but very high residual sugar, show opulence sometime in a wine that doesn't have the real structure. Here, we don't have residual sugar, but we have the structure. And it doesn't feel very heavy. I don't get a lot of Oak spice Can you talk a little bit also about how you finish this wine and the cellar? So, in, in January, we pressed the grapes. The fermentation goes, a long time. It goes on for a long time at least forty days. Then, when we reach the, when we finish the first alcoholic fermentation, the wine has achieved ten percent alcohol. It's the moment then we separate the wine from the juice from the skin because it's not yet a wine. It has to develop five more degrees alcohol. So at this point, when we separated the juice from the skin, we put immediately the wine into oak. We use five hundred liter oak barrels. We choose soft to medium toast barrels as we don't want the wine to taste. Okay. We want the expression of the the aromatic expression of the grapes. So they're raising. And we want to have a very, very soft, okay, touch. Because then we have to leave the wine in barrel for eighteen, twenty months. And during this period, all the sugar are transformed into alcohol with this very, very soft process where the wine develop one of the most noble alcohol, which is the glycerin, and it is the glycerin that give this softness the at the end. Eighteen twenty months, five hundred liter oak barrels, and part of the fermentation takes place in the barrel. Well, it's, you know, I think a lot of people think Amaroni, big wine, quite heavy, but the freshness against all of that that body is really quite remarkable. And I know that making wines that are food friendly is really quite important to your family. We talked about moving the amarrani from the end of the meal to during it. So I would love to know what some of your favorite dishes are to drink with this wine, whether from Balpolicello or things you've had around the world. Okay. So my I love to cook. And, sometime during the year, I cook what is my Signa Tour dish, daca, a la range, and I think that this is the perfect combination for a maroona. But is, long, you have to spend one day in the kitchen. If you want to make a doc, daca, So if you are really if you want to trust this teacher, I suggest, but otherwise, you can enjoy a maroona with any kind of duck or poultry or any kind of red meat, red meat, either roasted slowly in the oven or grilled. And, because the pairing with food is very versatile for a maroni, even with this very important wine, I discover that it goes very well with some ethnic cuisine because of its, aroma of raisin grape. And, I'm referring especially to spicy or sweet and sour flavors. Song Japanese Japanese, Chinese duck, Indian, and Thai food, as well as some savory or spicy middle eastern dish. And if you don't want to cook at all, Amaroni is very good with the dry aged cheese, especially Permigiano. Well, I'm coming to your house for Dacoloranos next time. Okay. Sounds delicious. Some of those other really exciting pairing ideas. I can really imagine that sweet and sour flavor profile going well with this wine. So thank you for those. I'd love to kind of move away from Valpolicella in a moment and talk about your other projects. But before we do, I wanna return to just one other really important contribution that we touched on before, which is the idea of the single vineyard. We just tasted a traditional Amaroni DSCG. It's blended from multiple sites, but you actually produce several wines from unique sites. We talked about La Grolla La Polla earlier. So can you tell us about the wines that you're making from single vineyards and why they're important to Alegrini? Yes. Thanks to the beautiful vineyard that we own in Valporicella, and the somewhat very historical one. We started producing palazzo de la Torre, for example, in nineteen sixties as as at the beginning as a single vineyard, and then in late, seventy, it took only the name of the vineyard. So now we have the wine, Palazzo de Latore, which is one of our single vineyard. Then the same era, we bottle the single vineyard, and, now a Marona Sierra Monte is our, reserve single vineyard. And then in nineteen seventy nine, my father planted both La Polla and La Grolla. And these were the first single vineyard in Valpolicella that were Guyo trained with a focus on varietal expression rather than on the appassimantal technique. So we have now this, four single vineyard with the different, personality that, represented the the quality of the grapes that we can cultivate and ripen in different in these different properties where the exposure, the soil, the everything differs. So we can have soil that is a clay or a mix of clay and, choke or just choke. And so we want to enhance the characteristic of the different microclimate. Very interesting. And are all of these planted to the native grapes from your region? Yes. We don't have anything else than Corvina, Corvina, which are the two major grape variety that account for almost now ninety percent according to the recent change of the DOC rules. And then, there is one mandatory grape that is, Rondi Niela, and then we have another grape that is also later. And then we have, but a very small percentage of, Sanjuvez, which in small percentage has always been planted in Brazil. So we are really focused on the native in in native grape variety because, we think that, if you have great grape variety, why sourcing somewhere else, when the grapes variety are suitable for this area, for thousand of years, it means that they found the perfect teruar. And, we manage now two hundred and twenty hectares, and, which is five hundred and fifty actor, acres almost. And, only small part is still under Pargola, but, almost the entire state is planted with the Guyo training system. And then we recently developed an important project in Uganda the wine producing area situated on the sudden short of lake Garda with the fifty hectares vineyard, hundred and twenty acres planted with trou Turbiana, another native grape variety from, this part of the world and small selection of, Cortese. Very fun for you to expand in your region Well, it sounds like you've come back to your your father's first innovation, which is making your grapes shine in the vineyard with with good vineyard management and focusing on what makes Felicella so unique and great. You know, when you have a when you had a great mentor, you always follow what you learn from him. I I'm sure you take those lessons with you, especially as you've expanded to new projects. So I know you're not just working in Balcolicella. So can you talk a little bit about what motivated you to expand to Bulgaria, where you have Pogil Tizoro, and where you do work with some international varieties Well, when you go to Bulgaria, you you understand why I the first time I went there, I fell in love, with the area. It's very beautiful. It's very beautiful. Because, the landscape is really amazing because, even if you are close to the sea, it's not very well, very much built. So along the coast, there are some hotels, and resort of course, but in the countryside is, the landscape is really amazing. And in addition to this, we knew that the burglary was suitable for the production of excellent wine. It was the area where the Supertaskan started and, together with my brother Walter. It was really love at first sight. So we decided to start, and, in two thousand and two. And by the way, we are celebrating this year, the twenty years anniversary of Pogile Tesoro. Very exciting. Yeah. It's very, very exciting. It it it it seems for me yesterday. But, when I look around, when I look behind with the all the work that have been done, I feel very honored that I was the possibility that I had the possibility to invest in this, beautiful wine producing region, but also very proud of myself. Because unfortunately, Walter two years later passed away in two thousand and three, saw from two thousand and three from our first trip to Bulgaria, which was in two thousand and one. The foundation of the company was in two thousand and two. And, I had to carry on also his legacy. And, I decide to go on without a peer because they're also there. We had a beautiful dinner. Very well positioned some along the fabled, the verbal garrison. Well, that's an incredible story of of strength and resilience for a second time in your life. Yes. If you have other members of your family involved there now, Oh, I'm very happy because, my two daughters, carlotta and Katarina. Katarina is finishing her studies. But sooner or later, they will both be part of the company. They are very excited and very dedicated to the, to Pogil Tazoro. Now part of their time, but, in the future, for a hundred percent of their time. So I'm looking forward. And, this is, the same, thing that I received from my father, something that was, important, but still at the beginning so they will have the opportunity to develop with their attitude, with their personality, Pogile Tesoro as they want. Well, you set quite the example as a strong woman at the head of your family's company, and I'm sure they admire you greatly. I don't know. Have you ever had any great adversity as as a woman? Or, I mean, we think all the time, oh, well Italy is is such a a male dominant country, but you've you've superseded so many challenges in your life. As I said earlier, I grew up fighting with the for myself being in the middle of two strong brothers. And, but my father never never discriminate. So I think that, I I had the self confidence even when, I was totally unaware of the difficulty of the business part of the of the the my my duty And, I think that it's something that you have to feel inside and you have to feel to be more self confidence. Women have a lot of power, a lot of strength, and a lot of capacity, and also can dedicate, a big part of our life to work because we really when we have a vision, we we follow all the difficulties without, fear to arrive at the end of what we want. I I agree with you, and I'm sure your daughters do too with with you teaching them, in all of the ways that you lead by example, I'd love to finish with the twenty seventeen Sonja that we both have before we open it up for any questions. Since this is your project, your wine, it's appropriate for you to kind of tell us the story of the project, through the lens of of this premium lovely glass of wine we have in front of us. So what is in it? So what, you said before that, Bulgaria is famous for international grade variety that, have adapted very well to the bulgari terroir. So I like to talk about the bulgari expression of the international grade variety. And, in Sundriya, we have, the tree grape variety, Cabernet Souvignon, Merlo, and Cabernet Frank. Sixty five percent, Cabernet Savignon, twenty five Merlo, and ten percent Cabernet Frank, verified separately, and then blend and put into barracks where they age for twenty two months in a seventy percent new and ten thirty percent second year barracks. And cabernet gives power to the wine, merlot softness, and cabernet franc, the spiceness. So we have the usual deep, deep ruby color, of Sundaria and intense a aromatic expression of red fruit citrus note hint of licorice and what I like the most and come from the area where the vineyards are planted and is the personality of this wine is the beautiful smell of Mediterranean scrub. When you go to close the sea, And there is, some bushes between the road and the sea, and there are in these bushes. You can smell exactly what you smell now in, sondraya. And then No. It's very apparent. Those dried herbs, and it just smells like tuscan sunshine. Sager Rosemary, this is the what I feel in, Sandraya. And in the mouth with the first taste, all the components are very well balanced. The tannins are dense, but also silky, and the palate is elegant and precise. And, one thing that I like in Sandriya is the freshness, because, you know, being close to the sea is very easy to reach the sugar content. And so sometime, this, with this, you can lose the freshness. But if you, harvest at the right time and with the right climatic condition, you can keep this freshness. And we mostly harvest very early in the morning sometime even at night time because we want to bring the grapes to the winery for fermentation for distancing when they are still very fresh and they didn't reach the temperature that, you can experience, at noon. Well, that balance of both kind of richness and weight, but also freshness, I think, is a DNA that it shares with your amarone. So it must be a a family trait for your wife. Yes. Uh-huh. He's a family signature. Well, With that, I'd love to ask anyone listening to hop in the room for any questions. Please. Good afternoon or good evening. First of all, but you don't wanna have the room sort of come to an end without thanking Marie Lisa for teaching me again about Amaron and the it's evolution, I speak as an experience of, a person that learned about ones actually after moving to America from Italy and being exposed as a salesperson in a restaurant for it. To all the wonders of the Italian winemaking. And, Amerun has always been one of my favorite, and I always search sort of those, tones in any other wines that I tried to experience, and it's Good to know that it got an update and it's getting, you know, a little bit more popular. And, so I wanna thank you. Now, it's gonna be easy for me to sell it just to my friends. I don't work in wine anymore. So, unfortunately, but, it's gonna be great to serve it again with all those recommendations, and I'll look forward to trying it. So it was just a thank you. Thank you very much for your awards, Fabrice. Thank you. Am I happy that, you appreciate, Amerona? I think the most important thing is just making sure that you share wines you love with people that you love. And so I think with that, that's maybe all the time we have. But, Lisa, for me, this has been such a tremendous honor to get to talk to you, today. And as we kind of prepared for today, it's it's been so great to get to know your story and just your wines in such a more intimate way. Thank you, Sarah. And, let me thank, all the participants to this, occasion. And also, I would like to thank very much Maizero wine merchant, which is, our importer in the United States. And, it, belonged to the Gallo family. And, in the wine business family is, a very important issue, not only in, in Italy, but all over the world. And I must say that I love to work with them because even if we are a small company and they are a large company, We share the same philosophy to be linked to our consumer to our consumer and try to make, every year the best possible wine. They're good ambassadors for you, I think. Well, thank you all. We will be continuing this series next week with Barbara Woodmer of Broncaya, another world class producer, with an uncompromising devotion to her craft. So with that, I say thank you all. We hope you enjoyed this episode of our new maze Row wine merchants series. The focus is on excellence, family, legacy, sincerity, and innovation. Tune in next Saturday for the next installment featuring another in-depth and intimate conversation with the Heritage Italian wine producers that form the core of the Maize Row Italian wine family to learn more about Maize Ro wine merchant, and today's featured producer see our show notes and visit their websites. Don't forget to subscribe and like our show and tune in to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your pods.