Ep. 612 Federica Boffa of Pio Cesare Pt. 2 | On The Road With Stevie Kim Special Edition

Italian wine podcast. Chinchin with Italian wine people. Alright. So the Pochezadek Italian wine podcast on the road edition, we are at the winery today with, federica. Of course, the daughter of Pio Bofa. Her name is Vodetica Bofa. If you think, first of all, how old are you? I am twenty three years old. Happiness. You look like you're fifteen. I was born in nineteen ninety seven. One of the very best vintages, of the last thirty years. So it was very lucky. That's a good introduction. Have you got siblings? No. I'm an only child. Right. So Of course, with the passing of your your father, it's a huge responsibility. Right? Yeah. Yes. It's a huge responsibility, but at the same time is, a great challenge. We are, and personally, I am very lucky because my father brought me to work when I was very, very young. I was eighteen years old, and I was, I just finished high school. I was preparing for the test for my university. When did you study? I studied in high school. I did, Liceo Glassico, which is, more humanistic studies. And then I did the business administration in University of Torino. When I was preparing my test for, university, my father decided to bring me to an very important event in verona, a concert at Arena de Verona, where I had to present on my own, the Paches re winery. So I was very scared, but at the end The arena? Yes, every time, every we are part of a, an organization called Grand dimarqui. Oh, yes. Every year, they are Arina de Verona invite us to to present our wines, in a wine tasting before the concert in Arina de Verona. And that time, it was, was a time for Paches, and I went over there. It was my first time, in the public. And when when was that? It was in two thousand sixteen. Okay. So that was your first debut Yes. Of actually presenting representing the Correct. But, since, I live on top of the winery, and our the members of our our family have always lived on top of the winery, I was used, to participate in wine event or wine tasting or wine dinners because my father and my mother always, brought, me with them, abroad in in their traveling, and we used to to invite people for dinner at home. So, I had the chance to to learn English when I was very young and also to learn the wine world a little bit. And tell me a little bit about your mom, myself. Is she involved in the in the business? My my mother is not officially involved in the business. But he's, in Italian, we say She does a very important job because when my father was, when my father was, in life, She was always, a step, behind him, always trying to convince him that he was doing a good thing, then he was doing good. And above all, my mother is a very, good cook. She cooks, what we say, not traditional PMontese cuisine, but she cooks, traditional dishes of, Pills house. It means that, she likes to cook the the plates, the dishes of, or when, of, our family. So she likes to cook, for example, resorto, she likes to cook, for example, Fiori Dzukin, so very, very traditional home plates, home dishes, not inter not traditional pimentese, but dishes of our tradition of pure tradition. And and give me an example of what those dishes are. They are, for example, risotto parmigiana, So it is automated with parmesan cheese, or, another example is Fiori Dizucchini, which is, flowers, freight. Another example might be Maltaliaati, She's a kind of, kind of pasta with ragu sauce and with Barolo is, it's a very delicious. So what are what are the, how would you match which wines with, the dishes? Like the I would match the Fiority Zucchini with our pure delay, which is the pure delay that we are producing since many, many years. Pure delay was born in nineteen eighty five, and he was among the very first chardonnay ever produced in Piedmont and in Italy in that in that period. When when was that? Nineteen eighty five. Pio Dela was born in the barbaresco region. So it wasn't still is today a chardonnay coming from the village of Trezo, a tiny little village in the barbaresco area. And then in the years, we have decided to change, to add a little bit the chardonnay as well from the barolo area. From the village of Montford. So it's a very full body and with great structure, Shardonnay. Buddy has some elegance as well. So I think that, pairing it with Ferardo Dzukina is a really good, good match. Great. I'm getting hungry. It's time now. So, Lydia tell us a little bit about the the new wines, you know, in light of the hundred and fortieth anniversary, And, of course, your dad unfortunately didn't get a chance to launch the ones. Is that correct? Yes. We have prepared with Imma, all our projects. But we didn't have the time to launch them with him. However, we have decided to continue our path and to continue our project because, we are sure that, he wanted that we that we he wanted like that. So we have decided, to change a little bit the label of our classic barolo or our traditional barolo. My father always fought for the classic barolo in the sense that he was very angry when, somebody was faring to his barolo as a normal or as a regular or as a basic barolo just because it doesn't have the indication of the vineyard on the label because it is a blend. It's a blend of seven vineyards from multiple villages of the barolo area. So, a few years ago, we have decided to write on the label a little phrase saying, please don't call it regular. Of course, it's a it's a joke, but it really underlines our philosophy. Since two thousand seventeen vintage. Let me see. Let me show me one. Yes. Okay. Since two thousand seventeen vintage, we have decided to, take away the phrase please don't call it regular and to add another phrase, which is a sort of a development of the concept, writing Barolo Pio. So please don't call it regular. Now call it Barolo Pio. Right. Right. It's, it's a a tribute to all the people, to all our fans that in the years have decided not to name this barolo with with regular or normal but to call it with our family name, which is Pio, Barolo Pio. And we have done this as well on the Barbaresco label. Right. The second, very important news for the one hundred and fortieth celebration is the launch of a new barolo. It's a barolo del commune de Cara alba. So it's a barolo that is coming from four vineyards, all family owned, just in the village of Serelunga, Alba. For us, Serelunga is really a very important village, an historical ville, village for Pochezra. Because, when we were buying grapes, many years ago, my grandfather was relying on, families who were supplying him with with grapes coming from Sarunga, and Sarunga has always been the most important part of our classic Barolo. Then, of course, we had also other villages, but really, Sarlunga was the heart, the most important village. And in Sarlunga, we have decided to buy to start the project of acquiring vineyards in the Barolo area in Sarlunga. So Sarlunga is really an historical village for us. That's why we have decided to dedicate the one hundred and forty years of celebration to this village producing one thousand eight hundred eighty one bottles of this wine. It's a nod to the founding year of Puchesa Rewinery eighteen eighty one. Are they, numbers? They are all numbered bottles. We are produced, one thousand eight hundred eighty one bottles and a few magnums. The mountains are not, for sale. They are just for important celebration and important events, while the the bottoms are, at the end of the month of June, will be released. And so just eighty one hundred one thousand eight hundred eighty one bottles for all the world. So a very special and limited release. The last third and last news, it's the release of, Eberlo's Irma, Panchez, usually doesn't release all vintages. We are usually typically releasing the current vintage every year. For the one hundred and forty years anniversary, we have decided to do something else. Have decided to dedicate this barolo to our grandmother. Our grandmother when fortunately passed away in in November, twenty twenty. So six months ago, seven months ago. She was the guardian angel of our family private seller or family private library containing our old vintages. She, always wear them, a little key on her neck. As a necklace, that was the key of the private family seller. So every time, we had to to to bring a special bottle, a special old vintage bottle for a special dinner or special event, we always had to ask her permission. Now that she has gone, we have decided to dedicate this BARlo reservea to her and to start releasing every year, Rosie. And it is also my second name, Federica Rosie. Right. So we have decided to release every year from now a very small limited amount of all the Vintages bottle starting from Barolo reserve, about two thousand, which is a very important year, a very important vintage for the Barolo region. And also, especially, or because, it describes a little bit the weather changing because the vintages after two thousand have changed a lot because of the weather change. You mean the climate change? The climate change. How how significant has the climate change been in battle. A lot. Because we have warmer, warmer, summer, but also warmer winters. We have no no more snow, or we have lit little snow. We have less rain, so less water. And we are doing a harvest all almost one month before than we used to do in the old days. But sometimes these weather change, is not so negative because it has helped us to produce Barolo and Marbaresco with less green tannins, with less stringency, with more elegance, with more balance, with more balance between, their acid, the character, and the fruit. So in some ways, it has helped us to produce more approachable barolo and at the same time to reduce the aging process of barolo in Oak. Right. My grandfather was aging the barolo for six years. In Cask many, many years ago. What kind of, is it still free? French, French Oak, big boroughs. And, nowadays, we are aging the barolo just for three years because weather has changed, we are employing new clones, smaller clones, which are producing grapes with, smaller, and are producing, more approachable wines. So in some ways, weather change has helped us a little bit. On the other side, probably, I don't know, maybe in seven, eight, ten years, we will probably have to, to, to plant Nabiolo with a higher altitude to try to, to plant with a with a cooler climate. Nowadays, we are not allowed to plant, Nebula, on a higher altitude, but I believe that we will have to adjust to the climate change into the weather change. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, HimalIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe cribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time, Chinching.