Ep. 617 Federica Boffa Pt. 3 | On The Road With Stevie Kim Special Edition

Italian wine podcast. Xinxin with Italian wine people. Before the show, here's the shout out to our new sponsor, Ferrawine. Ferrawine has been the largest wine shop in Italy since nineteen twenty. They have generously supplied us with our new t shirt. Would you like one? Just donate fifty euros, and it's all yours. Plus, we'll throw in our new book jumbo shrimp guide to international grape varieties in Italy. For more info, go to Italiancoin Podcast dot com and click donate or check detailing wine podcast on Instagram. Alright. So this is the Poche Zarek Italian wine podcast. On the road edition, we are at the wine with, Federika. Of course, the daughter of Pio Bofa. Her name is Federika Bofa. I forgot to say, something that is very important to say. On the label at the bottom of the label of Barolo reserve of two thousand, We have decided to reproduce the special key. So the key that my grandmother used to wear on her neck is a tribute to her, to her longevity and to her witness and to her character. So, something that, we are it's very emotional for us. And the Barolo reservea two thousand is an emotional release for PUTs. So the key is on just the reserves. On just the Barolo reservea two thousand. Yeah. Okay. And in the following, wines that we will decide in the years to come to release all oil vintages. So that kind of, dovetails nicely into my next question to you is that How will you ensure, I guess, the history of Poche's at it to be remembered, for the next generations to come. And it's a kind of a big responsibility Yes. It's a big responsibility, but at the same time, I believe that, the crucial point that has helped us to remain, alive for one hundred and forty years is our artisanal Dutch. When I say artisanal, I am referring to the fact that the family is taking care of of all the sides of the business, all the aspects of of our business, from the vineyards, to the seller, to the winemaking, to the administration, to the travels. Of course, we have, we have, been forced to, to make up a team of very important and professional people in the vineyard and in the cellar. They are professional. So they are even, more knowledge knowledgeable than us because they they have the technique knowledge. In our family, nobody's is, has a, an analogy degree or has an agronomic d degree because we need to be a su supervisor. We need to supervise the work of our people, not because we do not, trust them, but we because our task is to guarantee the continuity of the style in the years to come. This is very important for us, and this is a very important aspect that my father has teach me to be an artisan and to supervise each aspect of our job. And we are able to supervise each aspect because we are small. We are a small producer. Even if sometimes four hundred, four hundred thousand bottles can be, recognized as a big number. But if you think about the single production of each wine, is really, really a boutique production. For example, the biggest amount of bottles that we make is our barolo, PO, just sixty thousand bottles for all the world, and that's our main barolo. That's our barolo. Then we have just two other single vineyards, five thousand bottles each, which is really very, very small. But we need this boutique production. Otherwise, we will not be able to guarantee the continuity of the style. And, in this way, in the years, we have not decided to, to stay close to the trends or to stay close to the, taste of consumer. But to stay close to the family tradition and to the family recipe. And I believe that, it's our key point, our crucial point to remain alive after one hundred and forty years. And I think that we will still be remembered because of this point. So you spoke a little bit about your dad, teaching you the importance of being, you know, artisanal. Right? Yeah. Obing, that part of, winemaking. But what what else has your father inspired you in terms of, I guess, wine in general? My father had a very tough character. He was a tough person sometimes difficult to work with him because he was very strong. He had a very strong attitude. So if you got on with him? Yes. I got on with him, but I have to say that it was not my father that, brought me close to the wine. It was the wine that brought closer to my dad after many years of, of quarreling when I was a teenager. So thanks to the wine world, I was able to have a a special bond with my father. So I started to enjoy wine. I started to enjoy wine with Imma to open bottles. He teaches me a lot about the wine world in general. So the different countries of the wine world and he has teach me everything when it was very young because, he had the fear. He had the fear of dying too early. So he was very scared to die and, scared not to been able to teach us myself and my cousin the important steps of our job. So that's why we have to say thank to him because when we were very young, my father was already teaching us a lot. Even if he used his way, his particular way, he was very stubborn. He was very he had a strong personality. But I think that, that was because he had a great knowledge and he also he had a great respect for his job, and he devoted himself to the job one hundred percent. He was traveling, almost two eighty days per year. That's crazy. He was on an airplane almost every day. And sometimes not even relaxing and not taking it easy. And sometimes Were you traveling with him together? Yes. I started traveling with him, at first. Mainly in the US and in Asia, in Japan, in Singapore, our most important markets. But then he decided to leave me alone. He said you have to to grow and you have to build your own character and your own attitude with the clients, with the wine business. So you have to work and you have to travel on your own. So I started traveling alone when I was, twenty years old. I was, I was a girl. I was very young and that was very tough for me because sometimes people didn't, listen to me because I was very young and he was a girl. But then, I'm still very young, but I am working a lot and working very hard to try to build my knowledge and to be respected in the wine business in the wine world. So are you friends with other, I I guess other wine people, from your generation? Yes. Like, I don't know. Like, I Giovanni Gaia comes to my mind. Right? Yes. I think it's like the same age as you. Yes. The the most fascinating point of our region, and of these new areas that, there is now there is a new generation coming on. And all the wineries of our region are family run family wineries. And so the new generation is more or less the same age as me. And I know almost everybody. I don't go out with them on Saturday evening, but I know them, because I see I see them every day almost. And then I have, a very close bond to with two other producers who are very, very small producer in the barbares region. One is a girl and another one is a boy. And we go out every day, and we have fun, and it's very, very fascinating to to talk about the wine business under another point of view, from another point of view, with a new generation and with a new open mind. Sometimes it's something that is missing in the old generation in the past generation. So give us some of your insights about this a fascinating aspect of the new generation and their their approach to wine, wine culture. The most important one is the respect for mother nature. And, we are very sensitive to the, you know, biological, aspect and to the, try to, to be, to respect mother nature as much as we can. In fact, I am for lewing our team in the vineyards, and we are trying to, to reduce, as much as we can, chemicals in our vineyards. Two years ago, we had made the analysis to our wines, and our wines are certified with zero zero residual of chemicals. We are not biodynamic, we're not biological because my father didn't believe in certification, but he believed in them as a philosophy of production. So we were following a sort of biological practices as a philosophy of production. We didn't start to, ask for any certification, because you didn't want to use them as a marketing tool, but we want to use them as a philosophy of production. But essentially, I mean, is it fair to say that your wines are organic? In some way, yes. Because we, as I said, we are not employing any chemicals for the fertilization of the soil, for the growing of the plants, for the defense of the plants against diseases, everything is done very, very in in tune with mother nature, trying to reduce as much as we can, the stress on our plants. For example, we are employing a practice called green manure we are trying to give, mineral elements to the soil without using chemicals. So we are doing this, practice since many, many years. So we are sowing in the row different kind of seeds in order to bring, all the different mineral elements. We are important for the plant. We are, for example, we are not finding the wine with animal, additive, but only with, elements from, for example, potato. So vegetative, elements. We have a great importance and a great respect for the planet and from our environment. I think that's the most important thing to continue to produce high quality wines. So if you're dad, if your father were alive today, what do you think would what do you think he would have said something about the new wines? He would say that we have we have produced which is a sort of a compromise between the PHS Direct Traditional traditional philosophy of blending and the new modern philosophy, which is the philosophy of the crew, the single vineyard, because Barro del Kumar is a barolo from just one village, but it is produced with four vineyards blended. So it's a sort of a compromise between the old age and the new age. And he was very, very, happy and very, very proud of this wine. But traditionally, I mean, Piorces is, it's the blending school. Right? Yes. From the barolo. And Marvaresco to Barbera to Nebiole and to Dolceto. We are using the blending philosophy with all the great variety that we have, and we, the all the most important kind of wines that we have. Then in nineteen eighty five, the first single vineer Barolo came out from our family. It was Barolo Bernato from the village of Seralunga Dalba. Nineteen eighty five was first bin vintage. And my father decided to produce it not because, he believe it was better than the blend, but because he wanted to prove and to show to our clients and to our friends that there is a big and huge difference from the blend with a single vineyard. So, of course, the single vineyard is the expression of the single property, is the expression of, the luxury of the single property, But the blend and the classic Barolo is the, is a picture of the entire region. It's a very faithful picture of our great, Barolo area or of our great Barbarisco region. So have you planned any trips In the fall, when is your next traveling? Actually, my next traveling is something very, very happy and a little bit crazy. I would say, I am flying to Sicline next week to have a tasting of a barolo Aetna. So it's a, it's a tasting, comp comparative tasting that we are having in Sicily, and I'm very excited to to be with them, and to also to to see and to visit a little bit Aetna because I've never been there. And then the next in international traveling I I have in my agenda is the one experience in November in October, sorry, in New York. You know, actually, I did a wine tasting. I think I didn't sisley. Mhmm. I think fourteen wines. Wow. Edmarosa and Barolo. And let me tell you. It's not that easy because even, I I had to use today with Askei at the time and with a group of, wine experts, quote unquote, And even if they didn't get all of the ones, right? So I think it's very interesting that there's this comparative type of tasting between Vatolo and Edna. Yes. I'm very excited. Okay. So, I wish you the best of luck I think your father would be very, very proud of you. Thank you, Steve. You have, huge responsibility to continue in the name of Pioce said, but I think I think you're you're great. You have such enthusiasm. And thank you so much for the invitation, and I will see you very, very soon. Thank you, Simie. It wasn't a honor. And, How to see you soon, somewhere in the world. Well, I'll see you in Verona. You're coming up to Yes. Yes. We'll see you in Verona in next week. Yep. Next week. Next week. Very exciting. Okay. Great. Thank you so much. That's all for now. This is Italian wine podcast on the road edition at the PO chase at it winery. Until next time. Listen to the Italian one podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, HimalIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italianline podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time, she She.