Ep. 1761 Adriano Zago Of Serra Ferdinandea | On The Road With Stevie Kim

The Italian wine podcast is the community driven platform for Italian winegeeks around the world. Support the show by donating at italian wine podcast dot com. Donate five or more Euros, and we'll send you a copy of our latest book, my Italian Great Geek journal. Absolutely free. To get your free copy of my Italian GreatGeek journal, click support us at italian wine podcast dot com, or wherever you get your pots. Welcome to another episode of On The Road Edition, hosted by Stev Kim. Each week, she travels to incredible wine destinations, interviewing some of the Italian wine scene's most interesting personalities, talking about wines, the foods, as well as the incredible travel destinations. Okay. We're here with Adriana Insago. I do have to tell us where we are and exactly what you do for this new estate. So we are in Sara Ferdiner. Yes. First of all, why is it called Ferdiner? It seems a little bit Spanish. Yeah. That's correct because we are just in front of, what was, Ferdinand island, and, which was a a volcanic island who collapsed in itself. Yeah. It grows and then it collapsed. Right? Yes. Yes. That's correct. And so, yeah, just in front of that, it was the isola ferdinand there. Isola can uncha. Isola can uncha? Exactly. That's very poetic. Vision. And so we are really nearby to Memphis, let's say. And this is a project, Sala Fertilandea from auto family and planeta family. Okay. Although, they don't sound very Italian? No. Because they are French. No. They're French. Yeah. So this is a JV venture. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. And your specialty is, of course, biodynamic farming. Right? Yes. Than winemaker and use biodynamic. So I'm assuming that this entire new project is biodynamic. Totally from the beginning, and so we are building a poly cultural organism. There are more or less fifteen turbines and other, let's say, eighty hectares of different crops in between forests and chickpeas, cereal, cows, and all the rest that we need to build a strong biodiversity and multi functional farm. Are you the usual, I would say, at times, fanatical, biodynamic farming in terms of the cow horns, the manures, and the cow horns, and the lunar circle, and the whole whole shebang? Well, let's say, I don't know if I'm fanatic or not. I just know that I used biodynamic agriculture in different contexts since twenty years ago. And for me, that's easy because biodynamic works. And so I can see result in the soil, the crop, on the vineyards, on the wine, and especially on the human being. So that's why. So tell us what you're doing exactly. Give us a little flavor of what biodynamic farming is here for the Sara? Well, that's quite easy because we are in front of Avinas where we use and it's a biodynamic preparation for the soil and for the vines. We use green manure in order to increase the biodiversity and organic matter on the soil, and we use compost that we add also in order to increase the organic matter of the soil, and that is also biodynamic. So respect the biodiversity and let inspire, but the biodiversity that is here originally and use that in order to put this biodiversity into that ends again built the poly cultural farm around, surround the vineyards. So that's a little touch in order to what means practically do biodynamic into the set of Adinadeh. Is there anything special about this place? Well because you work with a lot of companies. Right? Yep. That's correct. Is there anything particular about this new estate? Well, yes. That's quite a lot because we are in, let's say, in an in touch butiness. And so we are on the top of Montechirani. And, the idea is to respect everything around that, planting just a little vineyards there and there where we found the best water about soil and climates and incorporate all the vineyards and all the crops, again, cereal, and chickpeas, everything in the genetic based variety into this marvelous place. The beautiness is the specialty of this place. We are in between here and the sea fronts. At five hundred six hundred high meter. Coming back to America, Van Italy International Academy, the ultimate Italian wine qualification will be held in New York City from four to six March twenty twenty four. Have you got what it takes to become the next Italian wine ambassador? Find out at benitely dot com. So how do the moderating effects of the the mountain, the altitude, the wind, and also the moderating influences from the seaside. How do they affect the farming? Well, this is one of the most interesting climate in Sicily about freshness because on summertime, is never go up, you know, to the classical sea season temperature, and it's the special for the quality wine, and the climate on the wintertime for the same reasons is not so strong. So we can build our very strong fertility of the soil because we don't never have, you know, let's say a lot of cold on the wintertime, a lot of hot on the on the summertime, and is a very special, about climate, pulvina, and wine. Okay. So when will be the first vintage? Well, the first fin statue, this was three years ago. Right. Oh, so you're producing wines already? Yeah. Okay. And what are you producing? Well, the variety planted here are Miradabola, Sierra, about red wine, and sauvignon blanc, and Grido about the white varieties. So what is the signature wine for this new estate? Well, there are kind of three wines. Okay. There are three wines, Abianco, Arouset, and the red wine. And the both the the variety are mixed because the two family are iconic from France and and Italy, so they want to use the two varieties for that. Okay. One last question. What would you say to the skeptics of, you know, biodynamic farming? Well, drink a good wine and don't ask if it's biodynamic or not, and you will discover, in many cases, that the good wine are already biodynamic because the best icons around the world are choosing the biodynamic for increase the quality of the soil, the process, and the wine. Okay. And that's a wrap. Thank you for joining us on another installment of on the road edition, hosted by Stevie Kim. Join her again next week for more interesting content in the Italian wine scene. You can also find us at Italian wine podcast dot com or wherever you get your pods. You can also check out our YouTube channel. Mama jumbo shrimp to watch these interviews and the footage captured of each location.