Ep. 1960 Piemonte Travel Series: Roberta Ceretto | 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 pods. Welcome to another episode of on the road edition hosted by Stevie 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. Hello. My name is Stevie Kim, and welcome back to Italian wine podcast as we travel into language. And this is a language, Pemonte special just after Vin Italy. Today, we are joined with Rosa Cerecto from the Cerecto family, and she is the the inventor and the creator of the famous chapel. The Cieseta Colorado. Robakta, tell us a little bit about the Chareto family and the wine business. Yes. So to describe the Chareto is quite complex because, we were born in, at the beginning of a last a century and the winery was created by my grandfather Ricardo. But then, the second and, the third, the current generation, has developed many other skills. So talking about Chareto is no more only talking about wineries, but is also talking about, restaurants, a cultural project, has an outdoor charge, so many, many things. And, here we welcome you in, one of our main, wineries, the heart of our wineries where we come every day working, where we have the offices It's an ancient, estate who belonged to Victoria Manuel the second, the the first king of Italy, but now is a winery. And, it welcomes you on the ballet of Barolo because, behind us, we are floating on the first Barolo Vineyards. So is this related to Fontana Freda as well? Because they have the estate from the first king of Italy? Exactly. Fontana Freda was created by Victoria Manuel and it was the place where he lived with this, illegitimate, exactly. This is related in a different way because, one of the son they had, Victoria Manuel and the Bella Rosine, the beauty rose moved here and, this property, so the villa that's, is on the top of the hill in the three farmhouse become their his properties. We bought the old estate at the beginning of the two thousand. We actually moved here a little bit before and we moved all, the production, of, my grandfather. But in reality, this is one of the four wineries because, what happened that was extraordinary in the six is by my father and my uncle was that they understood the true value of this land and the grape that grew on this land that that was in is still Nebbiolo and they start buying little vineyards and building wineries inside the vineyards. So before the appellation was made, which was one. We created a first winery in Barbarresco Mhmm. Where now are, vineified, the three single vineyard, the three crews. The the second winery was a Bricoroc that, hosts the six single vineyard of, barolo. And Which is one of the wines that we'll be tasting tonight. Exactly. We are tasting three brothers. Those are the oldest labels of a single vineyards, of Barolo. In the time, we added three more that are, canoubi, that was in a way a dream, because if you produce Barolo, you aim to produce canoubi that is where Barolo was first identified and Roca de Castiglione, that is, the neighbor of Brico rock and, again, another great, name if you talk about Barolo. The fourth winery, this is the third at the Montordo state. We are in, on Montordo Hill. The fourth winery is, dedicated completely to Moscato. And, it was, going back to the origins because, Bruno, before them record my, my grandfather, they come from Santa Stefano Bellbo that is where Mocato was first produced. So you're the third generation. We are the third. Okay. So in the third generation, this. And it's under my cousin and Lisa, there is a Alessandra's sister. Okay. So, and then there's a sister. There are four of you. Exactly. And how are the roles divided more or less? Who does what? Okay. So we are in a typical Italian family. So where everybody does, everything. No. In reality, a part of Alessandro that is hundred per center concentrated on the vineyards and the production. So he's the chief winemaker. Exactly. With a big team because nowadays Chareto has a property of a hundred and eighty in the Lang and Royro district. So apart, Alessandro, Federico, Lisa, and I, we have a foot in all the other activities. So we take care also the restaurants and there's a nuts, factory. So, yeah, I mean, the restaurant is just, you know, just FYI, you know, one of the most famous as called Piazza Duama. Exactly. It's three star Michelin. Just very mod has trust you. Yes. One of the things that they do. This is our cherry on the pie. It's it's a very special place and the chef and Rico Crippa for us is a kind of Yeah. His kind of Brother. Yes, iconic. Our chef and it's it's one. Exactly. Coming back to your question, federico is the frontman of, of Chareto. So is, the one who represents our name and our wines, especially abroad. I take care of, marketing communication and, the family has developed also a passion for art. So, I'm the creative, in a way. You're the creative director. Exactly. Right. The artistic. Yeah. I I'm the one who can, invest money in buying, strange objects. So you spend money. The others make money. Exactly. I'm I'm the party girl. Yeah. And, Lisa, she's the one that controls me because, she takes care of the accounts. She's the admin finance person. Okay. The CFO, if you want to, to make it shorter. But, in reality, we like to be considered really a family, and this is the way it works because our board usually is around the table during Christmas time, Easter. And No. The family did it. Let's talk business. Right? Exactly. Holiday is always business. Have a question and then, the discussion they start. I think it's very typical, especially all this area because, Piamante, and the language district is an area that's it's quite new where there are still families working in the activity and controlling and, putting their experience and passion in the work they do. Are you enjoying this podcast? Don't forget to visit our YouTube channel, mama jumbo shrimp. For fascinating videos covering Stevie Kim and her travels across Italy and beyond, meeting winemakers, eating local foods and taking in the scenery. Now back to the show. What about the the fourth generation? The fourth generation business. Is that coming along? Are they in the wine business yet? Well, or the Creditor family business? If the four thousand, so as, more or less, have the same age, the next generation, the children of my, my cousin, Lisa, they are already in university. So the fourth generation, is not far to come Okay. But nobody's working in the business yet. No. Well, the other are very young. Mhmm. My my boy is eight years old. Oh, that's She's tiny. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's, it's very tiny. But also, well, there six split, the the two old are ready to start working. Okay. The other six are split. The three girls, they are fourteen, thirteen. And the three boys, they are eight and nine. So it's work in progress. Exactly. It is a work in progress. Some of them are, showing to be very passionate, talking about mine. If you have a boy, and you bring him to drive a tractor, you win. So just just to sidestep a little bit before we taste the wines. What about that little I mean, this is kind of emblematic of your cultural and artistic DNA of the family. Everybody takes a picture, right? That's the photo op moment. Exactly. So tell us how that came about. It was, no. First of all, where is it located? It is located in the brunate vineyard. So I guess, after twenty years, I can say, brunate is the most a visited, single vineyard of Barolo of the the case of the chapel. Okay. However, Breate is a great wine and it's a great single vineyard. We had, this little church, since we bought, the vineyard in the seventy one. And, until the ninety nine, it was, an anonymous place. Consider that, we use it to to park the tractor. It has the shape of a tractor. So for us, it was a garage. Then, it happened that, a friend, an artist, who was involved in a project in Barolo. So the chapel and, ask her to do something. What's his name? His name is David Trimlet. It's a British artist. And, at that time, it seemed very strange for a winery to promote contemporary art, but then we started working on it and involved solely Witte, an American artist, that, was an icon and, immediately after the end of the work, we start understanding that something was changing. Well, the local people included Barto Muscarello. I remember he called me and he he said, what have you done? What do you do? Are you crazy? Are you crazy? At the beginning, it was a risk, because, in reality, we were putting a lot of color in a very iconic and emblematic traditional place. Yeah. And, yes, very traditional, if you will. Right? That's kind of the cue. Very unexpected. Great. With the time, and I was very pleased that at the end, Bartolo pardon me. Very. But, with the time, it become a place that a lot of people liked. And what we learned from, that experience was that, it was a new perspective on, on a beautiful landscape, and, it was a place where people arrived after a long walk to enjoy a beautiful sight and to experience a new emotion. If you consider our work is a work that create emotions. So we we're drinking a glass of wine. You cannot stay without feeling something. And also in front, a work of art, you are moved by a thought, your brain, your heart says, something. And so we understood that what we wanted to do was, to, to give different perspectives, and people showed that it was time to to make this change. When we, for example, opened this place, in the two thousand and nine, and I talking about, the tasting room that welcomes, not only, Somier or, people working in wine, but tourists. We understood that, the tourists now wants to be a protagonist, and so he wants to bring home an emotion and a moment. And so the the little chapel was, the perfect object that could make you reach that place and know that place. So this is why we keep going and we try to add art everywhere Also, this winery, if you think is unusual because the building, belonged to Vitor manuelle. So, it is two hundred years old. But, when we renewed it, we were moved by the idea of, adding something artistic. And when was this winery built? The first part in the middle of the nineteenth century and this new part in two thousand and nine. Okay. So this is a perfect segue now to do a small tasting this morning. Yeah. But can you give us kind of a panoramic overview of how many wines you produce, how many labels, the production, the volume, the different areas that you cover? We are quite a typical winery in this district. First of all, because, we have properties in, the two neighbor district of Langge and Royro. Mhmm. In the eighties, my family made a big effort and a big investment in railroad with Arnaise rediscovering this variety. So in reality, fifty percent of our activity is on a white wine that is, Arnese Blanger, which is good for you now. Oh, yes. Then we have, another big, property in the catway area that is in Santa Seifano Bayelbo. So two wines are more than fifty eight percent of the total production of Chireto. Okay. And then we have all the other properties in the barolo in the Baresco. So we have uh-uh six labels, six single vineyards, in, castillo and Foleto, in Bricorque, winery, Bricorque, from, and, brunate, from La Mora. Canoubi, San Lorraine, so in, Barolo, in rocket Castelion, that is again in a So six barolas. Six barolas? And the classic. Okay. That is produced here. Here we are outside the appellation of Barolo. But, for a reason of age, because, my grandfather started to produce Barolo before the operation was a major. Oh, so your grandfather clause. Yeah. We can have, the possibility to winify Barrolin Barbaraescope in Alba. Okay. It's like Po tracer and exactly like that. We choose to keep separate the production of the single vineyards and the classic. Classic for us means, the barolo and barbaresco that are produced with a very ancient criteria mixing vineyards, mixing grapes from different vineyards, while in Castillo and in Azili where we have the barbaresco winery, we maintain separate the production So, Azili is only from the vineyards of Azili, Bernadotte from, Theresa, only Bernadotte and Galina from Navy. Those are the three Barbararesco. So making the story short, we have seven barrels. Seven barrels. Five barrels. Four barrasco. Then we have, the daily wines that are the dulce produced, in this property. Mhmm. The barbera Mhmm. The biola, the blanceto, Barroquino. Oh, you do? Yeah. Exactly. Because you need a barroquino. We need a barro The reason was, the heart. My father insisted in having something traditional and something very typical. There is, last wine that is by as a kind of foreigner because, when we moved in the eighty nine in this property, there was nothing. No vineyards at all. I remember I come during the winter to ski. And during the summer, there were some flowers, on the hill. We decided to experiment. So we planted Cabanero, syrup, and many other varieties. And we have a wine that is quite typical. The family then decided to focus on the quemonte varieties. So also here, all our ideas of using foreigner, grapes, stated in a way. And so most orders are very limited edition of a wine. So we focus on the the very traditional communities of wine. So in terms of volume, how many bottles in total is, around one million bottles. But we go from the five hundred of khanobi, that is, nothing. Five hundred bottles in total, in total, because I think Canada does. I saw yesterday. Probably a little four thousand. Yeah. But our property of Canoebe is one acre. Yes. So it's a tennis court. Yeah. I mean, that's, what we can have from that vineyard. And consider that our largest production of Barolo is Brunate Mhmm. Where we have, almost six actors, and we are talking, around twelve thousand bottles. What makes volume, but it's ridiculous, talking about volumes is Blanger, but because, Blanger is ninety hectares, So we have four vineyards. One of the vineyards has one kilometer from one side to the other, but there is a different question. Sure. It's a different kind of wine. And, I mean, to produce, Blanger, we have the same passion and we put the same attention, but to produce Blanger, it's shorter. You don't need, all the attention that you need for those wine all the time that you need for a barolo. You harvest in September and the wine is ready in February. Yes. You don't have a passage in, wood while the barolo ages for three years, plus one in winery. So it's a different wine. Okay. I say let's taste the wines. Why have you chosen these three wines? Yeah. And tell us in which order we'll be tasting? Okay. So I choose, the ABC of, our barolo, and why barolo, because, thanks to barolo, and thanks to all the attention and efforts that My father, my uncle put on Barolo Chirektor Now is what you know. They are known, like Barolo brothers, and they started really a revolution on those wine. They started to buy land in the sixties where nobody used to do that. And so the transformation of Charektor began with Barolo. Why those three because, those are the oldest. Okay. The first two vineyards that we bought were brunate and Prapo, then those in the seventy one, then in the seventy eight, Bricorock where we built the winery that, become also very iconic in the two thousand because we added the cube that, like the little chapel is an object that everybody knows in this district. However, a part of a question linked to our heart and our origins, those are the perfect, tasting to understand the difference of, the district of, barolo, because, we're talking about brunate, that represent the extreme north of the appolation of Barolo Mhmm. That represent the extreme south of the barolo No. It's south. Of Montforte. We are talking of La Mora in Montforte. The two sides the elegance, and the power. And Breekorock, that is in between. So for us, it's, the summary and the perfection because he put together the elegance and the strength. So when we have to make people understand why the producer of Barolo are so obsessed about terroir and about vineyards, simply pouring those three wines, people find the answer to the question because, each of them produced in the same winery by the same men same wine making process. Exactly the same and same type of vessels. Absolutely. Okay. Bricoque is a tiny winery where six people working as winemakers and in the vineyards, there are more, but same people, same place, same technology if we can talk about technology, but, the wines are similar, but different. So this is the fascination of, the land of this area. Okay. So let's taste the wines. We start with the elegance. So we start with the brunette. Okay. Twenty nineteen. This is the current vintage. We are starting to release two thousand and twenty, but, at the beginning of the summer. Okay. Yeah. We prefer to keep a little bit longer the wines in the cellar. See, the color is a perfect, nuance of, the nibialo that is a brick color. Twenty nineteen was, one of the greatest, vintages released. So we are also very lucky to to taste those wines, seem fruity, and we go on the balsamic side. The tannins in, the barolo from, are a little bit more green. So they will develop, in the future, much more, smoothness. They will, yeah, now you show those white. Yeah. It is a tonic burger. Yeah. Yeah. Also, in the nose, they are similar but there are some differences. And the last one, record updates since more mature also in the nose. So, you know, when you look at these three, they look exactly alike You see my tented from. Right? So it's very much on the palate and on the nose, right? So give me like a cheat sheet as to how you can tell the difference in terms of taste on a blind tasting. Okay. How can you tell which is which? Not from the color? No. Because they're identical. They're identical. They're identical. I can switch around basically. Brunate is more fruity in the nose and, in the palate, you have a tan in there that is, not so sharp. Mhmm. So, Bernate is, fruit and elegance. In, usually, you feel more, balsamic smells, so kind of eucalyptus, but also the underwood, are more evident. So a little bit more mushroom. And the tannin are sharper. This, won't stay like that, for long. I mean, in five years, the tannins will be beautifully smooth. Yes. You have to be patient. Exactly. Or at least say you combine it with a beautiful, stack or something a little bit, reach, the fatter will, make a rounder the town in What is typical of, is the balance. The nose, it's more ready. I mean, the nose, even if it's a younger vintage, it's more in the the direction of, a more polluted wine. And, in the mouth, it is not so close, and the tummy is not so hard as, this is kind of the more ready to drink if you have to choose. Right? Exactly. So I have a question for you since you are the food expert. Alright, when we are on this food journey in Piamonteen language, how would you pair these wines? I mean, in general of a course, but so give me the dishes you have at Piazza Duamo. Which dish would go with which wine and why? Piazza Duamo, we had to force enrico to create, a menu, for Barolo. And, for the battle of events. Exactly. And, for the in reality because when we talk, about Barbara, the discussion are more or less the same. I mean, also, Barbara is, a wine that can impose himself. Mhmm. But in Casa duomo, the choice, of Enrico was very radical on the vegetable. So you can understand that, with Nebula wines, it could be a problem. Yeah. However, we actually had an experience just we went to eleven, and now you know it's completely vegan and we had a tasting with red like super tuscan wines and it wasn't easy. I have to be honest. Yeah. You know, what does Enrique go to? Enrico is not a vegan restaurant in love cooking, meat, but he choose to put more attention on the vegetables. However, what he did, that was extraordinary is, to work with barolo as an ingredient of a dish, not as a pairing. Uh-huh. So he made a whole menu where he prepared excellent dishes and the barolo become the last ingredient on or to make the dish perfect. It's an interesting concept. However, if I have to talk about my favorite combination, I love lamb. Oh. I love lamb with those wines because lamb is Andrea's getting hungry. A very intense, meat, but in a way is also very sweet. And so I think that, with the the taste of the lamb, the fat of the lamb, the sweetness of the lamb, it perfectly combined with those wines. Okay. Lam it is. It's not very piamontese, is it? Well, in this part of a piamante, yes, because we are no far from, the mountain. And, if you consider also one of the great production that we have here that is cheese, there are a lot of a goat and lamb cheese, and so it's quite common So my last question Mhmm. Because she has to do another art installation, and we have to go move over to Balboresco today. But I know like all wines are like your children, right? Yeah. But if you were to choose one island. You can take away one wine that you can take away, which is called the island wine. Which would it be out of the three? Okay. I'm sure hundred percent and again, is a reason of the heart because as you said, they are all our children that, my life has changed when I was involved in the project of a chapel in Bruno so it's Bruno. So, Bruno is what brought me again in the family and, what convinced me that this was the most wonderful work to do and, open my mind and bring me back, to the wine. So for sure it's Bernate. Okay, Bernate is. And thank you for making that colorful chappell. I think it's one of the most photographed Instagramable chappell in Barallo. So thank you and Chinchin with the Taiwan One people, and it's a wrap. China, thank you. Thank you for joining us on another installment of On The Road Edition, hosted by Stev Kim. Join her again next week for more interesting content in the Italian Warren 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.