Ep. 959 Gianpiero Bertolini | On The Road With Stevie Kim

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This episode is brought to you by Vinitally International Academy, announcing the twenty fourth of our Italian wine Ambassador courses to be held in London, Austria, and Hong Kong from the twenty seventh to the twenty ninth of July. Are you up for the challenge of this demanding force? Do you wanna be the next Italian wine Ambassador? Learn more and apply now at viniti international dot com. Welcome to this episode of On The Road Edition. Hosted by Stevie Kim. Today, Stevie is at the famous Biondi Santi Penuttagrepo estate. Speaking with Jampiero Vertolinei. They discuss the changes taking place at Biondi San Titanuta Grerespo and the iconic wines being produced here. Where are we, Jampieta? We are in the cantina out. Uh-huh. What what what does that mean? It means, a very nice place where the family has always started the the process of the monolastic for our wines. Today is not used anymore for, for our wines, but we host our people here for testing our all v decimals. So, you know, we came through the staircase. How how do they how do they bring the wine and the how does how do they do that? I don't see any, like, modern mechanisms yet. No. There is no modern mechanism yet. Here. And, so it's They did it manually. Yeah. They do manually. And, in fact, we had a plan to, substitute all this task here, but it was impossible because we had to open the roof and hope we decided to keep as it is. And, it was very difficult because everything was done manually by by the people here. And, so it's not ideal. Hi. So, Jampyra, of course, I know you're from the Freshcovaldi days. Right? So the big manager moving from one house to another. How has your role been how is it different working for the Verinti Group now than Frisco Baldi? Cause they're fairly big groups. Right? Yeah. Well, it's very different. It's very different because my role here is different. Obviously, I have the full responsibility of the of the of this new project, new and old projects with the they are to bring beyond the sound in the future or respecting the DNA of the family, and this is our mission. And they're always competitive because I also have to do these things, which I never done before. So, I need to adapt to the new situation. I have to talk and to put my face because the family unfortunately, it's not involved anymore in this business with us. Because because it was sold to Yeah. It was sold to another, family, which is a French family. Can you tell me a little bit about the current owner? The current owner is a family. It's, basically, it's Christopher. The school is a French entrepreneur, very young with a very long term vision for the How old is he? It's forty seven. Oh, he's really young. It's really young. It's really young. So Younger than us. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I younger than us. No doubt. So he's very passionate about wine. He also own a couple of maison de Champagne in Champagne. And he has this very nice project in the fine wine business. And, Piondi Santi became something important for him, and, and now he's very passionate about everything that's happening here at gripo. So, you know, I I have a bone to pick with you. The website. Right? Yeah. So the website what what is the strategy behind the website? Because you only have wines. Right? So this is definitely your you've specifically done this. Right? Yes. Yes. That was done on purpose. Mhmm. And this is basically the philosophy of your bjorn dissenting to be very understatement, I would say, focus everything on wine. If you go around the estate, you will see that everything is about wine and trying to get the best from the vineyard and in the cellar. So we keep doing this philosophy, which has been, one of the the element of the family for a hundred and fifty years? So it's almost like wine. Yes. The wine, is very much the protagonist. But if I go to your website, it's like going to tech sheet, you know, files. Right? So it has all the information very technical, if you will. Right? And less about the storytelling, which is would you say that's bad? And you will you plan to keep the the communication this way? Yes and no, because, obvious, it's very important to tell the story about this fantastic family, this fantastic estate, but the key message in the website is really about the deep history of the family because the files goes back to eighteen eighty eight. So it's a very clear message on how this state has been historical for the winemaking in Italy. So it's very simple message about the founder of the vanilla. That's it. So so tell us a little bit more about that because not everybody knows who Bian de santi is. So if you want to say five things, like five must know about Bian de santi, what are those? Well, the first and most important is definitely the fact that Bian de santi invented the brunello. Okay. And and how how does what is what does that mean? It means that in a period where in Italy nobody was thinking about quality wines and the wines were made by blending different kind of varietals. They thought something very innovative that was one varietal difficult because it was sangiovese and, produce with a vision to have a very high longevity of the wines. That's why today, if you taste our eighteen ninety one or eighty eighty eight or ninety twenty five vintage of Viserva, which we still have here in the in our cellar, you really have wine that are still alive and, which is very rare in Italy, I would say. So, the second point is that every generation of the family has left something very important here. The son of Frutrobiosante, which was the inventor of the Bernaldo, was Tancredi. Tancredi, for example, was the one that, was called by the Italian government in the sixties to write the rules of the appelation here when the appelation was funded. Bernela. The Ramelo militia. So and this rule are still followed today by all the producer here in Montalcino. So that that was something important recognizing that the family, I set the bar for the quality here in Montalcino. And today, you know Montalcino is one of the most renowned areas in term of quality wines in Italy. So that was very relevant. Another important point that for example, Frank could be on the Sunday life the son of Tancredi who I've had the the greatest pleasure of meeting to meet him. Mhmm. So Franco was, an innovator for his period. He was the one that selected the the famous clone BBS eleven, which means Nunello, beyond descent eleven, which, was the first clone ever, carrying the name of a family. And, there was a huge study that lasted seven years. And finally, they selected a clone, which was specifically suitable for this area, and we still use this clone today here. So he was an innovator. He another point they introduced the control temperature here in the fermentation, which was in the eighties, which was something quite new in that in that period. But another important point But the control temperature using different vessels. Yeah. Yeah. And another point to which was extremely important for the application was what Franco did in the nineties, he organized a huge event here at Griippo in nineteen ninety four displaying a hundred years of wines from eighteen eighty eight to nineteen eighty eight. So it put together fifteen different vintages ranging from the to these two dates. And that was very important because it was a period where in Tuscany, there was a big fashion behind the Super Tuscany, which are great wine, but very different from, the traditional brunello like this one. And with this testing, with fifteen journalists come that's coming from all over the world, he prove how the good brunello that's edition bravo could really last for such a long time. And, he put back on the map of the fine wines in the world, the brunello. In a period where brunello was really suffering. And after that, what happened in brunello, I mean, there was explosion within mid touch ninety seven, ninety nine, and so forth. So that was extremely important for the appalachian really because, it was demanded really put back and rebalanced a little bit the the role of the Bruno in the in the fine wines. So these are steps that really contributed to build this iconic state, which, which has been reconned. I actually have a question from one of my team members, and I think this is a very good question. So first of all, you have how many wines do you have? We have three wines. Okay. Roso de Montecino, the regular brunello, and the dessert. That's it. Okay. That's it. Pretty simple. Yes. 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 food, and taking in the scenery. Now back to the show. So the question from my teammate is the following they say, they feel like it's a little underrepresented because they believe perhaps the future is with your rosso di montalcino, which is, quote unquote, more modern So how would you like to position your Roso de Montecino? I guess that's not exactly what he asked, but that's what I'd like to know. No. No. But thank you for this question because, I have my personal, let's say. Battle here in Montalcino to reconsider the role of the Russo in the appalachian because I believe that the Rosa has a huge potential, but they also need more attention in the way we are producing the the product itself. Overall, in general, because for many years, and also here a grip, it was just, the selection of what was not suitable for Brello could have been use for ROSo. Now here, great, but we changed the strategy. Okay. So you have changed the strategy. We have changed the strategy already two years ago. We have a precise target quality every year for Rosa. We are studying the soil and also to have a better root. So, also, which means, same philosophy, same style of the brunello, but less complexity, more fruit, more approachable. And, so it's, let's say, a proactive approach versus a reactive approach. So we change this philosophy. And in the market, we have positioned this on the younger generation. And it's still very well. Yeah. I think it has to be also because not you know, did you see the latest study from the Silicon Valley Bank? Study. I'll send it to you. Okay. It says that the younger generation, they're not drinking wine. No. So we have to make them more accessible and a bit more modern. Right? Because the the the the muscular wines are not performing as well with the younger generation. They they don't like it. So I agree. Yeah. So I feel like that was an appropriate question. Because also the the when are you releasing the wines? This is two thousand six. Is this the new release? No. This is the new release, but this is the Brunelo. It's not the rules. Right. I know. Yeah. This is the release. Yeah. So it takes six years. Six years. In our case. Yeah. So it's, it's usually five. Right? It's usually five. Yeah. So it takes six years to release. And I think the wines can be enjoyed a little earlier. Right? So that's the market that we want to. Yeah. Otherwise, I also should be there. Yeah. I think it's I think it's going to be very difficult. Listen, so we have just five more minutes. Tell us about this wine and the vintage. This wine will be released as of March, the first. So it's oh, it's this is like, it's not March first. Yeah. So, Anteprima? Yeah. It's an enteprima. It's a private anti prima. It's a private anti prima. Exactly. As you mentioned, we are one year, ahead, sorry, behind the others. This being touching. Monteachina has been great. One probably of the best ever, I would say, as well as the two thousand fifteen. But, if you compare this, for example, with two thousand fifteen, this is a much colder vintage, which deliver balsamic, it plays more on finesse on, elegance. So I I definitely like very much this profiler wine, be even because it reflect, I would say, more the style of the family, which, again, it plays very much on elegance. You have a very good red fruit on the nose, and the wine is, has already sambal samic. And one of the key characteristics of bion de santi, which is extremely reflected here, is the freshness. So you feel this winehouse is fragrant and it's fresh in the mouth and this provide longevity, provide, I would say, drinkability. And also, I would always suggest to pair wine with food. I'm not really suggesting just to taste wine, by itself, but the food is always very important to excel the the characteristic of the wine. But, you know, you're releasing it one year later than everybody else because it's the tradition or you feel like the wine isn't ready. What is No. No. No. There is a technical reason behind. Mhmm. We decided to increase the time in the bottle before releasing the wines. And this time in the bottle is the one year more that we have, and we keep at the state. Because once we release the bottle, we want the wine to be ready to be drunk. And then you you may decide to drink now, you have to drink in fifty years. But after six years or seven years for the reserve, you you can open it. When does it when is it when does it show its maximum maximum potential? At what age. It's difficult to say. I mean, it depends on the vintage. Right? It depends very much on the vintage. But this is a very good vintage like the fifteen. Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, but they are different in that respect because the fifteen eight is much, warmer. So probably it will be the peak will be in a shorter period of time than this. This is gonna be a longer longevity probably. And I would say in four to five years, you already get a very good wine. And then becomes, you know, gets into the period that you start perceiving the third Charlie aromas, which provide different experiences. So to me, it's different to say there is a window because our experience here at Grapeput, and when we taste all the reserve us, today are good. In six months, they change and maybe are not as good as so it's a cyclical more than like this, you know. Who's the winemaker? No. The winemaker here is federico radial. Frederica's been working for more than twenty years in with San Jose in Tuscany. I'm different producer here. And he came on board in two thousand and seventeen. So he's first been touched it's seventeen. Oh, yeah. So we haven't seen his wine yet. No. I mean, it it followed the wine in the cellar, but the the harvest was done by Jacobo DeSante on that time. Yeah. So, in terms of the style, since the new company took over, the new family took over, it hasn't altered the style. Not at all. So your your the the magic formula you you're still keeping in a way. Absolutely. We changed nothing here. In, in neither in the vineyard nor in the cellar, we try to be more precise. This is, yes, we have to move forward in a way that we need to be more precise, but the style has to stay as well. My more precise in the vineyard or in wine making in both? In both. In the blending, in the testing, we do a lot of testing. Every every other week, we do testing with the technical team of the different parcel that we have identified. And this is structural world that should bring us to be more precise for the blending, the final blending of each vintage. So, and last question before I let you go, is it spore? First of all, thank you for having me. I just called you yesterday. Like, jumping It's always a pleasure to meet you, Steve. You know? What is the biggest challenge that lies ahead right now? You know, in the next, I would say, two, two, three years. For your company? Like, what would you like? What is your objective? What would you like to accomplish? I mean, it's short it's short term. Yeah. It's short term, but the the most important thing is to reconnect with the all the people around the world and to show what is beyond this anti in real because we realize that majority of the people knew beyond this anti very well as a name, but they didn't test the wine. So we need to put the wine in front of the people to talk about our history through the wines and to reconnect all these people. That's the first priority. The second one is to let's say, acquire, credibility in our project because it's obvious that when the French came to Montalcino, there was an issue of credibility. So we focus very much to show everyone what we are doing here because this is the best way to show how we are preparing the future. So to build credibility in our team, in our project, to me, it's absolutely to, let's say, put me on this anti back in the arena of the best wine of the world. But do you mean credibility? Do you mean trustworthiness or from from from the local? No. From the local. From, From the wine community. From the wine community. Because, it's quite normal that, family that has been on work for a hundred fifty. Yeah. And sold to a French company. A French company. The people could ask themselves what is gonna happen, great for now. So and what we are doing since I joined here three years ago is just to show what we are doing in the vineyard, in the cellar, in the wine, testing the wine, the people should judge themselves. So it's a process And this process should prepare the ground for the future because, believe this is a key element for for, again, for the credibility of the old project and and then the wines. Okay. Great. Listen. Thank you so much. Good afternoon, Stevy. Thanks for listening to this episode of Italian wine podcast brought to you by Vineetli Academy. Home of the gold standard of Italian wine education. Do you want to be the next ambassador? Apply online at benito international dot com. For courses in London, Austria, and Hong Kong, the twenty seventh to the twenty ninth of July. Remember to subscribe and like Italian wine podcast and catch us on SoundLab, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods. You can also find our entire back catalog of episodes at Italian wine podcast dot com. Hi, guys. 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