Episode 1770

Ep. 1770 Filippo Padoan Of Aquila Del Torre | Slow Wine 2023

Slow Wine 2023

February 1, 2024

37,82916667

Filippo Padoan

Episode Summary

Content Analysis Key Themes and Main Ideas 1. The history, practices, and production of Aquila del Torre winery. 2. The unique characteristics and rarity of the Picolit grape. 3. Organic and biodynamic viticulture in Italy. 4. Export markets for niche Italian wines. 5. Unexpected food pairings for Italian wines, specifically Picolit. Summary In this episode of the Italian Wine Podcast, host Mark Millen interviews Filippo Paduan, sales manager for the Italian market at Aquila del Torre winery, at the Slow Wine festival in Bologna. Filippo details the winery's long history, established in 1910, with the current ownership since 1996. He describes their 18 hectares of vines protected by 60 hectares of surrounding woods near Udine, and their commitment to organic certification, with a growing adoption of biodynamic techniques. Aquila del Torre produces around 60,000 bottles annually across ten labels, with Frulano being a key representative. The discussion highlights the Picolit grape, known for its rarity, very small berries, and a natural reduction in yield during maturation, which contributes to its high quality. Filippo mentions their exports to Japan, Northern Europe (Sweden, Norway), and increasing presence in the United States. He concludes by suggesting an unconventional pairing for Picolit: aged Picolit with blue cheese, specifically Stilton or Gorgonzola. Takeaways * Aquila del Torre is a historic winery in Fruili-Venezia Giulia, operating since 1910. * The winery is certified organic and implements biodynamic practices. * Picolit is a rare and high-quality grape varietal from the Friuli region, characterized by small berries and naturally low yields. * Lower grape yields often correlate with higher quality in wine production. * Aquila del Torre exports its wines, including Picolit, to several international markets. * Aged Picolit offers a surprising and recommended pairing with strong blue cheeses. Notable Quotes * ""The winery exists, like, a wine production winery, since nineteen ten."

About This Episode

A representative from the Italian wine community is hosting a virtual wine festival in bale. Speakers 1 and 3 discuss the winery and its history, as well as the importance of the Pacific Ocean. They also discuss the importance of the Pacific Ocean in the Italian wine industry and mention the possibility of selling a blue cheese. The segment ends with a promotion for the Italian wine community to donate through various means.

Transcript

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 this special series dedicated to slow wine held in bologna in March twenty twenty three. During the fair, we conducted several interviews with some very exciting producers. We were able to pull out some of the more interesting elements of Italian wine within the slow wine movement, tune in each week on Italian wine podcast. Welcome back to another interview at the slow wine festival slow food. And we are in bologna. And I am with Felipo Padawan. Yes. Exactly. The aquila del torre winery. And, actually, we kidnapped you and brought you here. Yeah. Because You are one of the benchmark producers for your picoletu that is mentioned in this book. So I'm gonna ask you about that in a minute, but can you tell me who you are? So I'm, I work in this winery as the, sales manager for each for the Italian markets. I work with them, since two thousand twenty, during pandemic period. So we are growing pretty well. So Tell me about the agenda. Tell me a little bit about the, maybe, the history. The winery exists, like, a wine production winery, since nineteen ten. The property, the actual property is is is there since nineteen ninety six. We're talking about, property of, eighteen hectares of vines and more or less sixty hectares of woods, you know, around it. That's it's, works like a sort of protection for the vines. Very interesting, and a very good position because we're not so far, from the mountains behind us and not so far from the sea on the other side. Is it organic that you're doing? Or Biologic. Biologic? You do biodynamic. Yes. We are so. We are biologic. We have this certificate. We are starting to use some biodynamic techniques. It's a way to work without using intensive works in the vines with some standards that you have to respect. So how can I say sulfiti, you know? Solphites. Yeah. It's the sulfites. And this is more, quite generic on this specific. I can tell you the numbers, but It's a more, natural way, you know. So how many bottles a year do you guys put out? So we produce more or less sixty thousand bottles. Wow. Okay. And how many labels? Ten labels. Ten labels. Which one is the most important. The most So the most representative for us, it's the Frulano. Frulano. Yes. A local grape. Did I ask you where the winery was? Exact No. The winery is, in Sabordiano del torre. It's near Povolator that is a city nearby Udine. Udine. The north part of Udine. Got it. Okay. Okay. Okay. 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 benito Lee dot com. If I was at a student's and I wanted to learn more about Picolitz. Can you tell me something that is, like, important about it, but not superficial, something, like, maybe special about this grape The interesting part of piccolitis is that, it's a very, very rare grape because of the dimensions, the grapes are very, very small. Yes. And the fact is that, during the maturation, suddenly they stop producing grapes. That means that at, in September, when they finished, there are very, very much less, grapes on the piccolid, instead of the, I can say, merlot, because of other grapes. This is a natural thing that happens on the it's a part of the DNA of piccolid, but the the quality of the grape is very, very high. Oh, okay. So there's less grapes and Yes. But means less grapes means more quality of the More quality. Okay. And and you export some of this? Yes. Some of it. Yeah. We export something, Japan in the north of Europe, Sweden, Norway. And we are starting to sell something in, the United States. And, okay, we're at slow food, slow wine. Yeah. What do you think for, Abina Minto? What would you have with your piccolines? The perfect for me pairing is, pickle it. Maybe they're not not the recent one. Okay. Some years ago Yeah. With some, blue cheese. Blue cheese. Yes. I was not expecting that. Yeah. Okay. In Italy, where is a good blue cheese? I would say maybe the. No. Yeah. It's a good Italian one, but also with not Italian but international, we tried some very times with the the stilton cheese. Stilton? Wow. Okay. Did not expect that. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much for taking the time. It was a pleasure. Thank you. Philip Paduan from Aquila Deltore Yes. Talking about it. Thank you. Thank you. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, ImaliFM, 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, Teaching.