Ep. 216 Monty Waldin interviews Simona Fino (Gianfranco Fino)

Italian wine podcast. Chinching with Italian wine people. This podcast is brought to you by Native Grape Odyssey. Native Grape Odyssey is an educational project financed by the European Union to promote European wine in Canada, Japan, and Russia. Enjoy. It's from Europe. Hello. This is the Italian wine podcast with me Montewood. My guest today is Simone Natalefino. Semona estate is in Pulia, and she runs it with her husband, Jefranco, Jefrancofino, and Jefranco is a man of many talents as is Simone. He is an anologist and an agronomist. Yeah. Okay. How did you come to have your own estate? Who create? How did you create the estate? When was it created? We started in two thousand and four, and, we both are little vineyard, one actor and thirty. Where about Symullia? Yes. In Mandoria. In Mandoria? In the middle of Mandoria. And, we started from two thousand and seven hundred bottles the first year. In two thousand and seven. A hundred bottles? Yes. How Did you drink all of them yourself? Of course. And, But what did you do before you you started working in the in in wine with your husband? What was your what was your original career? Your original Mestieri? My husband, was I was a civil lawyer? A civil lawyer. Yes. Is that very tough? I'm in, in my university. I study low, but I drink so much. Yeah. That's you might want to rephrase that, but we understand where you coming from. Okay. So you, until you studied law, did you have to go to court a lot? I see. So you're often in doing court cases? Marriage, divorce. So these civil civil cases civil civil laws, civil lawyer with, commercial low and, civil law, you know, divorce, and some cows of, family. Family disputes. Yes. So how did you meet your husband, John Franco? I want to learn, just Oh, you want to learn to sail? Yes. Well, that's I mean, obviously, Pulea's on the coast. He was a he was a teacher. Okay. So he was a no anologist, agronomist, and he's a sailing instructor. Yes. So you met him on a boat? Yes. That's very romantic. Was it love at first site? Yes. Really? Oh, that's very sweet. First day. Really? That doesn't often happen. Which is your popular shot. We're getting quite emotional. Maybe we should just do like, dating show. Nah. We won't do that. A dating show. Okay. So you've met, so he was an agronomist. You'd always he'd always wanted to make wine. You want to make mine. Yeah. His own teammates. He wants he obviously helps other people make their wines, but he also wanted to to do it himself. You met and you decided to buy some land. Did you buy the land? Or or did you have to Today, two two years after our meet, we decide to marriage. And, we bought our first vineer in two thousand and three. And, in December, and, John Franco, only Domfranco, loom, produce his first wine. In two thousand three. In August, in two thousand and four. But he he's so his day job, you were a a civil lawyer, and he was an agronomist and an anonymous. So I'm a assuming that when you do that job, you often have to give advice to people. People pay you for your advice about winemaking, and, and you to say listen, your wine will improve if you follow my instructions. Do this. Do this. Do this. And often, they don't to you. So his idea, I guess, was to have his own vineyard where he could do what he wanted. No. John Franco wants him, vineyard, and, lose his job. So, but in Jeff Franco's idea was if he had his vineyard. Yes. And also the fact that he knows all the vineyards, so he knew which vineyards to buy, which were the best vineyards in terms of the terroir and the grapes, right? Lots of experience of, of where the best Primitivo and negaromaro He wants a an ancient vines. Old vines. Old vines. All the old vines. And the easy interim is perfect vine. His perfect vines was, comes from, old vines and, he wants only these wines. Only old vines. Does he only want, albirello? Or is We produce from old vines, all bush from six years old to nine years old. Now we have a twelve hack actor of, old vines of primitivo, one actor and thirty of Negramaro, and an actor of a young vineer that comes from old vineer. So you took the Babatelli from old vineyards? From old to new. Yeah. So you to? They took old they took Budwood from, for the for the new vineyards from old, from older vines to maintain genetic diversity. Yes. Yep. So how many wines do you make? We produce a as is the first first? So e s. E s. E s. What does that mean? S is a pleasure for sigmund freud is the esteemed. Oh, okay. Cannot of control is impossible control. So it's it's it's director. The name derives from one of Freud's theories. S Eo, a superior. Okay. So s. S is the first. It's the east. Eo is the just a little of, of, control. Control. Control? Self control. Just a little but is the first level. Mhmm. And the second level is superior. Okay. For fried, sigm fried. Okay. So I kinda know. Yeah. Okay. So when you when he comes home from work and you come home from work, Wendel, do you immediately start talking about Freud, or do you say mister Seferson dinner when I love so much to cook. It's, for me, it's, relax. And, when I my problem is that, not don't come back in, bagan come back home every day. Okay. You're traveling a lot. Yes. Okay. To two hundred days, per years. Right. What is, but tell me about, about, Salento? So you make you make the wines that you make, they're all EGT, salento. You make a Permitivo, a necro of marrow, a wine called Ilse, which is, s e, and that's from young vine Yeah. Primitivo. So tell me a little bit about the about Celento. What's special about Celento? Celento is the one of, region, more, beautiful color. One of, Pullia's most beautiful regions, subregions. It's a beautiful, place of Pullia. In the heel of Pullia. Okay. So that is the, yeah, it's the, it's the heel of, Italy. But it's very hot. There, isn't there? No. So in But like we have a we are the octagonal, native grape varieties. Yes. So it's not problem for, for us, hot. The heat. Because, we have, temperature from, thirty five to forty five every year. And, we have only old bush because they're it's easy for us because they have, they have one hundred a year. A hundred year, a hundred year old vines. From six years old to ninety years old. Okay. Ninety four. So where do you sell your wine? I sell my wine, seventy percent in Italy because, for us, Italy is important. We work with, the best restaurant, Italy. And the best chef, we have, good market in USA, in, Germany, in Swiss, and in Japan. They like so much our wines. That's good. So if I'm drinking one of your Primitivo or even negromaro, what is a good food to have with those wines? For us, the best, for negromaro, red tun. For for for for negromaro? Yes. Fantastic. Because it's, what mines is, our vine is in front of the onion sea. And, when you drink, you feel so much the Mediterranean herbs, the salt. And for the It is very good with, with fish, with, strong fish. Okay. Strong flavor fish. Yeah. Plimateivo is a good meat with wine or with cheese. It's prefer. I prefer. But it's good, very good, the rice risotto. Arisotto. So creamy risotto. I mean, with what? With, fungi, with mushrooms? No. With the just classic. Priitivo and rice. So risotto with primitivo. Yes. It's really good. Not even a little bit of cheese in the risotto. If you want. But just so when the rice is really creamy. But the the red wine is a strong wine, but we are at the dacidity that give us, elegance balance. And, with rice, it's very good. Okay. So with your old vines as well, you're gonna have, I would imagine much more balanced wines than, we've put down deep root system that suffy hydric stress. We are under stress. Yeah. So you get a much more balanced wine. Yeah. The roots is in, rock. We So it's Kalkaria, so isn't it? Kalkaria rock. Yeah. So that that also helps with water and acidity. Four four hundred, millimeter of a year of our water. Soft rain. Oh, rain. But, is a Nothing. Is good. Alright. I wanna say thanks to, I guess, today's Simoravino, who's husband, Jafrancofino is not here today. Nice little project in, Saninto. Beautiful region, by the way, Salento. My my father-in-law is from, from Pullia. As I've read, so it is a we talk to her. Thank you. No. She's from Siena. She's a she's like you. She's a lawyer. Where in Siena? She's always in the corner of Siena. Yeah. But, as I say, a lot this old, this idea of old vines is really important because, it is a very, very hot region. Statistically you find the longest lived vines in the world, whether it's in Australia or in California, obviously, or in Italy in Greece, in Greece, in these very dry hot climates, where there's very little risk of, less risk of fungal disease, and these vines can, so once they can put down roots, they can survive for years and years and years, almost centuries. Semones state is an example of that. It's great to have you on the show, and I hope to see you in Pullia, spudadie, that would be with Edvie, with your husband in Pulli. We wait. Thanks. Bye. This podcast has been brought to you by Native grape Odyssey, discovering the true essence of high quality wine from Europe. Find out more on native grape odyssey dot e u. Enjoy. It's from Europe. Follow Italian wine podcast on Facebook and Instagram.