Ep. 370 Lyka Caparas

Italian wine podcast. Chinchin with Italian wine people. Hello. This is the Italian webcast. My name is Montewood. My guest today is Laika Caparas, author or co author of the jumbo shrimp guide. It's especially they for you today. You've just finished defending your master's thesis. What was your thesis on? It's all about the lockdown series. It's really great to discuss about it because it's really a team effort that we've all done, despite the pandemic situation. And then I talked about all the episodes and how we went through about it. And I talked about, the importance of communication and how important it is to be relevant, pertinent, and original despite the situation. It's amazing because, it's a it's a good template. I'm actually finishing my degree for, international wine tourism innovation, and it's actually right on the spot because it's an innovation, and it's a good template for wanting to resend. It's not limited to, you know, showing vineyards, showing, while making traditions and so on, but it's pretty much showing how original everything with the with a personal touch because the lockdown series, it's very warm. It's like the Italian way of being convivial. It's the Italian way of it's it's extending their homes virtually. Because it's very personal. I mean, we talk about the activities, the the the activity centered, tasks like doing yoga or savoring or, I don't know, like, clamming, all these things. It's it's diverse in terms of topics. So you can you do yoga and savor at the same time? That must be pretty difficult. Oh, no. It was actually yeah. No. Not really. It's, during the Zoom, like, Matayo Uniti was actually doing the savoring. So he kind of did it very well because he's really pro about it. So that was very impressive seeing him do that. Okay. So where are you from originally? I'm from Philippines. It's in Southeast Asia. It's actually sixteen hours from Italy. What is the what is the wine culture like in in the Philippines? Well, it's a non wine region. Basically, the wine is perceived as a intimidating beverage. But I think it's because of the culture of the, restaurants, hotels, all these western influences that came about, and also it's also casinos are there. So there is the beginning of the lifestyle of this, wine consumption. There's also this growing trend among the young consumers that are eventually embracing it, like, instead of having beer, I think, they started drinking wine, which is actually, like, more sophisticated for for them. So it's actually good that wine from its infancy is already building up. It's, territory in Philippines, so I'm so pleased about it. Okay. So, obviously, the wine market is growing, steadily. Are there any specific wine producing countries whose wines are best represented in the Philippines? Yes. Yes. In fact, in history, Philippines is colonized was colonized. I have to say was colonized by Spain. And in this influence, because of this, you know, there there were a lot of the food that we're somehow similar to the Spanish cuisine out of the tapas and everything. So it's actually perfect with this Spanish wines that pairing is absolutely fantastic. Although I have to say that for Italian wines, they still perceive it as something very complex, and it's like high up there to understand. So it was really an inspiration for me to write the book So it's not just a stylistic thing. It's more of an educational thing that, obviously, as you say, the history of the Philippines has got that, Hispanic background to you. You can understand the Spanish wines too well, but how, How can things change maybe for Italian wine? Have you got any bright ideas? Yeah. I think every innovation starts with an education. And, they would appreciate an innovation if they know if they know something about it as basic. I mean, as a fundamental to really understand and embrace that innovation. So, the education for wine is still in its start, that actually it's something that drove me here in Europe. Because I really wanted to know more, and the wine books there is really scarce. If I if you probably go in the bookstore, you very find a lot of the wine books and, particularly, it's just like general topics about wine. So most of the things, like, I would have to buy from Amazon or, maybe look inter look at the internet. So it drove me to apply for a scholarship, an erasmus scholarship here in Europe. So Yeah. That's actually led me here. So you're interested because you're studying and you're also teaching almost, aren't you? So, what countries have your studies taken you to? I started in Taragona spin It's very much close to Benedict, which is a region for Kava. And in my semester there in Spain, we were, we had the opportunity to understand more about the catalina, catalunya, and, the Spanish regions, like La Rioa, also there's there's some wines from Barcelona and, yeah, a lot of those wines in Spain. And then we headed next to France. And in France, there's Bordeaux, stayed in Bordeaux. So we learned a lot about the sweet wine making, the white wines. And, yeah, we also expanded until the south, south of France also until Bejarac. Then afterwards, we headed to Portugal. And in Portugal, we stayed in Porto. So it was pretty close to Sandemann and all other Calem, and although there's this, all other, well, fortified wines. So, yeah, pretty much that's it. And I was thinking I'm missing another region. So I took my chance to take an internship in Italy. I'm I'm just talking about we because it was actually twenty one of us in the batch. So we're basically fourteen nationalities in the batch from different parts of the world. We're all, like, going all through this together from Spain, France, and Portugal, and we kind of, like, separated our own ways to find our internships, wherever whichever region we wanted to go to. But what works in terms of in terms of the educational side? Obviously, you you've got a lot of knowledge and you've traveled a lot. And you mentioned Bordeaux, where almost when wine is being taught there, it's very reverential. It's very serious. It can be very dry. I'm not saying boring, but it and if you come to Italy, it's a little bit sort of chaotic. There are all these native great varieties, all these denominator, you know, changing their rules every five minutes. So it's very difficult to wade through. In terms of your teaching style, or designing your course. How do you make it more accessible and not really boring and repetitive? Actually, during my studies in Bordeaux, which was actually I I think it's the best one and I like so far because they exposed us to different disciplines. So there was a discipline about, the scientific way to understand it, which is really overloading with all these, chemical formulations and also the winemaking traditional way. And then we also had this a discussion like, how to how to discuss in a summary level. I mean, to somebody way, like, how to put in wine and as similar as to art or as a poetry, how to sell it in a in a very artistic manner. So it's a it's a good way to really understand it, fully in different aspects. There were, there were some things about, like, wine pairing, of course, the importance of the original wine pairing. Oh, and we also had this we also had this session about how to cook French cuisines, which is super amazing. I learned how to open some oysters. So we we actually knew how to appreciate how, why is it paired this way another thing that I could say artistic would be how how to describe it in something that is like a storytelling. Like, for example, how structured the wine is, how yeah, it can also be something like flowery terms as well. So it's a way of, like, opening the palette of someone you're actually discussing the wine with. And, so you've just been working on a book called the jumbo shrimp guide, what what is that in a nutshell? What is that book about? It's, it's very much a beginner guide. For those who wanted to understand Italian wine, so it's really, really nice to share this story because we were really thinking about the name of the book. So Stevie kinda, like, said, okay, guys, I'm sorry, but the name is jumbo shrimp. And we were, like, we were debating about the name, like, why is it jumbo shrimp? And then until, like, we just eventually loved it because John bow shrimp is an oxymoron term. It's it's a it's really small, like, they're thin and concise skinny. It's straightforward. And It's really delicious to really just read through it and packed. Like, it's all the information. You'll just really find it what you really have to know about Italian wines. It's a really nice guy to just read through it and then talk about among amongst your friends to talk about Italian wine. It's it's a good guide. It's just pretty much straightforward. And also, it's comical. We we had Sylvia who was a phys artist who drew everything in this book, and it's really comical in such a way that the logo and our photos are act actually in comics as as well as the illustrations in it. So it's friendly. It's, straightforward. It's skinny and pretty much practical. Yeah. I mean, the jumbo shrimp is a sort of a play on the famous gambler and gambler Oroso guide, which is published annually. A huge book, on Italian wines, which is, as, again, as a gambler also as a seafood, and so Jumbo shrimp is a sort of, is a play on that, I I think. Yes. Yes. Yes. You can also attribute it to the Gamero rosso as well. Okay. So what is your exact what is your exact role with the Italy international academy? I am still studying to be the to be an Italian wine, expert, I hope. It's only my ambassador. And, yeah, so with the Vineetale international, I work I I I started I started my internship there, in completion of my master for in wine tourism innovation. So, like, I told you before, my our final semester is to find, a place where we can do our internship, and I decided to do it here in Ven Italy, and, VineIT International under CV's guidance. So I really had a good experience and had this opportunity to write the book amongst my colleagues. Do you have any more books, in the pipeline? Not for now, but our idea is to make this like a series. So we we're starting with something that we really love. We didn't Italian wine. So we look forward to, writing some more. In terms of your, next thing that you have to your next hurdle to climb in your life, in in terms of your studies, what will that be? Well, last year, I finished my WSTT level three, and, I wanted to do a diploma course, in this, in this year. I hope so. And also, yeah, I'm also currently studying for the Italian wine Ambassador certifications. So What is a have been Italy international to that? Yeah. Being an in Vin Italy international ambassador, it's really a rigorous, course. In fact, like, you had to study everything like the history of, not just Italy, but of all the twenty regions of Italy, Italian wine regions. So it can even go through the, like, I don't know, the the really, really history from professor Adelotians, talking about the the roots of Italian wine, and then up to the level of tasting and so on. So it's amazing that while I was writing this book, it was also my way of reviewing for the certifications. So Yeah. It's quite a good little job, though, isn't it? Cause you're learning as you're you're you're learning yourself whilst contributing to the learning of others. Yeah. For sure. Yes. Alright. Well, listen. Yeah. Micah, it's been great to talk to you today, a much traveled, academic, Thank you. Final question about your thesis. What's the next stage in your thesis? I don't wanna study anymore for sure. But, I think I I really I really love, like, before taking into this, Wine, I am really a fan of marketing. I, what delved me into this, wine world is actually I started, like, as a marketing marketing marketing person for food, And, learning about the importance of product stories led me to understand a deeper product story, which I found in wine. And that got me so much curious because I'm really into this learning and curiosity. And, yeah, it and then one thing led to another, and now I'm here in the wine world. So it's it's really fantastic, but I think what what you're really passionate about drives you to where you're really meant to be. So Okay. Just wanna say thanks to my guests, like a Caparas today, you are both an eternal student and you are an eternal or are going to be an eternal wine educator as well. So it's not a bad combination. Thanks very much for coming on to the Italian wine podcast. Much success. Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot, Monty. Thanks for your time as well. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, HimalIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine Podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time.