Ep. 1443 Ting Yin | The Next Generation

Hey, guys. Check out Italian wine unplugged two point o brought to you by Mama jumbo shrimp, a fully updated second edition, reviewed and revised by an expert panel of certified Italian wine ambassadors from across the globe. The book also includes an addition by professoria Atilushienza. Italy's leading vine geneticist. To pick up a copy today, just head to Amazon dot com or visit us at mama jumbo shrimp dot com. Welcome to the next generation. I'm Victoria Chacha, join me as we chat with young Italian wine people shaking up the wine scene. We're going to geek out on a grape or grape fam and hear about all the wild wine things are gusting up to, from vineyard experiments to their favorite wine bars. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the next generation. I know I sound super happy. It's because I'm super caffeinated. I've now had to drop a wine yet. And if you're listening to this in the morning, you know how it feels. The wine won't come though. Today, we have a lovely interview coming up. I'm gonna keep it as a surprise though. I always tell you what interviews are happening, so you can skip, or you can listen to me for a bit. Because today, I chose a really fun, not just great, but great group to introduce. Why? Because I had maybe one of the grapes might have been a mix of the grapes in this group. I actually don't know. As sparkling wine recently, and I was very intrigued, it is the grape Sciava. So we're gonna be talking about the group. I'm gonna give you a little intro. And then in the next episodes, you can hear a little bit more about each of the grapes. So have you heard about Skiava? If you love Italian wine, Probably, if not, do not feel embarrassed. It's not the most famous Italian grape, but it is the most snow grape. According to, and you know where we're going, the Italian wine Unplug two point o book. So The Scava group has four members, three being more famous, Scava Jantiles, Scava Grija, and Scava Garosa. And then, lesser known would be Scavaneta. They're all red grape varietals. And even though they're morphologically that similar, Scalva is a group of unrelated varieties, remember a group not a family, in Europe's Alpine countries. So not just Italy. Tialva exists outside of Italy, but of course we're focusing on Italy today. All the grapes are characterized by rugged disposition and make light bodied, light colored wine. So Sciaba, okay, could be your a new favorite for the summer or fall or spring or winter. Or anytime. Scala is better known as Twolanger in Austria, in Germany, and as. Okay. We're gonna stick to a scale for me because I do not speak German if anyone does send your girls some help. And the name Skalba possibly refers to the calming grapevine training system they share, so I know Scalba may sound like, or slave in Italian, but I actually comes from The meaning for vines enslaved in latin, venez Clavis, alluding to the fact that these vines are tied to poles in ancient roman times. That's a fun fact. Another fun fact is Scava varieties are almost exclusively grown in Tarantino and alto Aldijo regions in Italy. You can't find a bit of Scavanero, though, in Lombarti. And Sciava Groza is the most popular. Getting into how they taste, and smell. We're gonna see that all scallvas are generally intensely fragrant with strawberry violet and almond notes, and make light to medium body wines with high acidity. And though they are charming, they tend to be simple and straightforward when still and dry, though sometimes they can be semi sweet red wine. Depends on the producer, of course. Though, old vines have demonstrated that they are capable imparting surprising concentration and complexity into wines, suggesting that age of vines rather than the sub variety might be key to the quality of scala. So what differentiates Scava may not be if you have Scava greek, Georgenta, it might just be the vineyard in the tower. Super interesting. Another little fact before we get to our interview is that oftentimes there's a mix of different kinds of scallos within a wine. They're not always identified in the vineyards. Also, it takes time and money to know exactly which type of grape is in your vineyard, especially if you're a small producer. So just another little hint to focus on viticultural practices because they're important. So without further ado, let's move on to our interview. Chiaoting. Welcome to the next generation. Chiao Victoria. I'm very glad to be here. So how are you feeling? I know you just took the exam. Yeah. Still in the stressing atmosphere here. Actually, my brain is still blanket. No. I can imagine that it's a very intense exam. I've taken it. Yeah. Not with you two years ago, but so Past this? Past this? Past this? I plead the fifth. No. But I do plan to take it again. It's very intense as you know. Yeah. Was was there anything about it that you didn't expect? Actually, we started to study, for, the BIA course just one month before. And also, you know, the English is not our mother tongue. We don't use English in our, general life. So there are too many, words, relevant of, chemistry geologous, this geology. And so on, it is it's intense. Very, yeah, intense and very new for us. Very all all of those words are new in our life. Like, I I haven't met for instance, the Nower Supernoise. I I I didn't even find a Chinese word for it. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So I can only remember it in in in exact English words, Nower Supernoise. But but I I tend to I tend to understand what it, sign signified in via, through the textbook. Yeah. But, yeah, the the the language is also a problem for us. Yeah. It's hard, especially with those big words that you don't use in everyday life. No. Especially when you're I mean, you can use the word when you're selling the wine, but it's also more just a technical detail So Yeah. Yeah. I can imagine Chinese, you know. Be because Yeah. We barely use English in China. So let's talk more about you. What part of China are you from? I was born in Honan province. Mhmm. But I have been live, in Shenzhen for almost six years. Oh, wow. Yeah. In Shenzhen, the southern city in China. I know. It's it's funny. I mean, I'm no expert on China, but I do know hunan food. Oh, hunan food. Yes. Yeah. Spicy ones. Very spicy. Very spicy. Yeah. So Yeah. I like spicy food as well. I I think most of Chinese like, spicy food. Yeah. Because you have different spices and different sensations. Yeah. Yeah. Like in hunan, the, It's like, savory spicy, but in sichuan, you you will have a more aggressive spicy spice. Right? Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, different kind of spices in spices food in China. Are you like a foodie? Do you love food? Or are you more wine? It's like Yeah. Foodie. Actually, I'm not that into food. I think I can have any food, any type of food and any specialties in anywhere. I can adapt to them. Mhmm. So not kind of foodie, I think. Yeah. But in Guangdong, we, the in Guangdong, the food is more, salty. More, savory salty and with the richness of essentially. So, it's not that spicy in Guangdong. Yeah. So my ability to to have spicy food has gone down. Wow. That that is true. And I've seen it for me living here in in in Verona in the Veneto because there's not really spice in the cuisine here. Yeah. You may find things, but back home, I I grew up in an area that has a lot of, Koreans and, also there's like Latin American. So a lot of, cuisines that have spice. Yeah. And Koreans food as well. Yes. And so now it's like every time I have spicy food, I love it, but I'm like, oh my gosh, I haven't had the spice in a while. So I I understand, is this might be a difficult question because it is always a difficult question for pairings. But is there an Italian wine in a Chinese dish that you could pair together. Actually, we all think, we Chinese all think. Spicy food is difficult to pair with wine or wine, pair with, spicy food. And Italian wine is most of Italian wines are very, have that very, like we said, aggressive sensation because they are in high attendance and in high activity. So To be honest, it's not very suitable for, Chinese food. But, special, a particular Chinese food, like, I I have mentioned before, the Guangdong food is very adapted to to pairing with, Italian wines because it's, it has those richness. I think it's more like, Emilia Romania's food. 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. Like, lasagna, the you you will you will feel very salty after you have the, Colonel food. So you would wanted to have a wine that, that is refreshing with, high tennis. Higher city. Something like that. Is is there, a specific dish from, that area that you love? Yeah. I don't know if you have heard of it. Yeah. Of course. I think some is a specialty of Guangdong. Like, several little dishes with, chicken fingers. Yeah. The ch did you guess I've had I have them? Yeah. With a very rich, sauces of the chicken fingers and some type of, boughs the bows. You have the different, like, the dum the not dumplings, but they have the different, the bows. Yeah. I know the different fillings, like, the Yeah. I'm not saying what it is on the pod, but it's like the everyone you just look up bow. I know what a bow is. It's just the folded. It's made of wheat, no. It's like, the bow. Bow is made of because it has that kind of like glutinous, like, because it's like very chewy and good. Some kind of, have that goodness. But anyway, there are lots of kind of bounds in in Guangdong. So you can match them, with, I think this kind of food are very suitable for, payroll wines in China. Yeah. And I remember that whenever, like, our cooperators producers come in China, come in Guangdong especially. We will take them to Guangdong food to dim sum because we can pair wine with it. Absolutely. Yeah. We will treat them with, Guangdong food. It it'll be very difficult to choose wine. Absolutely. Yeah. No. And is there one wine, Italian wine that you think of? Like, that you would pair with a specific dish, like the chicken? By the way, when she says chicken fingers, she means like chicken feet Right? The feet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. No. It's okay because if there's Americans, especially listening, they'll think like the fried script as my American. No. It's not your fault because I was thinking it was like chicken fingers, and I was like, no. But the chicken feet, I've which I've had, and back in New York. Yeah. I think there are lots of Chinese restaurants around in America. Oh, yes. Yeah. Especially New York because we have Flushing, which is a big Chinese community in, Queens, in New York. Right. And that's where a lot of people go because they have these big banquet halls that do Sunday well, they do dim sum, and it's usually, you know, the weekend you go. And, yes, I've been in multiple times because my good family friend, she's Thailand on use. Mhmm. And, like, sometimes she always goes out there. So sometimes she's like, oh, do you wanna have dim sum? And so I I've tried a lot of the dishes. But anyways, the wine, is there a specific Italian wine? You know, in China, there are not a lot of, Italian wines. The most wine you can find most Italian wine, you can find in China are mainly, brunello, Barolo, this, this one's from the classic regions. Those from regional regions are really imported in China. Like, those from Valedaosta, from Landinor to Adice. It's very, there are very few of the these wines. So so we have very limited access to Italian wine, actually. My favorite Italian wine would be, Napiolo's Barolo wine. Yeah. Because, first of all, because, in China, we have lots of viral roles because of its reputation grows up, also in China, not only in the rest of the world. And and barolo. It have it has it it always has this, elegant of aromas or flowers of, red rose. So Since those are the ones that are primarily imported in China Mhmm. Given that the food isn't something necessarily that you would pair with a nebbiolo, do you typically pair it with foreign dishes there or drink it by itself? I mean, personally, I often drink it by itself. I often drink alone in my home because I'm I'm not very I don't like very much the gathering dinner in, gathering, like, a dinner almost, overseas dinner in in China because it's it's mostly for, for business. So you don't have chance to taste the wines, but I think most of Italian wise like Barolo, glunello, are for are for, it's like meditation wise. Yeah. You have to, enjoy it by yourself, or a couple of friends. Mhmm. Like, two or three friends like that. It's not a suitable one. It's not suitable one for, for gathering or for business, gathering. Yeah. But in China, the one consumption are mostly for, for business for business meeting, like, because we like to eat and while you're talking about business. It's a kind of culture in China. I mean, that's a great culture to have. People are happier when they're said or they're eating. Yeah. And So so that's why, I think that's a part of reason that Italian wise, a north, a north that's so, a not so that popular in, then, like, French wise in China because Italian one, has that, bold structure. You need you need to give it time to, to breathe, to develop the the the complexity. So but when when when Chinese people do the, business gathering business dinner, they don't have time to wait the while to breathe. So but, but because it is business relevant, so they will always want the, famous white device with a reputation with, higher points by critics. That's wise. Interesting. And so as we, you know, start to close out our discussion, I have one last question for you. Okay. Regarding and and the I know this is a very big question, so don't feel pressured to answer it. In its in its totality. Okay. I I'm not super aware of, you know, the drinking culture in China for young people. Mhmm. But do you see a future of drinking Italian wine? For young people in China, you're very young. So Yeah. How old are you? I was born ninety four. Okay. Is that right? You're only, what, twenty nine? Yeah. Yeah. Almost thirty. Alright. And I don't mean to give you the panic. Don't worry. I'm I'm twenty seven, so not far from you. But yeah, do how do you see the future of Italian wine drinking in China? Or at least to your area because China's big. Yeah. Among young people. I definitely think the Italian wines will have a future amount of the younger generation of China. Because you know that, most of eighties people or seventies people, they they like drink label wines. Mhmm. You know, like, laffy, like, how many countries like that. But for a young generation, we, I said we. Okay. We, we want more we want something to represent our unique characters We want to be different. We want to be unique. So we will choose something, maybe, let us know, but, with good quality, maybe less known, maybe, less priced. Less price. Lower price, but, but with, high quality and the unit character. I think that is the position of Italian wise because Italian wise is like this. We all know that Italian wise is not that, the the the the price of Italian wise are not that high. Comparing with, French wines in China. But that won't be a problem in younger generation. And we we want some affordable wines. Yes. Yeah. So Yeah. Not everyone can drink romainecom. Yeah. But you know, in China, the eighty, seventy's, when they do business, they always want the expensive ones. Yes. The they are with that label drinkers. Mhmm. Because they only know the labels. They don't know the stories, the, the content behind the the wine, and they much don't care about it. Yeah. The younger generation would like something more, unique. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, that makes me just wanna have another podcast with you on the whole discussion of of what, like, how wine exists socially in China because it's something I I don't know tons about, but super interesting. I just want to say thank you so much, Tim, for being on the pod today. Thank you, Victoria. Yes. And, I wish you the best of luck with your result. Hopefully. Yes. Or else, I will come next year. Yes. And I will be right with you doing it again. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. As always, a big good option for hanging out with me today. Remember, you can catch me every Sunday on the Italian wine podcast. Available anywhere, you can get your pots.