Ep. 1472 Totò Navarra | The Next Generation

Since twenty seventeen, the Italian One podcast has exploded and expects to hit six million listens by the end of July twenty twenty three. We're celebrating this success by recognizing those who have shared the journey with us and giving them the opportunity to contribute to the on success of the shows. By buying a paper copy of the Italian wine unplugged two point o or making a donation to help the ongoing running costs, members of the international Italian wine community will be given the chance to nominate future guests and even enter a price draw to have lunch with Stevie Kim and Professor Atigioshenza. To find out more, visit us at Italian wine podcast dot com. Welcome to the next generation. I'm Victoria Chache, 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 then hear about all the wild wine things are guesstimate up to. From vineyard experiments, to their favorite wine bars. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the next generation. You're gonna be with me for a little while, but for a good reason because today, I'm really excited. We have a very, very, very lovely interview with a very, very sweet Ymaker and winery owner and his family before I get to that. I want to talk a little bit about a very special grape for from their region or their island, I should say, Sicily. It is the most planted grape variety on the island. You can most likely guess what it is. Nero da Avola or Calabreso. It was actually a trick question. Sorry about that. And if you don't know why it's a trick question, it is because Calabreso is actually the official name of the scrape. However, Nero da Avola recently has become the more widely known name, and I think also official. Well, let's see what the Italian Wine Unplug two point o book has to say. So our handy companion here. Yes. Calabresse is the official name in the National registry. The Nero Davala is the most common moniker for Sicily's most planted red grape. It means the black grape of Avola, so coming from Avola, it's an ancient varietal, the origins precisely or unknown, which is always fun. We like little mystery. But it historically was used to make a lots of bulk wine and sent to the north of Italy, not Sicily, little scandalous fact there. But since then it's changed, it's evolved because Calabresor Nero davela has for official clones in over a hundred bio types. So that's that's a lot, you know. So that's gonna lead to a lot of variation on how the wine's gonna come out. And also adapting to different sicilian terroars. So you're not looking at one specific kind of soil, climate, Sicily is a giant island. With a varied geography. So you can have some fun drinking that Odavala. So I hope you do. If you wanna dive a little bit into what it looks like in the glass, we see it always has a a deep ruby to purple color. It's it has this really, like, deep, deep color, and has medium to high intensity of red and black fruits such as plum, berry, cherry, savory notes, herbs, spices, bramble, make a little black olive, can be saline to almost a tomato paste like flavor. Again, very much varies, where it is produced. Its tannins can be medium to medium ish medium to medium ish. Again, varies, but the acidity is persistent, medium plus, and the wines are most likely made to be consumed young, but some can age. So it's a very approachable red wine. It's usually still in dry. And a lot of bottlings are increasing now with more investment, sicilian Viticulture, and trying to amplify this wine. It's no longer some basic bulk wine. It can be truly beautiful, especially because it has high acidity and a really pronounced fruitiness, so it also lends itself to make wonderful. Rosato. So I always love it. And you can drink those not just all day. Good all year. And just to wrap this up a few regions and DOPs to know for these wines. So you're going to have which is in the southern southeastern part of the sleep. You also have Alcamo, Contea, Discafani, riche, Noto, Riesi, Salaparuta, Silacuzza, Vitoria, Sichelia, Sichelia, Sichelia, Sichelia, Sichelia, Sichelia, Sichelia, Sichelia. Those are all docs, and then the Cetta swallow to go back to is it the only DOCG. And then also, you can find this great in IGP Terraciliano wines as well. So without further ado, let's move into our interview. Hello, everyone. We are at Vine Italy again. And today, we are with to Noveda, and we have toto and Roberts. Robert is our translator today, which is just fantastic. We have a dream squad right now. And so toto, so nice to meet you. The new face. A new face. Wow. That sounds like a modeling thing. The new face of, yes, the next generation of tenuto Navara. So tell us a little bit about yourself. Was set up in in two thousand and nineteen. So a very young company. It was a dream of his grandfather. His grandfather is called toto as well. So this was cast on by him. So once he went to he retired, he he actually didn't want to do the same as everybody. It was just to, you know, go away and, not do anything. He decides to actually start up another business and he starts up this winery. So with with with the help of his father and his grandfather, okay, they have supported and developed this company. They have a hundred and seventy five hectares of land. This the the estate is what they bought and So they have forty hectares of olive olive oil and the rest is with mandarins. They work with sustainability, so they have obtained have a quality control system in the company because they're very young people, and this is what actually motivates them. They've obtained the certificates of sustainability, which is a currency on the quality control of what they do. Beautiful. All the abundance of products. We have Miradabala. Cheers a la de Victoria. Beautiful. All the abundance of Sicily that you work with. So a little bit about you, Toto. And if you mind if I ask, I assume you're very close with your grandfather. He grew up in the arms of his grandparents because he used to live beside it. His grandfather is is not like a grandfather. He's like his best friend, very close friend, because he brought together. You can see how his emotions are when he speaks to you. I'm I'm getting emotional. He's grandfather brought on these emotions onto him and also the the passion of of the land. So he's going to finish his studies at university. He studied economics at university. He's only twenty three. He's about to get his degree, and then he wants to go continue his studies and take a master. However, don't say no, you are also under thirty. Yes. A twice. A twice. A twice. That's twice under thirty. That is the I love that now. It's like, I am twice under Twice than that. Oh, that's amazing. So we have a young team just leading the way And so what is it like at the winery with such young energy? Do you have a lot of parties? It's really fantastic because we like having lots of of, let's say, parties and get together with young people together where we have music, we have the DJ. We meet together with share ideas and come up with new inspirations. And do you have, like, one fantastic memory to share with us from any kind any kind of event of this sort? The most important, let's say, emotion that he has, that he's telling us about is the fact that he's here in Italy because it's a dream for him. He didn't think this would happen, and this is the first that they have participated as an exhibition. So, it's gone really well for them and they're so happy about it. 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. Why didn't you think it would happen? A new father. He he was afraid because of his young age being twenty three has a lot of responsibility. And he said, would I be able to manage? But our stand has been full of importers from sixteen different countries. They've come a business today, and we've got lots of great interest. That's awesome. I understand there's a lot of pressure on your shoulders, and this is a huge event. This is also my first VINit's lease. So don't feel ill alone. It's my first marathon as we called because back, we have all these events going on. So we're in the Astezza Barca, in that sense. But you're doing amazing things. I just met you, and I'm also very, I'm very impressed by everything that's going on. But to talk a little bit more about you, about what you like to do, what do you love about wine? And you don't have to talk technicalities, just what in your heart? Every model of wine has a story behind it. So if you get the bottle, Sophia is the name of the one of the wines. It's called Sophia because his sister. He's got a twin brother and twin sister, and the sister's called Sophia. So he actually involved he came up with his names. He involved his family. So there's emotion also inside and label labels in the names. Bateke is the name of our top seller. Okay. And this is his neighbors given to this point because it it tells the story about his grandfather when he was a child when he used to play in the grounds, playgrounds with his other mates when it's very, very young, and you say, so this is and they said, this is it. Another one that they had was the scenario. The scenario. This is the area. This is the area. This is the area. But it's they call it the Seattle. And this was called the Seattle Yeah. It was desired to make this battle because I will tell you, I know the story very well because his grandfather went to England and he used to live in England and he had this desire to come back to Sicily and do something for his grandchildren. So this is this is where the desire comes in Desideria. Oh, I I love that. And I'm I'm curious. What was the name of the wine with your grandfather, the last What does that mean again? What does that mean again? What does that mean again? It's like, it's like, it's, like, it's, like, it's, like, it's, like, it's a, it's a little song that that's a little song that his grandfather used to say when he was to him when he was a child. And he remembers this and he said, I've got to give this to my to the wine. And so can you tell me a little bit about that wine? Like, what how did you construct it? So it would be reminiscent. You can see from the battle, tell the story. This is about the life of his grandfather from when he was born. Up to the reboarding of the new generation with the leaves going back on it again. This is well structured. Right? The reason is that it is very strong. It's a heavy bottle, strong because his grandfather has a strong impact on him. Mhmm. And you can see here also with with this wanna stow like this, that means this is a guarantee. This is quality. There's only five thousand three hundred bottles of this in the world. This is edition. And so what's inside the bottle? It's Your heart. It's right there now. My heart is inside. My heart should be cool on. And why did you choose It's the area, the area where the the the winery is. It actually represents near lava at that which is there. It's in the center of Sicily. It's about twenty kilometers from the seaside. Let's and, you know, I probably should have talked about this much earlier in this podcast, but let's talk about where you're located and a little bit about that culture Yeah. We we will we we will show you exactly where we located because you just yeah. We can move. It's about twenty kilometers from the seaside, and we have this just fantastic lake here where all the water that comes from the land comes here. It's collected and it's recycled because the new idea of the new generation is everything has to be ecological. So we recycled the glass. Glass is recycled. They work a lot on sustainability. So they're a great team of young energetic guys. That's fantastic. And so what's the name of the town precisely? It's called Gutierrez Gutierrez Gutierrez. Okay. And in direction, because, of course, this is very big. A little bit more specific. I would be more specific. It's about halfway between Agrigenda and Rabusa. Oh, okay. So it's quite close to the coastline. The coastline is here. Okay. So it's it's inside. Yeah. Okay. And this is the very I always end up talking a little bit about food because I feel like you can't talk about Sicily without the food when it comes to the wine. So What is the specialty? What is the food culture of this area in Sicily? Talk about your it's difficult to not to eat well in Sicily because it is top class tradition, but I know his grandmother and she's one of the best groups that you can ever get food from. She makes ends meet up everything. The best quality food or homemade. She puts great passion and love into it. Meet pizza, of pasta. All the different types of pasta that they make inside is just absolutely amazing. Also, they grow oranges inside inside the winery, and they make their own marmalade and they export this as well. It and also olive oil. Great passion with the olive oil. You see the one we have we have it here today. Oh, amazing. And it's also amazing that you maintain that biodiversity with along with the vineyards. And so I I just have to ask, is there one special dish or plate that your grandma makes that nobody else? On the kit. I land on the property. Pesto. Pesto. Pesto. Pesto. Okay. Which is made from basil basil leaves. It is absolutely delicious. Yeah. It is. Yeah. And his grandmother, as you can know, the the his grandmother, he's like, also like a mother for me because she treats us like a family. Imagine during harvest, does she cook for everyone during harvest. Of course. And on and on the Sunday, we go to the countryside, and there's about sixty people together. We eat all, it's all family, all inside cooking in in the winery, and it's all all made stuff. There's no boats. Everything's made in the oven. And what's your Nona's name? Tannino. Tannino. Tannino's adorable. Right. Adorable. And she's probably a forest too. She's sweet, but Yes. Don't mess with her. Oh, she spent she's a really nice person because she does voluntary work with the church, quite a lot of voluntary work, and she just comes and looks after the family cooking. She dedicates this all the time. Her grandchildren are her life. One would you care with her pastor? Absolutely. Yeah. Frapado's nice, cool, and fresh. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's one of my things. So Fantastic. Wonderful. I could stay here all day and talk to you guys about all this beauty because you have everything in your territory. We are actually working on a new project inside the winery. We're also building up a big hospitality, so we will be welcoming guests to come and stay and live the experience where we're going to have cooking courses. So then Nanda is going to do the cooking courses, and you can come and live this wine experience. It's amazing. That's beautiful. I will love to come. I absolutely that's that's my life. Every my friends called me on because all I wanna do is cook for everyone. And I still talking, like, once I get my little villa, that's what I'll be just cooking for everybody. Sicily is full of emotions. Yes. Endless emotions. Absolutely. That's really true. You feel the the history and that cultural layer, like, layering it when you're in Sicily. Like, when I came, I was like, oh my gosh. Like, it's it's this magic. I came to Sicily thirty years ago, and I never went back. It is and it has been the best move of my life. And then I met them as a family and I'm just part of the family. Whoever comes to Sicily, loves Sicily because if you get into the heart of a sicilian, they will never let you go. One of my best friends, she's from her And when I first went to Sicily, she sent me a quote and she said, when god wanted to make a mirror image of heaven, he made Sicily. And I was like, that is a fact. Absolutely. Yeah. So you must feel blessed to be sicilian in your blood. And my last question for you today, you're super accomplished already, and yet we've so much ahead of you, but how do you see the future of your of your winery and the future of sicilian wines in the hands of young people? Generates and the winery in Sicily will actually grow because of the fact that they have a young team, a very young team. And the team, I always told my mission of team is t e a m, which means together everyone achieves more. Working together as part of a team, the university behind their backs. They know exactly a lot about sustainability. Their goals is to reach the high level of wine? This is fantastic. Thank you so much for this interview. So many wonderful surprises, a team of young people, the grandparents. I I feel I could cry right now, but we have a podcast over in it. But thank you so much, Robert. I'm told up. Yeah. And I wish you the best of luck with everything. And I'm jealous of all the food and wine you're gonna drink when you get back. As always, a big good oxy 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.