Ep. 1583 Raffaele Bellomi | The Next Generation

Since two thousand and seventeen, the Italian wine podcast has exploded. Recently hitting six million listens support us by buying a copy of Italian wine unplugged two point o or making a small donation. In return, we'll give you the chance to nominate a guest and even win lunch with Steve Kim and Professor Atilio Shenza. Find out more at Italian One podcast 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 then hear about all the wild wine things are destined up to. From vineyard experiments to their favorite wine bars. Hello. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the next generation. I hope you're having a beautiful day wherever you are, whatever time it is because we have a unique episode today rather than taking you to a winery. We are taking you to Verona's are seen with Rafael Belomi, the co owner of Amaro in Arcivio to wonderful, wonderful, bars in verona, where you can fulfill all your spritz dreams. That's not what we did. We had a very serious conversation about the future of wine drinking and drinking in general was young people. Which I'm very excited to share with you before we do that some facts on a special grape baby from the verona area, more particularly the Valpolicella area, which is just outside of Aurora. You might know Valpolicella because it has very famous wines, of course, most notably, Marone, which is where I come from, is super famous in New Jersey. Of course, there are very specific grapes that make up the wines of Valicella. Today, we're gonna talk about which is in just a four one one. All my facts are coming from the Italian wine unplugged two point o book, which you can have yourself and become the grape expert, the Italian grape expert, or you could just listen to me. Or both. Corvina on it. Like I said, its name is for big Corvina, Corvina being a raven, but it actually doesn't have a genetic relationship with Corvina, great, even though many people thought it did for a very long time. The name Corvina actually is a reference to how big the bunches are of this grape. The grape is virtually always blended with Corvita in the red wines produced in the Valpulicella region with up to fifty percent of Corvino, permitted in Balpulicello, La Choco, and Amarone. It is also found in the red wines of Bartolino. So Corvino may be lesser known than Corvino, but it's just as important. When it comes to its character, We're going to see that it has a deep ruby color, which is no surprise because it's very dark skins. Corvina is known for its intense cherry flavor. It's high canons, which is a reason that it's a great blending partner with Corvina because it gives great body and structure to wines. Corrinone is uneven ripening among the bunches can make it create harsher wines that have a bit of a vegetal flavor if the berries are not handled properly. And it's always fermented till dry, and it's rarely a mono varietal wine. So you're never gonna really find Corvina alone. You're gonna have to try it in one of Balicella's famous wines, which isn't a bad thing. It works with Corvina beautifully. So without further ado, Let's move out of the hills of Alcolicella into the bars of IRona with Rafael. Welcome. We're at Vine Italy. We're taking a little bit of a turn today. Instead of being at a wine stand, we are at a bar stand of sorts with Rafael. So it's nice to meet you here at Venezuela. Great to meet you for the first time. Okay. Yeah. Obviously, you know, Rafael being living in Verona. There's no other place you'd rather be the nameato Arquivio. And at some point, you're gonna run into the the jolliest man of verona. As I like to say, it is Rafael. What you are? Would you hear that loud? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. That's that's actually a compliment. Absolutely. To bring in the wine, because we're gonna talk about something in wine. Rafaela has his own vermouth company. And for all of you guys who don't know what vermouth is, what is vermouth? Vermouth is basically traumatized and fortified wine. So tell us a little bit about your vermouth. Our vermouth is a very whiny. Let's say vermouth made in Asti by qualia. So we call it a Mediterranean vermouth. So it's turin style, but with quite distinctive Mediterranean vibe. So fresh thyme, fresh herbs, chamomile. We wanted to create something that would be able to serve on its own, but also something that would be creating cocktails, and the lot. And we came up with this, like, seven years ago, and it's very strong, so we're happy. It's going strong, and it is strong. Exactly. Sorry. My puns will never die. It's true. You know that he's laughing because I obviously go to amaro, and I just go there to annoy Rafaela all the time. But it's worth it because he's an amazing bartender, and he's an amazing person. And, so let's talk a little bit about drinking culture in Verona. So as you probably know, because you're being interviewed on this podcast, It's the next generation, and we're talking about Okay. You know, the future of Italian wine and in Italian drinking, you know. That's a It's a big one. It's a big one. It's a it's a long conversation. Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. But I'm not gonna make you go down the rabbit hole, only just like dip your foot in. But on that note, what scale it down? We're going into Verona. How do you see the new generations? Well, it's, it's a little bit different nowadays. I I never know if it's after COVID, something changed. Or if it's because new generation are very different. There's a big difference in how people approach the bar from, I wouldn't say my generation to not about, like, you know, like, at twenty years old now, goes to the bar, and behaves in a totally different way than what I would have done when I was twenty. Once again, I don't know if it's because COVID happened, but people are drinking slightly less. They're going more for the experience. I feel. So it's more, an all around experience that they they they wanna have into the bar. So from the design to the music, the quality as well, they do look for quality, but not necessarily. Has to be the whole package I think that they look for. Values are different, you know, from back then to now. And you can see that in our customer. I agree. I think, like, how you market exactly the package. It's like the whole label deal. Right? And it's like the label, it's obviously a cool label is one thing, but it aids it's such a symbol. Yeah. How people reach for drinks. Now, not just wine. Why do you think that wine Italian wine should be sexy again to young people? Well, I I think that Italian wine is on the right track to be sexy again. It's always been sexy. I I'm not sure. Like, I I I think that I see many many places around Italy where they do, like, cool concept, you know, like, cool wine bar, all natural, DJ set, and it looks like what was the bar When I was younger where people would drink, like, gin tonics and I made a comment that now there's lincoln bottles of wine of cool natty wine and stuff like that. So I think that it's moving in that trend. And young people are binding to it. That I I feel like it's it's it's working well then. I don't know. What they would have to change or if they would have to get better. It's not for me to say. I mean, I just drink wine. I don't do it. So When you talk like you're ancient, but you're not that old. Yeah. It's true. I'm not ancient, but it's been like twenty this is my twenty fourth fear of working behind the bars. So my my my my bar career is older than some of my custom. But do you drink wine still? Like, a lot of wine? I I absolutely do. I do drink a lot. Not a lot. You know, like, a decent amount of wine. Okay. What is a Verones' perspective on quantity of wine? Like, what's a decent amount of wine? A decent amount of wine, for some, might be few glasses per day. I am actually not drinking that much. I try to be as good as I can, but, you know, working in a bar, If I have a new wine coming in, I will definitely taste it. I will open it. I will drink it with you guys. I never drink it by myself. I'm always surrounded by people as well. That's your excuse. You're like, are there's people around I can drink now? Yeah. That's it. That's always people around me. So No. You do think of a really good point about wine is that, is that, like, if you're placed with a wine in front of you, it's kinda like food. Right? And especially an Italian culture, you're not gonna turn it down. No. Like, you're gonna drink it. You're gonna find a way to enjoy it, and you're gonna try to share it the best you can. Absolutely. That's down. I think that's a big thing, and it kinda goes back to what you're saying about the the youth. It's like they're gonna be drinking if it's in that that experiential moment where there's something they all can share, whether it's the cool hats they're wearing to everyone. I absolutely hate those bucket hats. I'm probably gonna lose a lot of followers for saying that. I think they're so dumb. Thank you. You agree with me? I have hundred percent. Oh my gosh. I'm so happy we can detour this conversation. I remember wearing it when I was sixteen, and I was not cool at all. You're talking about bucket hats. I mean, you need to talk about wine and Vanitzilator. But they go together because a lot of people have bucket hats drink wine. Well, I'll tell you one thing. We call it in a dialect here in Malona. Capel da hua. Capel da hua. Which means it's the it's the hat that you wear when you go for the Vanemia and stuff like that and had four grapes. Half for grapes. Oh, I love that. Wine to wine business forum. Everything you need to get ahead in the world of wine, supersize your business network. Share business ideas with the biggest voices in the industry. Join us in Verona on November thirteen to fourteen twenty twenty three. Tickets available now at point blind dot net. I think that's gonna be the next merch for your vermouth. Volumeprimo. And where did that come from? Volumeprimo comes from the idea that, well, it's difficult to see, but the label, actually, it's, used to be a vinyl that we turn in, in in diffute tweaks and, and, and so we always, thought there was a big connection between music and what we do. You know, my business partner is a very skillful musician as well. Really? Yeah. Absolutely. Have you ever heard him playing guitar? No. No. It's like a siren. You would fall in love with him. I would love to jam with him. You should. Yeah. Just bring your guitar over. Right? Now so off topic then. Again, wine is also correlated. If you've been following this podcast, you know that? Yes. No. It's it's yeah. Michigan wine. Absolutely. So we we have the strong connection between music and our products. And and so we wanted to take it and Voluma primo stands like, you know, voluma primo first volume of a selection of something because our idea is to develop more and more and more recipes, which we are they're on the way right now. But it turns out that this one took us a long time and, stands a good, we're not gonna have a, so it's a, it's a, and then there will be other problems. That's what they always say. They always say this is the only one. And then the sequel comes right now. SQL always comes. We're lucky enough that we didn't have a sequel. I'm happy the first installment is going well. So do you wanna tell me your favorite, cocktail to make with your Valuma primo. Oh, yeah. For sure. For me, it's which I do love or, just an Americano. Always always American. I love, oh, mescal negroni. They're great. They're great. And then to deviate more to the wine side of things, Are there any producers that you love? Oh, yes. Absolutely. There's a a lot, but are there anything any, like, small producers you wanna share? So, Felipe region. I love, a new one that I actually just found. It's called Montechimo. They're above, the Baldo and nine hundred meters above sea level. And they do Kiwi, wines. Yeah. And we we actually stock the sauvignon that they have, and it's so acidic, so great. I love it. They do a Muscares only manual big bottle. I'm practical for us, but I would I I had it, I think last month. So good. Amazing. Amazing. So for everyone who doesn't know what Piwi is or if you're googling it right now, stop your fingers, because I'll tell you, It is hybrid varietals, which is, basically, more disease resistant. It's basically the the future of Viticulture, and and you may not think in Italy because Italy has such a resolute wide, like, all these indigenous varietals, but climate change. Things are changing. More warm humid conditions means more fungus, more things that we gotta look out for. So PVR hybrid. So basically, VITis vinephra, crossed with another kind of root stock because you know more about his his scrapes. Absolutely. And they they have such different flavor profiles as well. I I love them. Absolutely. And they're very, hybrid groups are big in America too now, especially in, like, Virginia and, in New York State. Okay. I I I didn't know that. Yeah. Cornell University does a lot of research, and they've created, quite a few types of hybrids. Yep. Super interesting. Yeah. So if you go to see well, when I go to seats, I'll bring some hybrid great, like, blinds back. Yeah. Actually, just do a little shout out. I used to work. No, I still work with them a little bit just less so now that I'm in, Italy. I worked with a wider in Virginia named Lightwell Survey, and they did, They did actually, they did a lot of, VINifera and hybrid, coferments. Super awesome. Super awesome stuff. So I'm excited to see how that happens in Italy because it just was allowed in the PTO. Yeah. There's there's No. Definitely several one areas now doing beauty stuff. Some of them in Colio, you know, like, toward us, Louisiana as well, and they're great things. But this guys Montecimo amazing, amazing stuff. Super high altitude. The if you go to their website, you see, like, all their, they have beautiful shot of all their opinions covered in snow. Beautiful. And they're like right above the the lake. So it had this beautiful shot, amazing you go there. That sounds amazing. I will when I get my car. But on that note, thank you so much for that. But if you wanna find it at a cafe, come to verona, Arquivio, Amarado, he will make you in Medicano. Yes. And you can chill outside, have some time. Whoo, party. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. Thank you. As always, a big drop tip 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.