Ep. 1708 McKenna Cassidy Interviews Valentina Adami Of Graziano Prà | The Next Generation

The Italian wine podcast is the community driven platform for Italian winegeeks around the world. Support the show by donating at italian wine podcast dot com. Donate five or more Euros, and we'll send you a copy of our latest book, my Italian Great Geek journal. Absolutely free. To get your free copy of my Italian GreatGeek journal, click support us at italian wine podcast dot com, or wherever you get your pots. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This is the next generation with me, your host, Mckenna Cassidy. For the next thirty minutes, I invite you to explore with me what young adults are up to in the Italian wine scene. Today, let's feast on our discussion of Italian wine, travel, food, and culture. Thank you for being here. Grab a glass with us. Chinching. Welcome. I'm Makenna. I'm here with our thirties under thirty. I Italian wine podcast. I'm with Valentino Adami and we're going to be talking about Prague Raziiano Plau. I know you today. Welcome Valentino. Thank you very much. It's so good to have you and we were just chatty before we started, and there's a ton of youthfulness to the brand Prasiano himself is over thirty, but but team is under forty. And I think it's a really special brand to get to learn about because as we make new friends of Italian wine, we want to know the benchmark and very important producers in certain areas. And in the world of white wines, a suave is absolutely iconic and so necessary to know for anyone who enjoys any way wines. So it's a treat to get to learn more. There's another Italian wine podcast with Diego their export manager, but Valentina and Diego kinda split the pool of of export markets and Valentina focuses on domestic, Europe. Italy, etcetera. So I know it'll be great to have your perspective on who's drinking your wines in the marketplace. But first, would you mind us introducing Prat to those who are unfamiliar kind of when it started in the eighties with Graciano and then where we're at today? Yes. Of course. So, actually, with this past, harvest, we celebrated forty harvests. Oh. Fortia, anniversary activity of Graciano Priza, wine producer. The family used to farm grapes, but then, he studied the knowledge, and he studies on wine production carrying, his name on the label. So we're gonna have a celebration, label for twenty twenty three vintage auto on the market from, next spring. The idea behind Graciano Policy production honestly was, enhancing and was, respecting a lot of territory we're in. So he chooses to, be very faithful, very loyal to our typical wines. So this means we only produce, soviet classical, and we only, produce it from a local indigenous grape varieties. So, Karga, and Trebienvisoave. Totally will make four types of soave wines, since, yes, forty years. And then from, the early two thousand, we also boat a land in the Valpulicella, but the eastern part of Balpulicella, so the closest to swab area for making their typical red wine of verona. So about Pulicella Repaso and the Marone. These are the three labels we produce since now, yeah, more than twenty years actually. And the the winery is, quite, yes, traditional in this because we have a range of, typical wines, not changing that often because, behind every new wine, there is a very long process and a long project. So, yes, quite traditional in this. Graciano is still the analogist that end the winemaker, still nowadays. And then there is a team of four people in the office. Okay. And, a couple of people in the cellar. So it's great. Yeah. That's gonna be so joyful. Every picture. I've seen of him use smiling. Yes. I think I think we have a very good balance because we're also friends and we have a very nice group, working group. So that's very important for us. And when did you meet pot? When did you start working with them? Oh, I started eleven years ago. Okay. It was by chance. I was, doing hostess in Italy just for, earning some money. Yeah. One must work in my spare time. Yes. At the time, I was, studying to become an interpreter and, translator. Right. Actually, there is my teacher in the other room. Oh, that's good. Oh, why not her? She was just busy. Yes. And I was also hostess in Italy and Okay. Did some, yeah, smaller jobs. Wow. And I met the expert manager of a winery that introduced me to Graciano and, it all started there. And, Gallatiana was looking for not necessarily a skilled person in the white base, but somebody willing to learn and to willing to, devote time and energy and attention to wine, and I was in my twenties, yeah, twenty two years old. And I, and I fell in love with the wine trade, and wine people and I thought it was fantastic. So, yes. What about it did you love? Did you love the enthusiasm of everyone or the hospitality or the wine itself? What attracted you to the wine industry? I think the hospitality and the people connections that one creates. Because great restaurants are all over the world. So sometimes you travel on the other side of the planet and you are, intro used to that Sommelier or that restaurant manager, and you, and you get to visit fantastic restaurants, and then that rest that Sommelier, you met two years ago in London. And, I mean, why yeah. What were these smaller than the the Totally. We think. They were totally small, getting smaller. Yeah. The more people we meet. That's great. And did you grow up in swave? Yes. Okay. Close to soave. Oh, that's great. So you're in your home ish? Yes. Exactly. And and then it's so fantastic because, soave is, is an historical one brand of Italy. So, yeah, denomination, operation, and then, Italian restaurants are all over the world. So it's so, it's fantastic to find your one so, oh, I mean, everywhere almost orange. Totally. Yeah. It is a treat. Poughines are well respected, very well respected when you're introducing Swave to someone who hasn't ever had a Swave before. How do you tell them what it is? If someone's never had a Swave, you're you're showing them, you're you're in the United States, or you're in the UK, how do you describe Swave to someone who's never had 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. I describe to have a as a hilly, steep hilly area of volcanic origin. So very rich in minerals, in the underground, making, making wine that have a fantastic the aging potential. It is one of the most known white wine, of Italy. So, it usually doesn't need a lot of presentation, but have to admit that most of the time, this suave note, was, is the one, quite, you know, easy drinking, too easy to drink. Actually, actually because it was very popular during the 90s as, yeah. It was like a very large, yeah. A very large consumption. So our, task and our mission as a winery is making people aware that the soave can be very long gauging, for very high quality, so a prestigious a Italian white wine. And for to make to meet this, from this vintage, we chose to, close all the bottles with a screw cap. Because we're after thirteen years of study and, wine tasting, we realized that the screw cup, for us is the best closure to ensure the quality in the long term and to support the longevity of our white wines, especially. We've been tasting for thirteen years, our wine's bottle with the, cork, natural cork, and then also DM cork, and screwed up, and horizontal tasting are very impressive because, you then realize that, it's not only about what to do in the vineyard or what to do in the cellar, but it's absolutely, how the bottle is? Yeah. A lot on the on the maintenance, on the, storage of the bottles. Oh, yes. So the closure, temperature, the way it's, it's, stored, basically. And the screw cap is the most protective during transport stress, etcetera. And we realized that it it's the best closure for aging that our wife yeah, to support their their potential of aging. Okay. It I had a twenty eleven Praswame Monte Grande. Last spring, and it was so delicious, but it's a screw cap. Obviously, like, it was it was amazing. And I think it's cool because obviously there's plenty of conception that cork is ideal, but it's not so when you're researching, especially these kind of crew swave wines you really want to permit that oxygen to interact with the wine and or not at all and it ages in there. It's so cool you guys have gotten to do the research for that. We say that it is a technological closure. So you as a producer you made a lot of decision in the in the vineyards, but also in the cellar. And you can do it also when bottoming the del white. So you can decide which material to use in screwed up and how much oxygen the canvas. You're permitting inside. Yeah. It can flow. Oh. They're not all the same. Okay. That's great. For the whites, we use one sort and for the red another one. What are the different kinds called? Yeah. You're using. No. No. They are the technical names, but for the whites, we're using tinfoil. Okay. And for our red wines, we're using Saranex. So there are different models of crooked up that, allows us to reach different poles because, and they permit oxygen inside. They Oh, different metrics. All do because it varies. It's snow a sterile clue. So screw up is not sterile closure. Sure. But it avoids oxidation that for us is a much bigger problem than TCA, so then the cork, cork taint problem. Sure. So it can age without the oxidation of go air going through a cork. It's just like a different interaction with this group head. It's controlled. Yeah. It's controlled. And it's not that's very technical. Yes. It's a technological. Sure. Sure. With that, we also ensure more uniform, not uniform, but more, Yeah. Like, kind of, like, on the bottles. Yeah. I'm No. I got you. I got you. No. You're fine. Like it's more consistent aging across the bottles. There's less volatility if one case of wine is stored toward the warm end of the room and one case of wine is stored towards the cold end of the groups. Okay. How many times during a virtual posting with journalists? You open like six bottles of that wine. Yeah. And all the bottles are different one from the other. Totally. And, the the eventual comments on the bottle depends on the vintage, on the weather, etcetera. Totally. And since you're exporting to so many different markets, like you'll have to regulate help the wine succeed in its different places. Thank you for sharing that. That's wonderful. Yeah. That's awesome. And then I know since we're focused on making new friends of wine today, in particular, before we wrap up, what do you think is attractive about to new friends of wine to people who are twenties, thirties, who are learning about wine for the first time. Obviously, the wine's amazing, but what else is attractive about the brand for someone who's new to wine. I think we have, a very firm food on tradition because we only make traditional wines. I mean, we're not making can get international blood. So we're not very affected by trends like. Mhmm. Their gender roles. Your core doesn't change with the trends. Yes. Exactly. Our identity is quite state firm. So is forty. Yes. So we are very consistent in this, but with an eye and with the other food on the future because we are, younger kids and, for example, the use of screwcap tells a lot about this because, we are sure that it's going to be the closure of the future, also because we're shortening in, natural cork. And also because it's more, ecological. And then we are. It's all organic too, I believe. It's called your vineyards are organic. Yes. Right. There you go. This is a given. And then we have some smaller projects like behaves, that we don't sell, actually, honey, but it's just for our, for our videos for their balance. Sure. The cohesion of the ecosystem. Yeah. And then in two thousand and fifteen, we bought a hill, actually, that, comes up from the, the flat area of soave. So it's called the Montebison. And there are many ruins. There are six buildings in ruins, we're studying, renovating them. So it's just taking and not changing too much. So we don't want to make a super modern resort in there. We just want to take all those of buildings and give a new clothes. Yes. It's like a thrift store. Yeah. Renovate. Refate it. Refreshate it. Refreshes. So, yes, for the future of our watery, we see also the hospitality, a great opportunity, but still preserving the very historical buildings in this area. There is a a tower on the top of this hill. Was used to communicate with the castle of soave, the medieval castle of soave, and the castle of Elazi. Uh-huh. And then there was a legend says that there is also an underground tunnel that can connects the Howard to the castle. I don't believe it. That was very possible. It's impossible to find. We haven't found the tunnel. It's very common for people who live in verona that, every restaurant has a cellar. Everybody tells you that there's a tunnel connecting to the arena. Oh, the arena? Yes. None of this tunnel has we've never found any of the tunnels, but we know they're there. There are some legends about a secret. That's exciting. That's really exciting. That'll be an incredible story to tell when people do tours of those renovated areas and it's a fantastic place because, I mean, this seal is called the ball to be sewn again. And it's surrounded by not very, you know, prestigious, agriculture, a bit quite massive, production around. Okay. On this hill, we have almost monopoly. We have quite a big property, and there is a Vuten. There's a part that we kept as Vutt, the Northern one, and then we have eight actors of vineyards. And, there is a fantastic founder together with the vine farming. We have foxes, we have, squirrels. We have, very small deers. We have smaller birds, like local birds. I don't know the name in English. We have a wild bird that came here to give birth to, cups. We had, yeah, another animal. I don't know the name, but Any different animals living there. So finding their home there and contributing to the ecosystem. Yes. I think it it's also because we were organic and I think because they find here kind of a oasis. Because all around it's all yeah. So they come up the hill for safety. Yeah. Okay. It's nice that you're above that too because the chemicals aren't gonna run into your vineyards because your vineyards are above. Yes. Exactly. And then you have the safer environment there. Yes. Exactly. So great. So it's really worth the visit. We wait for people. Yes. Yeah. We also have two rooms, and the project is to enlarge the hospitality in this area. Oh, I can't wait and I'll be making my reservation shortly. Bringinge grazier for joining you today. Remember to catch our episodes weekly on the Italian wine podcast, available everywhere you get your pods. Salute day. Enjoy the wines and we look forward to to meeting again and having a glass. I know I'll be seeking these wines out where I where I am at home. So thank you.