Ep. 1785 McKenna Cassidy Interviews Diletta Tonello | 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 face on our discussion of Italian wine, travel, food, and culture. Thank you for being here. Grab a glass with us. Chinching. I'm here with Deleta Tonello. I'm Mckenna we're doing our younger thirties version of our podcast. It's a thirty potty. Yeah. Thirty potty. Who? It's such a treat to be with you here today. Thank you so much for coming and talking about your wines and your story. Will you introduce yourself briefly and where you're driving from today, thirty minutes away, keeping in the trend of thirties, and the wine that you represent for us. Thirty minutes ago, I was in the in the cellar, preparing the wine schedule for, Sophia, which is the girl that helped me in the cellar we are not actually just a girl's winery because there is also my dad and also a guy at PIM, in the inconvenience. But, actually, I decide to make this job because I love wines. I can make wines better than cook. So Yeah. It's weird for a girl. You need people with the skills to live. I don't care to be a housewife, and, I want to be a winemaker So I wanna just change the word thinking about that wine business and wine making is just for men. That is one of the ideas that I have when I start the job because I study agricultural study Viticulture Technologies at the university also. So since I was a child, I knew that I wanna became a winemaker. And, So your dad was doing it. Exactly. He's a family business, actually. Right. Right. So I just take care of the family business, located in Vicenza province, like, close to Verona provinces in the area names Montylicini doc, which is an area where we cultivate this variety, the Dorella grape, forming sparkling wines, mostly. We always made shampoo with this variety. And actually, I trust these varieties since I was, like, starting two thousand and fourteen at the family business. So since two thousand and four team. So mostly ten years ago when I came back from a Australian trip, harvesting in the Clear Valley, making recently, you know, another one, a very acid variety. I am in Clear Valley Pisewine. Okay. It's it's, you know, it is the wines with the big pikes on the label. Oh, yes. Very fancy, very strange ones, but one of the best, actually. Great. Also because it worked there. Yeah. No. I'm joking. Obviously, the best. But it was, like, a very and very nice international group, making wine in the cellar. So it was, like, really, really amazing and and I didn't expect that from Australia. I just, like, though, okay. I do just, like, an experience outside Italy learning a little bit English. Just start to speak in English better. Uh-huh. I'm not that bad. And I'm I'm not that good now, but anyway, no worries. The important thing is that people understand me at the end. Yeah. It's very clear. But when it came back, I just, like, learn about a lot of things, not not only in the winemaking, but also how to manage a winery, how to organize a group of people, how to, I don't know, make the cheese's blending stuff using the oak. Not not only, winemaking skills, but also how to stay with people, how to manage a group, and stuff like that. So it's very important when you have your own winery. Yeah. So, yeah. So, yeah, how many on your staff now? We are four. Me and my dad and two people they call me for happiness. So It's a spring. Tiny, tiny worry. But you can drink your wines in New York, right? Of course. Yeah. You can do it. You got it. Great. I'm so proud of the import company, which is pulled out of selection. Uh-huh. In New York state, and, they actually import a lot of different from me. The sparkly Champanos, they are not that easy to sell because nobody knows about that denomination. Uh-huh. And, they have to talk about this wine a lot to the customers. Okay. But the customer, they have our wines by the glass, like, the motor to Michelin starred in boxes. Oh, it's by the glass of the water? Yeah. We champagne. I can go there when I get home. So happy about it. Okay. Or it is at Fausto. It is a king restaurant also in Manhattan. Fanki thinks is that, like, they buy this wine, and they sell it in the very important places that's trusting this wine after they taste it. Okay. And they also trust in the Dolai la steel wine, white wine. A lot of customer share picture in Instagram with me. And we actually have Maraceli, which is our, pen not performed away. Oh, wonderful. Very funky. Very funny. It's like, Charrene with the Dorella grape, we're fermenting the bottle with the Liz on it. Very funky label the The bond means with the list. Exactly. Yeah. And then Maraceli is a joke. You know? Oh, what does that mean? Maraceli is like, a trick something. Like, it's a joke that you do, but with a good intention, not like a better issues like that. Oh, that's so funny. Like, oh, like a prank. Yeah. That's a prank. Exactly. Like a prank. So, yeah. Oh, that's funny. My cat is a prank. It's like, you know, we made it between the young vines. They are not ready for me shopping with us, so they the young vines that don't make great food for big body for shopping as well. So we use the young vines of Dorella and the chardonnay, which gives a lot of body of the wine. Otherwise, for drinking in the first years with the another percent Dorella, Right. It's not that easy, too much acidity. Right. So it's much more balanced with a sharpening. And I prefer it because it's a one that have no rule at the end. It's like the Right. Yeah. You can do whatever you want. Yeah. Yeah. That's so nice for you to So, yeah. So for the listeners, just we're all on the same page. We're in Roona right now, but thirty minutes to the east is Laissini. It's a place. And it's at the foothills of the mountains kind of in and amongst all the little valleys right there. Right? And so varying elevations, and the main grape that we're farming here is Dorello. Yep. Which is a high acid. The word Dorella is another way of saying it, but it means like angry or like, hard because it has thick skin. Yeah. Very hard for the skin. Yeah. It's the characteristic of the grapes. It's fascinating and it's indigenous to this area. Yeah. Right? Okay. Perfect. And then they're kind of for all the Via community who wants to know the size of the bunches and things like they're like medium bunches, medium berries. And it's what was interesting to me is it's very, like, consistent yields. So the vine is producing all the time. Like Yeah. It's just always there for you. Like, like, it gets sidelined. So That's very cool. So just to clarify for everyone's listening, the grape we're talking about is Turella. Yep. And that's unique and different than prossecco. Right? Exactly. It's a different varieties. Actually, it's the seco sparkling wine of Vaneto. The Resini Dorello DOC. Right. And because, you know, for the Proseco, you use mostly the glarea, another percent. But with the Montylicini or Lucine Dorello, it's the Dorella gripe and the percent. With, yeah, you can put, like, a fifty percent of different variety, like, Pinose, chardonnay, or gardenica, but not aromatic varieties. Okay. But the most simple action of this area is concern to this variety, Dorella. And actually, it's completely different because not only for the acidity, but also is a late harvest of our IT. And the one thing that is very that's why I always say that we are a lucky producers because we pick up the grades for base wine for the for the, you know, for the sparkling wine. Since, the middle of September to the middle of October is a really late August variety. So instead of August harvest. So Yeah. It's not August. Not August. Yeah. We are on holiday in in August. We don't care. Yeah. Really, we are actually relaxing, you know, in in August, we sleep. That's great. We we stay on the beach, drinking the the wine at From last year. Yeah. Fifty see, five years ago or twice on the beach. Now we are actually, very lucky about it because also we pick up the grapes in, cold weather period. Yeah. And also we can pick up the grapes very close to the real maturation of the shape, without losing acidity. That is very important. Fascinating. Yes. It's why the wine are a very big body because you sent me that you taste a different white maker yesterday but if you feel the wine have a good body, nice acidity, but very nice, softening body and the salty also and very clean mouth at the end. So this is the characteristic of this variety. That's great. Because I was talking to another producer a few months ago, and they, like, couldn't go on their August vacation because it was so hot. Yeah. And they were like, do we pick today? Do we pick today? Do we pick today? And you're like, no, I'm putting my phone or I'll see you in September. No. Yes. That's awesome. Coming back to America, Van Italy International Academy, the ultimate Italian wine qualification will be held in New York City from four to six March twenty twenty four. Have you got what it takes to become the next Italian wine ambassador? Find out at benito Lee dot com. So tell me about this Eotent tea. Yeah. I would love to learn more. Tati is the name that came from the Greek mythology. I'm really obsessed about that. The Greek mythology. My cat name is Ulysses. So Okay. And so we're sitting here in the podcast booth. We have a picture of her cat, like Udi say, like literally right here. Yep. A picture of you sitting on top of A cement tank. Yep. A cement for yes, fermentation tank. And then we have a bottle of the Tethi, which is this gorgeous white lace with sparkling bubbles all over it, and it's the LaSini Dorella Matoro Glassco, which means the classical method. Exactly. I'll tell you is like, the nymph of the water. So with this label, with the label, I want to represent the element of the water. Because my wine represented four elements, there is also Aora, which is the air element, chloe, which is also in the US market, which represent the soil. And he also represent the sun. So four elements, four wines, two local varieties, three wines with the Dorella grape, and one with the Garganaca grape, which is also our local variety. But Teddy, in particular, is our youngest, I can say, sparkling metals three years with the lease. So, youngest is like, you know. So young. It's three year for for us, say, young. But, yeah, for a Dorila producer, three years with the lease, mostly is the minimum. For, you know, aging because we also have sixty months, ten years with the lease without any problems because it's a variety that have a very good longevity. And also that is a win that is never ready the first two years of the So you get that time to Yeah. This one in times, but I always say that this one in the time is getting younger is never getting older in the years. It's getting younger. It's getting ready for drink. That's like my idea of why. And I think the best ingredients for make wine in my winery is the time. So if you give the time of this kind of wines, you will have a very nice result at the end and a wine that it's ready to drink. Okay? You are drinking in the right moment. Okay. So the label represents the bubbles of the water, but also the bubbles of the sparkling one. And there is the name, so the, I see the name on the label, the representative, which was the name for also the mother of Achilles in the Greek mythologies. Yes. And she's appeared from the water of the rivers. You've read the Odyssey in the Indian. I love. Oh, it's so good. You really cannot imagine how much I love Greek mythology. All the names come from there, and this is my line. So when I take care of the family business, I start something like my wise, my wise ideas, which are the same wise that my dad used to be, but in a different way, not only for the labels. Uh-huh. But also for the winemaking. We wait much more. We age much more in cement tank white wines. We delete a long and the sparkling We do different cubase from the different Okay. Wine that we bought that we made. So, Teddy is a blend of, valet vineyards and Hills vineyards. Okay. It's ninety percent of free run master and the ten percent of press. Mast. Nice. Which give a little bit of body. Yeah. When you press, what type of press are you using? What kind? We got a close press. Nice. The new machines that are, very helpful. It's a close press. So, the master didn't have the contact with the oxygen. Oh. But, yeah, and I separately all all the press. So Okay. The free run must, the press must. Yeah. And the second press must. So I do How do you play with that? My TV is, after a few months of aging. And, yeah, I am, for example, next year in January, February, we will blend all the Uh-huh. Of the base wines. Oh, perfect. So you are doing it. So they you harvest in September, October. Yeah. You bring it in. You do their your different presses. And then you're fermenting all those separately, all in concrete or any in steel. Stainless steel. Okay. Fermentation, aging in concrete. And then okay. And the second fermentation takes place in concrete or in the bottle. Yeah. But the the fermentation will start in the tank. But in a few days, you'll bot lane. So the fermentation always start in the tank. Mhmm. After three, four days, the fermentation start, you can bot lane. Oh, okay. So the fermentation, at the end, finish in the bottle. Okay. But, usually, the bottles ferment for two weeks minimum. Okay. Great. And then, are you doing dosage before you? The dosage, I put it in after the Remo Ash doing the de gauchement. And, with DETI is the only one that have a little bit of residual sugar because after three years, the wines still have a very, very good acidity. Yeah. For example, this two thousand nineteen, after field of aging, still have eight point eight and a half liter of acidity. It's really high. For those who don't know the scale, that is that's a lot of acid. Yeah. But it's a it's a lot. But it's a mature acidity. So at the end, we put a if I grab a little sugar in the liquor expedition. So, you know, the liquor that we use just to, refill the bottle after the garnishment. It needs a little bit for be a little bit more balanced and not too much aggressive But after three years, four years, five years, this wine, the city became a creamy, and something that clear your mind, and something that give you a saltiness, in your mouth. So it's a it's a very good part of the tasting of, of this wine. That's wonderful. And do you recommend people hold this for a while? Could you age this for a long time or is it ready to go now? Because you've just aged it for us. Oh, yeah. You can drink it now. Be careful about the the date of the gorgement. In the back label, you always have advantages and the day demands and the year of the gorgement. So you can understand that you're drinking the wine at the right moment because it's better. Wait six months after the gorgement, minimum. And, without any problem, five years, six years, ten years after the government. So this one, you can forget if you said our home, but, yeah, not too much drinking, of course. But without any problem, he can age. Okay. Okay. I got you. That's awesome. Tonela's like fun. Like, oh, your whole Instagram is like you, like, bopping around the cellar, like, taking weird videos. So, like, you just doing stuff with the wine. I don't want to be boring I'm really an ultimate person. Uh-huh. So I like to laugh and, have fun also because Sophia with me, she's a very funky girl, very crazy ones, you know, for makeup wise, you must be a little bit crazy. Is very normal to be crazy as a winemaker, but, I love to share my days, my way to think about wines, and my wine culture, you know, easy way, you know? Oh, too much boring. You know, whining is actually it's not that hard. Like, it's it's not that difficult to understand why. Yeah. And I want the people learn about it, learn that are so many differences between a white or other one, countries, blah, blah, blah, wine regions. Okay. But at the end, wine, have to be easy things. Yeah. Because like, it's for the people connection is for, enjoy the end of the day, enjoy a picnic, enjoy a swimming boot. It's like something that you must to, enjoy in a relaxed in moments. Now, like, oh my god, I'm gonna when I'm I'm going to drink. So, my, you know, communication is something like that probably. That's awesome. I see a lot of young people who whether they're my peers or they seem a little bit afraid of wine, like they're gonna do it wrong, or have the wrong thing with their meal, or they misunderstand. It's just fermented grape juice. That's obviously a form of art and someone has worked really hard to make it, but don't be afraid. Yeah. It's, fun people are behind the wines. They take them for you to drink them and enjoy them. It doesn't matter if you made the wrong pair. Because you understand that this is the wrong one at the end. So, okay. Next time, I will not drink that wine with a fish, but I will drink with, I don't know, something. So You like sip it and you're like, I'm not loving this together. I've been all like, Make someone else. Yeah. But also because in America, it's very usual to, bring the bottle of wine at home. Right. If you take the wrong one, you say, okay. I take the wrong one, just close it, leaving them in a pot. I take another one, and the the the one that I didn't drink, I bring it home. So what is the problem? That's so true. Oh, yeah. Because if you because oh, if you buy it in a restaurant. Yeah. I mean, the restaurant. Yeah. Hold on. Other wine shop, you actually always have some ones that can help you. Right. That's why people in the wine shop are very helpful and, they know a lot about wine. Sometimes much more than the restaurants, owners. So in the wine shop, they must know about wines. It's through. And I think there's easy to be concerned about being embarrassed asking questions of someone in the wine shop being embarrassed asking someone who knows about wine, about wine, but that's why people know about wine for you to ask questions. As my dad says, all feedback is a gift. Yeah. So whether Exactly. Right. So whether you make the wrong choice or you make a good choice, it doesn't matter. Like, you learn something and that's important. To be able to receive feedback is also important. Yeah. My dad always say ask ask, ask, ask, question, ask, ask, ask, not any problems. Have the humility to ask? Yeah. No worries about it. Totally. Yeah. The people, that's why the guys in the stores have to answer your questions. He know how about wines. He knows about wines. So, what other wines are you drinking to learn how to make your wine better? Like, do you always drink Lucini Donelo? Are you personally drinking other wines, like, in your free time? Like, oh, disclose? This can be, very normal to say for, sparkly producers, but of course, I learned from the French style of the champagne mostly. Mhmm. But, actually, the champagne is changing a lot since the past. We used to drink a lot of very strong and big body champagne. Right now, I actually drink a lot of very vertical acid fresh. Actually, a lot of vintages champagne in the in the past, they they didn't use to put the vintas on the label, for example. They blend a lot of with couvet and, aged couvets, blah, blah, blah. So they did a lot of stuff. They so also the champagne changed a lot. But, yeah, you must learn out to make. But after that, you have a completely different variety than the champagne style. And, you must know this variety. That's why I also made this right as a white wine because the work that we do in the Venus for the sparkling wine and the vineyard for the white wine is completely different because you, must know that this variety is different, as a base wine, as a white wine. Also very good age and also very good acidity. But, you know, in the winemaker, there's a lot of rules about automation and sparkling, and you must follow their rules. The sparkling words it's a little bit it's weird because it's a lot of variety, it's a lot of technique, alpha, alpha, the soil, variety, and technique, I I must say, because you don't have too much space to make their own decisions. Otherwise, you will have problem in the future. Mhmm. So you must take the good, decision in the right moment. So, growing the vines, out to the right ones during the harvest, press moment. So confermentation moments, the engagements, oh, also the store, how to store, yeah, it's very technique wise. So it's very important to understand the technique. So I drink a lot of champagne, a lot of train to dock. A lot of Alanga. I love Otropo pavese, but I don't make pinotmaso. Okay. It's not mine. And I love riesling. And I actually love to drink riesling as a white wine. So it's not like a sparkling. I'm looking for terroir that are similar than mine. So Hills place under the mountains, a variety with the city to understand what can be the future for my sparkling Dorella or for the, still Dorella. That's gorgeous. Thank you for play that. It's so important for people to understand, like, yes, we understand Champagne. We understand Fresseco, but there are so many other sparkling wines from the north of Italy. Yeah. Especially, Lesini Dorello, like something. If you're looking for a quote champagne to bring to your friend's house, but you really don't want to spend fifty dollars. Like, find it to that low. Like, you're gonna be so happy with that. Yeah. And any of the other ones, do that they mentioned? That's awesome. It's so cool how you do your research, work in a wrap up, but I wanted to ask one more question. How old is your cat? He's ten years old. He is handsome. Oh, it's so funny. And he's my bread and buster. Oh, perfect. For sure. I wish he was gonna speak on behalf of the show. Are labeled for him, because we got three couvees Okay. Okay. Which is a easy supporter. Yeah. Does he like the wine? Like does he approve? Yeah. He's smiling if I get married. Oh, yeah. It's very you can you cannot understand. That card is crazy. If you follow us, inconvenience, in the seller, he he made the picture list, but you can see on Instagram is everywhere. We also made socks. I want the socks. I can I order the socks? Yeah. I got it, makeup. I have socks. I must have socks. With their channel of socks with a cat on it. I they're awesome. Yes. My brand ambassador for sure And anyways, I went to videos with him. You you say you saw the videos on Instagram and, one of the most, like, likes are for Ulysses video. He brings in the followers. He brings in the love. Yeah. That's awesome. Well, D'olanda, thank you so much. Thank you. Cheers. For joining me today. Remember to catch our episodes weekly on the Italian wine podcast, available everywhere you get your pods. Salute.