Ep. 2415 Giulia Stocchetti interviews Claudia Bustos from Viña Raíz Criolla | Next Generation

I fell in love. The first time I put my faith underground in Volonia. I really liked it, but sadly, I didn't have the chance to visit a lot of the city. I only visit La Piasa de Natuno in Volonia. And it was beautiful. The architecture, everything was new for me. So I was really amazed with everything. So it's quite different from, Portesuelo? Very different. Totally different. It's totally different. Totally different from Chile even. Ben Venuti. Welcome to the next generation with me, your host, Julia Stochetti. Join me as I take you on a journey to discover young stars of the Italian food and wine world. Ponte and Yamo. Hello. Hello. Here is the next generation Chile edition. Today with Claudio Boustos from, Vigna Sres Greosha Cortesuelo located in Chile. So that's kind of interesting how I got to meet her because a couple of colleagues of mine were attending slow wine fair a couple of months ago. They just pumped into this pretty young lady really passionate about wines from Julie. And so they gave me their contact. Here we are with Claudia, who is a young winemaker, and she is dealing with Pais and Muscattell. So today, our episode will be about a Chilean young girl visiting each maybe for the first time, who knows, taking her wines here on the peninsula to enjoy la bela vita paired with some interesting South American Chilean wines. Claudia, it's really my pleasure to welcome you to the show. Holla Claudia. Oh, hello. Nice to meet you, Julia. Very nice to meet you too. And thank you so much for being here with us today and to spend the time because there's a pretty, pretty wide time difference between the two of us, but I see you look beautiful even at nine in the morning your time, so that's fantastic. How are you today? I'm fine. I'm very happy to be here. I was really expecting to meet you. So, yeah, I'm very happy Oh, perfect. Beautiful. I guess it's quite chilly and chilly. Yeah. Actually, it's very cold right now. So you got the snow. No. We don't have snow here, but the cold, it's it's tough. Okay. Okay. But your vines are doing good, I guess. Right? Yeah. Perfect. Perfect. Okay. They're sleeping and just resting before the nice season. Okay. So, Claudia, something I'd really love to know because I was so curious about that is how come you ended up in Italy at a slow wine fair? So I ended up in Italy because, you know, I have made this speculation to this low one fair two thousand and twenty five this year. And I was really lucky to be full sponsored for the fair. So I was looking for importers from Italy, but I also took this opportunity as a way to show my wines, my family wines, but also another wine producer from the valley. So I was really, really happy to do it. Nice. So you were also with someone else. It wasn't just you by yourself traveling and showcasing the wines. It was just me. I traveled alone to Italy for the first time I've never traveled before in play. So, yeah, it was everything was new for me. That's fantastic. And may I ask you how old are you? Now I'm thirty eight years old. Oh, wow. And I was wondering about the slow food movement. Is it popular in Chile and how come you became part of this? So we have been part of this community since two thousand and eight, and this community is part of slow food. And after this, it was seen that the numbers of the winemaker were a lot. So it was created this low wine in Chile, and now we work as a network of the smallest k wine maker production. So now we we have meetings, have debates online just like we're working towards a future legal to have an association that will allow us to influence more devices area. You know, in Chile, the wine industry is very big. So with this, we hope to know it's superior, you know. So, yeah, that's, like, it works right now. It's a little wine in Chile. Oh, nice. And are there many wineries part of this association, or it's just something that is at the beginning? It's like, warning right now that it's a very new thing, but we are a lot of producers along on Chile. Fantastic. When you first landed to Italy and you got to Bologna, what was your first impression? How was Bologna? Did you visit the city, or you were always busy promoting your wines at the fair and at events? I fell in love. The first time I put my faith underground in Volonia. I really liked it But sadly, I didn't have the chance to visit a lot of the city. I only visit La Piasa de Natuno in Bologna, and it was beautiful. The architecture, everything was new for me, so I was really amazed. With everything. So it's quite different from, Portesuelo. Very different. Totally different. It's totally different from Chile even. You know, our capital is Santiago. The architecture, it's very different. It's totally different. So that's the reason why everything was so new for me. I would have liked to know more of the city, but I had to leave, like, the last day of repair. Okay. So you were in the Bologna bound, let's say. You didn't visit any other part of the country for now. No. I hope I can return and visit more places. Where would you like to go first? If you're back to Italy, where would you like to go first? Everywhere. I'm fine with everything, but, you know, like, I would like to know some places that I'm not that famous. Maybe not just wrong, but another places. Okay. So, you know, in Italy, you have the seed, the lake, the mountains, the plains, you got whatever. So whatever you feel like, there's definitely something you can go for. So have you tried some Italian wine so far? Yes. I tried Adifaire San Yovesi. I don't remember other names. I know I taste a few wines, but what I most remember is Pacito. Oh, the sweet wine. Yes. I really like sweet wines. And I took to the fair, this wine called Asoyo that we make, and people who told me, you know, this wine is really similar to Pacifico. You should try it. And so I was very curious. And I walk around looking for a potato wine, and I found it, and I tasted it. It was really delicious. I'm I fell in love with that wine. Let's do something interesting and quite curious. So let's compare your sweet wine with the passeto you tried in Italy. So what grape variety do you use to make your sweet wine? We use Moscadilla, Andrea. Okay. Nice. And how do you make the dessert wine? You put the grapes to dry, or you use fresh grapes? Yes. You know, in Chile, Azolielo, it's a designation of origin, D. O. And this states that the wine must be fourteen percent alcohol and more. And it cannot be rectified with alcohol. So the wine it's obtained from over ripe grapes, and then we pull it and we arrange it in trays where the sugars are concentrated even more. So we can get this very high percent of alcohol. That's nice. What I really like about this one, it's kind of similar to almond liquor. You know, when you put it in your mouth, it is very similar. I really like Is it a long process to make this wine? Like, how long does it take from the harvest to the final bottle to be ready? Yes. It's a really long way to do this because we first have to wait to the grapes to get drier and drier. After the wine is ready, we have to wait at least two years to be bottled. So it's a long journey. With a beautiful destination, Do you mature your wine in old barrels or in inert vessels like stainless steel vats? Or Yeah. Stainless steel only. Wow. So you get the purity of the fruit. At the end. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful. And how many bottles you make of this wine? Like four hundred a year. It's a very low production. Oh, wow. Because also the grapes are sourced from old vines. Right? Yes. Yes. This made of Mosquatil. Mosquatil, it's old old vines, but knows as old as place. But it's all vines too. They were planted by my grandfather. That's fantastic. If you have to compare it with the passeto, did you find some similarities, or you can actually tell their from different places and different teruars. Yeah. I can tell it's different, but I was impressed the similarity that I had being from so different parts of the world, but it was really similar. But, yeah, I mean, if you know this wine, you can tell they are different. Is there anything that came up to your mind about a food pairing maybe with this sweet wine? When you end? Of your meal. I really like to ended up with a couple of this kind of wines, like, from dessert. Oh, so instead of a dessert, you go for a dessert wine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now talking about your wines in general, because you've been to Italy. You tried some Italian food. Right? Yes. What was your favorite? Oh, I think my favorite was Lassania. Oh, okay. Pastas in general, but Laassania was my favorite. Do you think it could be a good pairing? Italian food with chili and wine? Yeah. Definitely. Because this kind of pastas are really greasy. Gracie fruit combines really well with Pais. So it's a great pair. So can you please share with us some characteristics of the vines of Pais and of the wines made of Pais, please? Well, Pais. Being years are really old in Chile. They have like one hundred fifty years at least or even more. They were brought to Chile in the sixteenth century by the Spanish Gesuits And you know in Chile, we never suffer from Fulukseda. So it's very common to find very old vines here in Chile, and due to the numbers of years that these plants Haspian territory. They have adapt really well to the soil and the climate conditions. That's one of the reason we consider this wine to be very unique in the world. You know, these vineyards are characterized by being head ring like gover lip. Usually use like old fashioned methods like we dig around the plant to get rid of weed. We blow the land with animal actions, you know, that kind of things. And these plants are just irritated with, green water too because we have too little water in Porticello. Due to the topography of the territory, it's very usual to fine hillsides vineyards. They also tend to be very small vineyards as they run by small farmers or people who have inherited small vineyards as a family. Pices our start in here in Ikata valley. I guess it takes a long time of work in the vineyards, right? Cause I guess you do everything by hand. Yes. What about the yields? Cause I think you get low yields from there maybe, but with a really, really high quality crop. Yes. Yes. And I was wondering, who designs the labels for you? We have a group of designers. They help us with that, but we usually meet with them, you know, we tell. This is a history I want to tell. Can you put it in this label? And they do it for us because I don't think that the label is just like a piece of paper in the bottle. It's just it's too and a history we want to transmit to the person that it's taking it. Yeah. That's what it should be because you have to be able to communicate something also from the packaging from the bottle itself for someone who's the first time that sees your wines and gets in touch with you, let's say, So these people are from Portesuelo, or they're from somewhere else. They're Chilean. Or Yes. We're from Portesuelo. Portesuelo is like small village or town. We belong to a city called Tian we are, like, in the half to the south of June, you know, two is very long. Mhmm. So, yeah, we try to find all this professional from our city. That is to young. Are there many people making wines in your area or just few wineries? My dad started with this. He was the first in this area. There were a few people, a few producers of wine, but now we are a lot. A lot. It's a good thing, but, you know, it's hard enough to show your wines to make a difference of your wine because we have a lot of competition too. But it's good too. You know, that we don't lose traditions. So that's good. What's your father's name? My father's name is Patricio Botos. So Patricio is a pioneer of Ponte sollo in winemaking. Yeah. And why he decided to produce wines was his dream or he had some land and just started making wines out of it. What's the story? The story, it was that his family was always involved in the winery and the vineyards So it was like a heritage, but he before used to work in other things. At some point, he said, okay, I'm gonna stop doing this, and I'm going return to my village, to my roots. After his dad passed away, he returned to making wine and produced a lip from it. And it's nice you have the same passion and you're keeping up and following in your dad's footsteps. It's really nice. Yeah. I was also seeing a label with a name like Temerario. Yeah. Why have you decided to call a name Temerario? The name Temerario was because that my father was the first producer in our valley today to bottle Pice grape before the Pice grape was looked down for having different characteristics from traditional wines, like carmener, carmener, it was a wine that was used to sell in bulk and be mixed with other wines. So when he decided to do this, Everyone said, where are you doing this? This is crazy. You can put this wine in bottles. No one is going to buy that, but he keep doing it. He said, okay, it's fine. I'm gonna keep doing this And well, he started that at two thousand and six, and he is still doing it right now. So it's been a long journey. Wow. So it's the first wine he made. Yeah. He bought all. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And it's still called the Temerario. And how does he make this wine? Is there any special harvest time moment, winemaking technique? Or maturation before bottling. Yes. He has this very old vineyard. It's like his favorite. We said that it has a very special grape because it has this gray pad is really unique for us, actually, and he make this wine as her father used to make it. So he has his secrets that he doesn't want to tell me, but You know, it's a special wine for him. So he is still involved in the winemaking in the whole process. Whole process. Yes. And you work with him. Yes. When I ended up college, I started to work with him. And this was like in two thousand and twenty, and here I am. Well, one day he's going to pass you all his secrets about the Temerario. Yeah. I hope. Yeah. I'm sure. I'm sure he will. I was wondering, what's your main role in the winery. Like, you work more in the cellar, in the vineyards, in the sales promoting wines. I try to be in every part of the production. I really like the pruning season, but it's right now, but I also like the winemaking. Maybe sell it. It's not my favorite part, but I involve in that too. You have someone helping you out in selling the wines, or you're still doing it within the family? Just the two of us. My dad and me, we do almost everything, actually. So, yeah. Just the two of us, I think it's something really exciting and something rare too. Because most of the time, people in the same family just argue they don't get along, but the two of you guys seem to be really, really nice together and to empower each other. I mean, together is better. Right? Actually, it is. So, well, now I guess the vines are just in the dormancy period, so you're not out there working in the fields. Right? We start now. The pruning. It's being really cold in here. We have like minus nine degrees. So we're waiting a little bit to keep with the pruning. When did you harvest this year? Marshall. March. Okay. It was March. March to a pre. And usually, that's the time of the year when you're busy with the harvest. Right? Those two months. Yeah. I'm really busy. Okay. It's the same period of the year, or it can change, like, sometimes start earlier or later? Yeah. It depends of the weather. The year can be different. Start earlier or more late in the month, but always in March. Do you collect first? Moskatel or Pais? It depends. Usually is Moskate, but this year was really rare. It was different, and we start with Pais. Okay. Interesting. And I was also reading that you're making kind of natural wines. I was wondering what does it mean to you? What does it mean natural wine? Making natural wines means working with, bean here and then the winery with as little intervention as possible. You know, we try to let the grape speak for itself. We don't use chemicals. Because we believe that the wine should reflect the place it comes from. Usually, the wines are rustic. We like to say that they are alive. It's unpredictable. This tells, you know, a story about the soil, the climates, and the hands that have made this wine. They might be a little bit cloudy, a little bit of sediment, a little bit of bubbles, but you know that it's wine. And natural way. We see this not just because we want to sell more, but it's like we want to share something deeper. And, you know, it's our way to see the world. It's our roots, our traditions. The way we connect with the land. So it's very deep vision. It's like you're trying to deliver Portesuelo to all the people out there through your bottle. So you want your wine to tell not just the story of your family, but also of the terroir of the place you come from, of the people around. Exactly. What a shame? I didn't have the chance to try your wines. Anyway, if you wanna go for a bottle of your wine, have you found an importer in Italy yet, or you're still looking for some importers? I'm still looking. You know, when, wasn't there, a lot of people liked the wine and they said to me, how can I sell this wine in my restaurant? And I said, oh, I'm so sorry. I have to find first an importer that brought the one from Chile to Italy. So we're still looking for importers. Okay. Please continue because I really want to see your labels here and try your wines and pair it with lasagna. I hope. Yeah. Me too. It's lovely to stay here talking to you, but we are almost running out of time. So I guess we have to wrap up the episode. But before that, I have Three rapid questions for you. Okay. So, Pais or Moskatel. Oh, tough question. I think in taste, I prefer Moskatel, but my heart says pies. Fair enough. Dry wines or sweet wines? Sweet wines. Okay. And last is do you prefer working in the vineyards or in in the cellar or going out there and selling wines and traveling and promoting wines. I really like to go and promoting wines in another parcel of the world, but I must say that I prefer being in the vineyard and in the cellar. Oh, yeah. Europa is at heart. So That makes sense. Yeah. Okay. So is there anything else you'd like to add a message you'd like to send to our listeners before we close the episode? Just that I'm really happy to be here, and I hope you can follow us on our Instagram, Vigna Rejklia, and there we tell our stories. We have pictures, videos of how we make things in our being here and in our winery. So I hope we can meet there. Yeah. I'm very happy. Thank you so much for having me here. Muchas Kratias Claudia. It's been a huge pleasure for me to have you as guest. I'm really thankful for that, and I'm really happy I got to meet you. And I'm sure one day we will share a glass of wine together. Maybe in Chile. I really hope it. It will be great. I went for you in here. Okay. If you need any help with the harvest or anything, let me know. I'll jump on a plane and I get there. I promise I won't steal your dad's secrets. I won't do it. I will be your workers in the vineyards, your Salarad, your salesperson whatever, but I'm not gonna see yours. Thank you so very much for everything. Thank you, guys. Bye bye. See you next week with a new episode. Grace for being with me today and listening to the next generation on the Italian mind podcast.