Ep. 521 Caterina Dei | Voices

Italian wine podcast. Chinchin with Italian wine people. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. I'm Rebecca Lawrence, and this is voices. In this set of interviews, I will be focusing on issues of inclusion, diversity, and allyship through intimate conversations with wine industry professionals from all over the globe. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating to Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps us cover equipment, reduction and publication costs, and remember to subscribe and rate our show wherever you tune in. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. With me, your host this week, Rebecca Lawrence. I'm pleased to be in conversation today with Maria Katarina Day of Cantina Day in Montipuliano Tuscany. Welcome to the podcast, Maria. I am so delighted to be able to speak with you today. And I I do have a a confession to start the podcast. Because actually your wine, is one of the original wines that made me fall in love with Italian wine. It was given to me by a friend in Montipocciano, and so it's a real honor to have you with me today. Thank you so much, Rebecca. I'm so excited and delighted as well to speak to you. And, you make me flattered by saying this among my wine. Thank you. So I'm really glad that you enjoy the VINobili and our wines. Thanks a lot. I'm really happy to be here with you today. So for those who might not be familiar with Cantina Day, can you tell our listeners maybe a little bit about where you are situated and the wines that you produce? Absolutely, Rebecca. We are in beautiful Tuscany, so in the heart of Italy. And, you know, that Montecoutan is a very ancient area, and it's a beautiful city. It's a beautiful town, that was, you know, built during the Renaissance. So we we it is also called the Pearl of the fifteenth century. So Motepuciano has always been very famous. So So, of course, the foundation and, the the original birth of the whole territory goes back to the etruscan time. So thousands of years ago before the Romans. But it is true that Montecoutano, so it's, you know, it's flowering during the renaissance. So it was, really the most important buildings were built between the fifteenth and the sixteenth century. That's why the fur of the fifteenth century The Madice family from Florence were very close to the area, and they sent the most important architects to build multiple channel. And it is also during that time, during the renaissance, that we hear the name novelle. So the Appalachian, you know, for for for the wine. Why nobelle? Can you guess? Because, it was the best wine produced in the region that was reserved to the noble families and also, you know, to the crown, had, all over Europe because we know that the Villanobili reached many important, families around Europe. So England and, other countries. So it was a real, real important wine. And nowadays, it's considered one of the most ancient wines in Italy. So speaking of the territory and, you know, wine linked to the territory. So, you know, I I really invite, you know, people who who have never come to the area to come and enjoy the beauty, the beauty of the landscape, the beauty of the, you know, art and the city that has so much history and so much to to to offer. So you were speaking about, obviously, architecture being an important feature of multiple channel, but it's an incredibly important feature of the Cantina Day winery because it's made, as I understand, completely of Travertina. Why was this decision made and why is Treva Tina so important to your family? So this is really belonging to the history and story of my family because my family has always been, dealing with travertine. So my father who really was the, you know, the designer and the constructor of the cantina he thought of making a cellar, making a home for his wine made with his stone, what he used to call his stone, because the family has always been, excavating trafficking, in Rapalano, in Tuscany. And this has always been the the core business in the family, before the passion for wine, you know, really, kept us. So so busy. So the the history of our family goes, together with, travel team business. And, of course, now has always been connected to the wine, not for many years, because, it was my grandfather, so my father's father who started planting the vineyard, planting the first vineyard in the sixties. So you planted, what is now, Bosona, which is, the vineyard where we produce our reserve. That way, we grow the vine for our Buenaobbilla reserve in Bosona. So my my grandfather started, with the vineyards, but we used to sell grapes for a number of years until my father started thinking of making someone for family and friends consumption. That was the idea And, this goes back to the eighties, actually, the mid eighties. And indeed, the VINobilia nineteen eighty five was our first VINobilia produced. We produced one barrel of VINobilia. That was the start And as you know, nineteen eighty five was such a good year, such a great vintage that gave us, you know, the start. So after that, we decided to start making wine professionally. And it was my father to build, you know, the first VINification seller, and an aging seller, which is completely different from what we have now, and from what my father himself built, underground a few years ago. Unfortunately, he passed away in twenty eighteen, but, he had the time to finish his, piece of art as he used to call it. And, I think that's the right name for for the seller. So he designed and realized that a seller underground, which is, snail shaped to recall the the fossils that are one of the most important ingredients in, some of, our most important vineyards, and travertine is all over. So the pavement, the walls, the ceiling, and the roof, the roof of the cellar, which really makes an amphitheatre. So I have to say outside the cellar, we can have an amphitheatre with a perfect acoustic. And, my dream is to be able to organize concert and art events in the in the future, the near future to be able to to make synergies and to have wine wine connected to art and wine connected to music because you probably know that I'm very fond of music. I do actually, want to come to your love of of music and theater in a moment. I am definitely going to be asking about that, but also before we dive into that, I wanted to ask when you started working for the winery because you started in theater, not in wine. So how did you make the decision to to move into wine. It was not actually my decision. In fact, I was totally wrapped into my theater, theatrical and, you know, music studies. And, I I started arts at university, and I studied theater. I studied voice. So I was, back and forward from, Tuscany to Milan and to Rome. And this was back to the early 90s until my father asked me to, you know, to help him. And he asked me to get involved in the one business that has just started because we know we started selling the first bottles of Inenobili at the end of the eighties, let's say, beginning of the nineties. So in nineteen ninety one, my father asked me in, insinstantly to have me involved in the wine. And I said, no, but no, dad. No, thanks. I'm not interested in wine. That was my first, the reaction and my first answer to my father question. And I said, no, dad, because I'm, totally, you know, busy with my studies, but I can come help you with the harvest. And that was the first step that I made into the wine list. So I came for the harvest in nineteen ninety one, And I found that, you know, it was a dramatic, attractive thing. And I I really enjoyed being in the nature, being in the vineyards, you know, I was wearing my boots, and I took my scissors, and I went into the vineyards with the with all the peakers to pick the graves, and I thought that was fantastic. There was something, you know, a flattering, amazing experience And at that time, I also thought, you know, in the days after the harvest that I could have, made my own lifestyle here, basically, you know, feeling free, to play the piano and rehearse and study music here in the countryside. Also, the thing that really pushed me to to make a step in this direction was the fact that I had a beautiful Grand piano in the home of Montepo channel, which is still here, actually. So feeling, you know, very free, feeling beautifully happy and free in the vineyards, and having a piano at disposal that I could have played day time, night time really make made me think that this one was going to be the right, the right thing to do. And, you know, made me think of, being in Motepochan, and then I thought, I will do something in the cellar to make my dad, happy. You know, I will pretend working in the vineyards. That was, what I thought in the beginning. And, so it was, more and more and more being involved day after day. And, still there after more than thirty years. This is my story. And I have to say I've always felt more and more involved and more happy to be in the world of wine. So it took me time, and I always say I entered the world of wine, from, from the backstage, you know, from a back door because, I went to the vineyard. So I learned by doing, I have to say, but I touch base in every little section of all the daily work. So, and especially in the beginning, there was what we call the the factorial, the time, the person in charge for for everything because, of course, we grew, bigger year after year, but we started as a very small one. Right? So there was one person in charge for almost everything. So that person made my daily schedule saying, okay, today, we have to label, and we were labelling the bottles, by hand initially. So that was what I was doing. And then, you know, really, very basic little things to do, I had a little office. So I was, printing invoices by, a very, a very old, you know, machine. So, and this was, this was the beginning. And then year after a year, I was, you know, I got more and more enthusiastic about my what I did. I was opening more and more windows, on the wine world every day. So then I started traveling. I started going around. And I forgot about music for for some years. You know, unfortunately, I forgot about music because I didn't have the time of even thinking about it. But then I happened to get in touch with some, Tuscant musicians. And together with them, we decided to record an album that you can actually listen to on our website It's called Katarina. And I put together all the songs that I liked the most. So from, some of the Beatles song, you know, some jazz, such as, summertime, classical jazz like summertime or New York, New York, and, other songs and a little bit of something that I composed because I like improvising. That's the other side of my musical, personality. So that's, that's how I, how I was able to put some music into wine. And I have to say I discovered day by day that music is not so far away from wine and vice versa. In a place like this, really focusing also on, if I may use the word conviviality and having people come enjoying people enjoying wine. I thought that I could definitely put together music and wine. And this is, this is one of my goals. Actually, one of the the goals that I care of, the most for the next future to be able to have events here and having people get in touch with the, territory with the land, with the landscape, with the wines, with the wines, and music. One full experience dealing with many different aspects of, culture, wine, and land. So thinking about making this, one experience, the the wine with the culture, I I have a fun question for you. Given Music is so important. I wanted to ask you if you were to match one song with a wine in your cellar? Which wine and which song would you choose? So I have to say I have songs that I that I composed that are part of my second album. Of course, I speak of albums, but these albums goes to my friends only. I I don't sell music albums because I'm busy enough to sell wine. By the way, but anyway, I recorded the these albums, you know, for for the fun of it. And, to to have friends and, customers of ours and, you know, people that I know in the one business that also love music, by the way. So, the goal is having them listening to my songs, But, one song that I really like to sing, sometimes I do it in the amphitheater is definitely summertime. It's definitely summertime. Summer multiple channel, you know, of course, the summertime is the best time to come to multiple channel. Oh, together with spring and, of course, the fall. But in winter, I would say, dancing in the rain. That's it in the way, in the rain. And may maybe, you know, I'll make the title longer and enjoying wine. So which which wine would you would you pair with summertime or with dancing in the rain? I would say enjoy a vino nobile, definitely enjoy a vino nobile. You know, I, by the way, by the way, I have something important to say. That's why, you know, going back to the Renaissance, when the vino nobile, started, you know, being important and started being a really worldwide known. We have an important person who was, in the mid of the sixteenth century the so the of the pope at that time, so this person name was, and we have many important statements written by him. And he said, the Villanobili is such a great wine, and the pope likes the Villanobili all over Italian wines. You know why because it is a very perfect wine. He used these two words, perfect, a very perfect. It is a very perfect wine, and it is perfect to be enjoyed both in the winter and in the summertime. So I think that's perfectly, you know, matching what we were saying about music and wine. As you know, I I completely agree that Vino Nobola is is definitely a perfect glass of wine, and certainly, as you say, want to be to be shared with others with through conviviality. Obviously, this has been quite a difficult year for everybody where particularly wineries are facing new challenges. How have you dealt with the situation with twenty twenty, twenty twenty one? Have you just been immersing yourself in in wine and music? Yeah. But twenty twenty, I have to say I lived a very unexpected expected period of time because, I happened to travel to the United States, at the in the beginning of March last year. So I left Tuscany, March the first, exactly. And I went to your for my, you know, the tour that I, that was scheduled. So to meet my importers and to join, of course, wine events. And that the pandemic was just starting to spread, unfortunately. And Italy was already kind of, you know, a risky, risky country. So and I remember I went to New York with some other put wine producers. We were supposed to pour the wine at some wine events, and people are aware about, you know, kind of scared to have Italian producers pouring wine. So that was the beginning. So I finished my tour ending, ending up in, in, in Miami for a press tour of Italian wines. And after that, I was supposed to come back. So by March the fifteen, I was supposed to be back in Italy. And I couldn't travel because flights were canceled. So, you know, when did I come back? I came back July the twenty eighth. So I was in Florida for five months. And this was totally unexpected. Of course, of course, I hand I could handle of course, I could handle the situation because, somehow I have, home in Florida because, my sister has always gone back and forth because her business, the travertine, most of it is in Florida. So that's why he has, she has a small apartment, there. So I knew where I could stay. So I was not homeless, but, But everything was absolutely, you know, different from what I usually would have done in a in a normal, let's say, ear. So I was there and, of course, during the lockdown, but at the same time, I was able to talk with my American distributors, and I have to say my expert because, actually, we export seventy percent of our wines. My expert, especially in the United States was good. I mean, comparing to the international situation, comparing to, of course, the tragedy of the pandemic, commercially speaking we did we did a good job. We did a good job. Of course, apart from, aside this situation, it is, of course, you know, a very frustrating situation. I mean, speaking, worldwide, of course, We have friends, restaurators that are really in a very bad crisis. And of course, the fact that twenty twenty at the end of the day was not so bad for us doesn't mean that we are worried we are worried for many reasons because, you know, so many people everywhere in the old, in the world are losing their jobs. And the situation is not over, unfortunately. So we cannot travel, and we're not we're not so confident that the twenty twenty one would be, you know, a good year for, for everyone. So, of course, basically, we we we can't travel, and it's it is not sure that people, could have the opportunity to come over. We don't know if people from the United States or from other countries could travel. So, of course, we are very worried and we are concerned about, many aspects of, our business and, of course, our health all over the world. Unfortunately, it's something that I think, you know, touch every one of us by by very close, by very near, because, I think like me and like many people that I know, they also know people that have been, sick, that have been infected, and everyone is scared. Everyone is worried. You know, relationship changed so much because, we're not free to talk to each other without a mass. I mean, I think lifestyle changed. I think everybody is everybody's lifestyle worldwide changed, I think. You know, luckily from my side, I have to say people drank wine at home, which is probably the reason why we didn't, we didn't lose our, markets considering that restaurants have been closed. And wine stores have been closed, but people ordered wines, and they drank wines at home. And this is really something that helped us a lot and also keep us enthusiastic and keep us wanted to fight and go on because otherwise, you know, we we could have, we could have closed the doors of our business. The close the doors of our wonder is if, you know, if it wasn't because of this. But of course, we are very worried. We're very worried for many people that have been sick again. People who have lost their dear ones. So, of course, it's not an easy situation. We hope that the vaccine will finally, bring us to to reestablish health, all over us. So to go back to a life that we were we all want to live. And hopefully, in the meantime, everyone will be continuing to drink Vignon Oberle at home until that they are able to travel and be with you and enjoy a fabulous concert in your amphitheatre. Maria, thank you so much for joining me on the Italian wine podcast today. Where can our listeners find you and the winery online or on social media? We are on social media. We are, Cantina Day is on Facebook, is, Instagram. And of course, we have our website. So cantinaday dot com, then you can join to look at the pictures of our winery, to have, you know, to read about us and the to listen to your music if you like. Of course. We have to send all of our listeners to listen to the music. Could you just repeat the Instagram handle for us? It's Cantina Day. So it's c a n t I n e day, d e I. Cantina Day. So it's both. It's the same, the same address, Instagram, and, Facebook. And Rebecca, we would love to welcome you to the winery as soon as, you could come to Italy and you'll be our guest, of course. I will be there as soon as I can travel. I will be there to witness the amphitheatre to myself and to enjoy a glass of a sauna while I do it. Maria, thank you so much. I think our listeners are going to really enjoy this conversation. Thank you so very much. Thank you so much. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, HimalIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italianline podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time, team.