Ep. 651 Victoria Cece | Voices

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 why industry professionals from all over the globe. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps us cover equipment, production and publication costs, and remember to subscribe and rate our show wherever you tune in. Hi, everybody. Italian wine podcast on the Breights' fourth anniversary this year. And we all love the great content they put out every day. Chinching with Italian wine people has become a big part of our day, and the team in Verona needs to feel our love. Producing the show is not easy folks, hurting all those hosts, getting the interviews, dropping the clubhouse recordings, not to mention editing all the material. Let's give them a tangible fan hug with a contribution to all their costs. Head to Italian wine podcast dot com and click donate to show your love. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This is the voices series with me, Rebecca Lawrence. This week, I'm talking with content director and wine enthusiast Victoria Cheche. So Victoria, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me. Super exciting. I like to start most of these conversations by asking my guests to introduce themselves to our listeners just in case they're not aware of you. So could you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you're currently working on? Hi. I'm Victoria Chanchet. I I work in content marketing. I'm primarily a copywriter, and I work mostly with food and wine businesses. I recently relocated, to Richmond, Virginia because of, well, one reason, because of wine. Virginia Weinstein is very exciting. In very different than my Italian wine background, I'm originally from New Jersey, New York area. And as you know, there's a ton of Italians and Italian Americans there. So, it's different being down here. But not to go off topic, but weirdly enough that they're growing Nebula and Virginia, and I've been investigating this, and it's very fascinating. But, yeah, so really just immersing myself. I actually just took up a new project. I don't wanna speak too much about it because it's still fairly new, but, I'm working on a food and wine business here in Richmond to kind of educate the community here in as well in Virginia about telling food in mine. So I will keep you posted on that, but that's what I'm currently working on. I had no idea that they were growing, Nebulao and Virginia. Obviously, this is a huge home of wine in the States, you know, Thank you. Thank you to Jefferson, which is part of my background was writing about Jefferson. But, yeah, I had no idea that there's Nebula there. The kind of pioneer of it was is actually an Italian man from Piamon that So there you go. Yeah, it makes sense. Luca at Barbersville, I believe that's his name. I hope I didn't mess that up. But, yeah, so I'm I'm still I mean, tons of people have tasted it. I know a lot of people enjoy it, but no one I met from Italy has told me anything or like people who are like, you know, connoisseurs of Italian wine. So I'm curious to taste it myself, and also their other wines. I'm still fairly new here. So being, you know, when you're so busy, I know how you feel probably in Vidal now, like everyone's like, you live in Vidal now. That's probably amazing. And I'm like here, and they're like, haven't you been to all the wineries? And I'm like, I haven't left my house. You know, except to go work at the winery. I do work with. I do work with a winery here, but I'll get into that later. Yeah. It is actually quite crazy how that happens because I've been in Corona for about two years now, and I still haven't made it to Swave, which is like a twenty minute drive. That's so embarrassing. See exactly. And in the wineries for me are, like, at least forty five minutes. I mean, most of them, so I'm just, like, I really wish I I in my mind, I dream of having the time to do all these wine trips. It'll it'll happen. So how did you find your passion for wine? How did it how did you get started? It's it's a little it's it came together kind of whimsically. So my My father's Italian. He was born in America, but, my my grandmother was the only one that, immigrated here. Oliver family is in Italy. So my dad and his family was were always close to the relatives. And that was a great thing because when I was little, my my mom, I well, the funny part is, ironically, my mom, the American one, decided to really kinda spearhead taking me to Italy every year. Yeah. Which it it's just really funny because I would go to Italy every year in the summer. And my dad, like, he doesn't love to travel. I mean, he does. He he's he's just I don't know. But I love him, but he just didn't go all the time. It was kinda funny. But, so I would go with my, she's basically like my adopted grandmother. She's a woman that my mom and close friends with when she first moved to New York, and she's just been like a grandma to me ever since. Like, she knew my mom before I was born. And, she's, Nobadana. So she was like, of course, I go to Italy, you know. So I went every year and that really exposed me to food and wine at from a very young age. And it always, like, provoked this curiosity of why there is a difference between Italian American food and Italian food. Well, there's multiple different cuisines in Italy, but and I wouldn't go, like, we weren't going to, you know, like, Rome in the heat of the summer and dealing with tourists. We were going to, like, these small towns. Well, one of them isn't is super popular now, but, like, we'd go, like, outside of Rome. So I ever since I was little, I've been just curious. And just to fast forward, I was working at Italy in college in New York City. I was working on the food education program. It's called foodie Versita. I started working with the wine director because we had a lot of events. So, you know, when you work in a marketplace like Italy, you're constantly doing everything, which I love. And I started tasting wines with her, and I just started to fall in love with Italian wine because one of the reasons I fell in love with Italian food was because of all the microclimates in the versatility of the soil and the versatility of the history. I, like, I've always been, like, a crazy history buff. And so wine just made a lot of sense and I kinda just followed it. I I probably should have mentioned this but when I was in college as well, I lived in Florence for a year, and I was able to work at community gardens there and really explore a lot of different avenues. I've still focused mostly on, like, food policy in Italy. Clearly, I've deterred a little bit. I still am very much interested in it, but definitely wine had, you know, stole my heart a bit once I came back. I was working at Udelete. And it just kind of continued on from there. I worked as a wine sales consultant in New York for a while, and that's we had a decent we had a small Italian portfolio. We were most we were international, but I just continued it. And, you know, it's I have to admit working and transitioning to something more directly in in marketing has it's been hard because I'm not tasting wine every day, like a wine sales consultant is. However, I've been able to focus my marketing skills into helping wineries, and that's something I'm hoping to do more in the Italian wine field. Again, being based in America, I definitely focus more on American domestic wineries here. Yeah. It really does. And I was gonna ask why you came to Italian wine, but you've managed to answer that question already. Like, how could you not love Italian wine having had that experience, like, formative experience growing up? Yeah. It's it you know, there it's crazy. Like, it's just all around. And, like, when you're younger, like, know, most young kids, unless they're parents or winemakers, you you kinda don't understand the purpose of wine, like you see it at the tables, and you know it has significance. But then once you start to grow that appreciation and it's it's just incredible. And I'm also someone who really loves olive oil. I I really love olive oil and fortunately a lot of, you know, winemakers or just great growers are also olive oil makers because you know, they grow together all the trees and vines oftentimes in Italy. So it's it's just been I just feel really grateful to have have the experiences I've had and also be, like, you know, following them. And actually speaking of experiences, one thing that you didn't mention in your background is I understand you've worked harvest, which is a notoriously difficult job. So how did you come to do that? And and how was it? I did really skip a lot of steps in my journey. I feel like because I tend to rant about it. I always am like, let me just give the speed up, like, this sped up version, but yes, it did work harvest. And it's very great that you asked that because it was very important in my, like, transition from working as a sales consultant to, like, being basically a freelancer and working in with food and wine businesses, you know, and building their their brands, essentially. And so I went I did harvest in two thousand nineteen. Fortunately, I chose to go then because that was right before the pandemic hit. I feel really grateful about that. I went to Sonoma County, California. And it was really funny because the person who was really helping me facilitate my harvest dreams, they're like, well, you know, if you wanna go right to Italy, like, that you can, but it's a little more difficult. And, you know, of course, I wanted to go to Italy. But I was like, you know, I spent a lot of time in Italy, and I will go back there. I know I will be there. But I've always, you know, really put down California wines. I've never really cared for them. Like, now it's changed. Changed anyone who listens to this. I'm not the same anymore, but I I really didn't have any expectations, you know, going to California. So I went, I did it. I stayed from I've stayed there for, like, almost four months. I worked with a custom crush facility, small facility in Santa Rosa, called inspiration, and it was amazing. I mean, working at a custom crush allowed me to work with different clients and different needs and different fruit of different, you know, varietals, quality. And you really got to see the whole landscape of, like, like, main I I don't know if I could say main, but, you know, Sonoma Napa Viticulture because people would bring fruit from all over or even up in Humble County. And so, yeah, it was incredible. You know, I also got to learn about all the different Italian varietals that are being grown out there, which was really fascinating. I drink which was really interesting. I traveled all the way north, like, almost near the Oregon border and ordered a barbera. It was like fifteen percent alcohol. It was it was a lot, but it was like this tiny vineyard. It it was a amazing experience. I mean, harvest is isn't easy. You know, it definitely isn't for everyone. But it def it changed my whole perspective on the industry. I I really wanna do a harvest again. I'm actually going to do a mini harvest situation in Virginia since I can't take fully off for work. So I'll be, again, in the winery for, like, two days a week. So I'm excited about that. I've always it's not something I've managed to do, but I I've always thought that although it is incredibly hard work, and that shouldn't be underplayed. Like you say, it does give you this completely different perspective, you know, you're you're right up close and center with with the great varieties, and you just experience the different side of the wide industry for someone like myself who's been working as a, you know, an educator or a presenter of wines, I think it just gives you so much more to add to your stories. Oh, absolutely. And it really shows you what you care about, like, within winemaking and it it really just shows you how, you know, wine making is a business on one side, like, you know, grape growers, winemakers, they have to make money. And when you come from a sales background, you you kind of forget that. But then, I mean, not to say that as a, you know, sweeping generalization, but, like, you you have to get back down to nitty gritty of it. And for me, yeah, it was absolutely amazing. Like, I, I fell in love with just being covered in grape juice all the time and finding seeds in my boots. And, and I went from hating, cleaning the press to like actually loving cleaning the press. Which if you ever do a harvest, that is the I mean, it depends on the scale of the winery that you work with. But, like, cleaning the press is always the intern's job by sore. And it's like you have to, like, hop in this, like, bladder. It's like the bladder presses And you're just, like, the seeds, especially, like, for specific varietals, like, they'll, like, really get, like, like, lodged in the slits. Oh my god. I was standing there for an hour and they were making fun of me. I was, like, trying to get all the seeds out. But it, you know, it's an amazing experience. I mean, and also you get you get an excellent shake as long as you feed yourself. I will say the wine winemaker, he'll probably listen to Dylan Sheldon. He's amazing. We keep in touch. He's super cool. He would try well, he they would feed us lunch all the time, but he is an excellent cook, and he would smoke these meats. And I was like, wow, thank god for you because I probably would have died. But, yeah, it was a great time. You absolutely got a fuel when you're doing that much physical work. You can't just enjoy the wines. You need proper fuel. Oh, yeah. No. You're like, you're going and going and going. And fortunately, the cellar hand that worked there, he was like a He was he was very aggressive. He he, like, worked out before he would come to shifts. I was like, you're insane. He was like, well, last harvest wasn't as intense. And I was like, okay, that's true. But, like, this is still, you know, labor. But he was great. Yeah. So he was really motivating and helped me a lot with learning many pretty things because as a city girl, there's a lot of, like, common sense things you kind of forget about. A lot. Like, like, putting on, like, assembling a pump. Like, there are times where I was just like, wait. Okay. How do I do the class? Like, am I doing this right? You have to really, like, bring your brain down to just like simple, basic, like, survival skills. And I think that's one thing you take away from the harvest for sure. Hey, guys. This is a brief intermission to give a shout out to our new sponsor. Fero wine, the largest wine store in Italy since nineteen twenty. We are delighted to have them on board and thank them for their generous support and our new t shirts. Find out more on Italian wine podcast dot com. Now back to the show. So to pivot completely to a very different kind of intense work, we gotta talk about Via. I wanted to ask one, why you chose Via, like what brought you to Via, but also Did you do other specific Italian wine education, or did you just drive dive straight into this, like, insanely intense program? Actually, it was the latter, to be honest. I I felt So what inclined me to take the via course was a few things. One was I had been itching to return to Italy after everything's happened, and I wanted to return not just for vacation, but for something that meant a lot to me. So when I saw the program, like, come around. I didn't know how intensive the application was. So I kind of applied and was like, okay, maybe they'll pick me or maybe they won't. I don't know how this works. But I also chose it because I really wanted to advance my knowledge and be more of a, you know, for lack of a better word, certified and, you know, established ambassador of Italian wines because I've accumulated such a knowledge of Italian food and wine culture that I felt like, I needed to not only, you know, take a course around that, but also surround myself with people who were like minded. I felt like in my work because, you know, getting, you know, off the ground with my work I I still work with a lot of different, in a lot of different industries, so I felt as if I was, like, losing my grasp on, you know, telling food and wine, and my focus. And I wanted to have something to look forward to something to study for or something to you know, reawaken that passion and keep it going. And that's really what Via did for me. I have to be honest coming going and doing the program reminded me of, you know, a lot of knowledge I already had, a lot of knowledge that I, you know, I didn't have, of course. And how much more I need to study. You know, I'm only a few not that long after out of college, but I I felt like I forgot how to study for a moment. But it reminded me of what, you know, really drives me in my life and what makes me happy. And that's, you know, working with Italian wines, Italian food and, being an educator around that and being a storyteller in that realm. That's, you know, I mentioned Italy before. That's what got me to that position was that was know, something that was a passion of mine, and, I really missed that. And I really missed having that element around me all the time. I wish I could always write about italian food and wine. It's I'm working on it, but, you know, you have to pay the bills. Yeah. And, actually, you touched on the importance of surrounding yourself, particularly if you are not working with Italian food and wine every day, having the advantage of those connections that community you know, from many additions of via people talk about having found, you know, lifelong friends and colleagues, and I do think that that helps completely immerse you in the world of Italian wine even if you can't do that in your kind of everyday work. Absolutely. I I hundred percent agree. I I didn't anticipate to meet the people I did. I really came in with kind of blindly. I think and not to give any benefits to a pandemic, but I think having the pandemic and being so eager to want to connect to Italy again and to connect to people, new people, again, made it so much more impressive. You know? Yeah, I met some really awesome people and people in very similar fields as me and know, I have to say, like, I came back and I felt like a new person. Like, I felt like, okay. I remember now I'm, you know, remembered what I'm focused on. And, yeah, it was it was amazing. Talking about the pandemic, we can't ignore it. As as someone who has been working with wineries to aid them in their marketing, their content, this kind of stuff. I wondered what kind of changes you've seen occurring during the pandemic. You know, has it been difficult to convince people to move towards kind of social media and digital marketing, or do you think the pandemic kind of helped do some of that convincing for you? That's a great question. It's it really depends. I would say now people are very much eager to build their brands and really go after their dreams. I would say if you were talk we were talking maybe a year ago, most people were very, you know, still dealing with all the uncertainty. Again, we still have uncertainty now, but we've seen a lot of people come, come out triumphant and find ways to market their business. And get really creative around it. I think in the wine business, it really depends on where your winery is located and what, politics are around that. I don't mean to dive into that, but, you know, with California and fires or South Africa and the, you know, alcohol ban, it it's been very different all around the world. I would say in Virginia, since I've been here, It's been very positive. Now there's a lot, like, wineries are open back up. People are very eager to go outside. And, you know, I don't know if you've ever been to Virginia, but Virginia is has a stunning countryside, the Bluridge Mountain Earth. Phenomenally beautiful. So it's it's in the sense of marketing, I think it it really just depends on on where you are and, but definitely more positive now. I'm hoping that that is something we're gonna see continuing as as people find their way into the kind of the new side of things. Like, I don't think we're quite through it yet as everyone I'm assuming thinks. You know, like, we're we're still a long way to go, but for me personally, I've seen, like you said, this very positive attitude to trying to get wines out there. Make you say this this creativity that has come out of the pandemic. Like you, I don't wanna say that this is, you know, it it's a positive thing having a pandemic, but if we can take some positives from it, I think seeing the wine industry become a little bit more creative, become a little bit more agile for me who's been in it for a while is very exciting. Yeah. I, a hundred percent agree. It's been really great, especially with, you may may think of wine clubs, like, many people are have really thought outside the box about line clubs, especially because, you know, having to deliver to people from home and to their homes and whatnot. And, Yeah. Absolutely. And I think people actually have become more aware of the power of content marketing, social media marketing, SEO. Like, I think a lot of wineries in, you know, food businesses, especially since they were severely hit, they they've really had started, to realize the power in that for them. You know, when you stop getting as much of the traffic and tourism, you're like, how do I reach my market? And, yeah, it's it's been it's been really fascinating. So I have to ask you specifically about Italian wine. So I wanted to ask if you could share maybe a wine or a great variety that you've been particularly enjoying recently maybe something you discovered during Via or maybe something that you've returned to as a sort of beloved favorite wine. I'm allowed to answer this question, like, in two parts, because there it's being that it's summer, like, and this is going to sound so simple and and not even, like, people probably hear this to me, like, she took the vehicle course and this is what she chooses, but, really, to be honest, what I've been craving right now. Is just to sit on a beach preferably in, you know, just just on on the Mediterranean somewhere, probably in Compania drinking a glass of fallen gina. If I could just have that, I would be very happy right now. It's it's a simple, you know, Fazangina is is a great, is a great grape, but it's just, like, to me, growing up and going to Compania and, and, like, having white wine on the beach just that's what I've been just dreaming of. So there's that. And then on the other side, I've actually been revisiting, surprisingly, more Aetna wines. I mean, I know that they're they've become super popular, but people around me have actually been asking me more about, like, different wines from Sicily, and I I actually just had, in Aetna also from, costodi, the, oh my gosh. The p that begins with the p. Oh my gosh. It's escaping me. Anyways, it's just been wonderful to kind of revisit more, you know, volcanic, glee driven bot wines, like, because drinking a lot of Virginia wines and wines from domestically don't necessarily have that character. And it's been kinda fun kinda like coming in on one region. And relatively and kind of just diving right in. I also really did enjoy the tasting of sicilian wines, during Via, because I hadn't done that in a long time, and it was you know, after doing, like, all the Nebula and, like, my whole palette going crazy, it was, like, a little better. So, but, no, the Nebula's fabulous. But, yeah, so it's it's definitely been a contrast, but with this heat, I really just want. And there's this beach bar that I used to go to that would make they have this sparkling, like, not even it was like a fritsaint. It wasn't like it was like a fritsante, like, falangina. Oh my gosh. Like, in this falter and hate that that could cure you. Yeah. Just that that sounds like the amazing, like, the most perfect wine for the Italian hot summer because, yeah, also in the Venator here, we were talking before the record that it's super hot. It's really humid. And, yeah, The idea of a slightly Frizante Falangina. Oh, I love it. So I'm in the habit of closing these interviews by asking what's next for you on your Italian wine journey. As, like, as Italian say, Bona Donanda. So I mentioned at the start of this interview that I am pursuing a a business And I guess that would be my next step. I am working. There's another gal here in Richmond that I met recently. We're we've just kind of become friends, but she does an Italian food pop up. And she's probably the only one in the city that really makes good Italian food. And whoever I hope whoever listens to this is gonna hate me for saying that. But I I have to be honest. And when I tried her food, I was like, okay, this this girl has an ulna, and she's doing something. And so we're gonna hopefully, like, work on a couple I I will hopefully can work with her to maybe do some Italian wine dinners, here, and that's gonna be part of my my business as well. Building a small, basically building a small e commerce business here retail for mostly olive oils and Italian food products. I am considering dabbling in wine, but, you know, working in imports is, you know, whole other story, but I do have a trip planned Italy in end of September through October. So we'll see what happens there. I definitely plan on going to many, many wineries just because I have to. And so, yeah, I guess that's part of my journey is, my, you know, moving forward is hopefully enhancing the storytelling element, for Italian wines in my life and Italian food. That sounds really exciting. And I have to say September October is my favorite period in Italy. To when I first fell in love with Italy was traveling, and I believe September or late October, and I really feel like the country just I mean, it's never in a bad light. You know, there's no bad season to be in Italy, but that period in particular, particularly, you know, you've got, like, harvest just closing off. Everything just has that beautiful light. So I'm I'm almost a little bit jealous even though I'm already here because I'm dreaming of that previous trip. I can come by and drag you out the office. Just, like, knock them into our and be like, we have wineries to go to. Victoria, thank you so much for joining me on the Italian wine podcast today. It's been so great to finally have you on as a guest. Where can our listeners find you online or on social media? So I on social media, you can find me at underscore Victoria Chacha. I also did just recently revitalize my blog. It has kind of a funny name, and it also has a social media handle. And I'm probably more active on that. And it's, it's a Slati spaghetti. It's SL UT Together. That is me, and I I probably would encourage you to follow that because it's a lot more interesting. I'm I'm rarely on my main Instagram account unless I'm a posting random memes when I'm bored. So Guys, go and check out what Victoria is doing. Thank you to everyone for listening. Don't forget to follow us on social media, subscribe, and of course donate on the website to make sure we could keep these great conversations flowing. Victoria. Thank you so much again. Thank you. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify by email ifm 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.