Ep. 2022 Annette Mueller Fattoria La Vialla | Wine, Food & Travel With Marc Millon

Who wants to be the next Italian wine Ambassador, join an exclusive network of four hundred Italian wine ambassadors across forty eight countries. Vine Italy International Academy is coming to Chicago on October nineteen to twenty first. And Wal Martikazakhstan from November sixteenth to eighteenth. Don't miss out. Register now at Vineethree dot com. Welcome to wine food and travel. With me, Mark Millen, on Italian wine podcast. Listen in as we journey to some of Italy's most beautiful places in the company of those who know them best. The families who grow grapes and make fabulous wines. Through their stories, we will learn not just about their wines, but also about their ways of life. The local and regional foods and specialities that pair naturally with their wines. And the most beautiful places to visit. We have a wonderful journey of discovery ahead of us, and I hope you will join me. Welcome to wine food and travel with me, Mark Minen, on Italian wine podcast. Today, I'm delighted to continue a special subseries that highlights the winners of the prestigious five star wines and wines without walls competition that took place in April just prior to Vinitale two thousand and twenty four. Over the course of three long days, they actually were very long days. More than two thousand two hundred wines were carefully tasted and evaluated by an international jury of wine professionals Smaniets, Italian, and international journalists and wine writers, as well as Italian wine ambassadors, and Italian wine experts. Those wines that scored more than ninety points were awarded certificates and have been included in the five star wines and wines without walls two thousand and twenty five book, or the very best wines in each category were singled out for special awards. My guest today, Annetteiola joins us from Fattoria Laviana in Tuscany. How are you today? I'm very well. Thank you. How are you? I'm very well as well. It's it's nice to hear you again today. We had a very nice conversation last year when after Fatoria Laviana had also won a number of prestigious awards in this competition. So I'm very glad to be talking to you again and to continue the Fatoria Laviana story. Now awards won this year for Fateriella Aviana include the best winery in the wines without walls competition, the best organic sparkling wine for your o three pau fa pavese mettodoclassico, DOCG, X Broupe, Milizimato, Vino biological, Kuvay numero Duway, and the best biodynamic sweet wine for your Vincanto del Kianti, Dio Cio di Perinice reserva Vino biological two thousand fifteen. So big congratulations, Annette, to you and to all at the LaViana team for this important achievement. I know you have won many awards, but this is a very special competition. And an important one. So many congratulations. Thank you so much. Yeah. We are really excited and also because it's actually the fifth time that we won best winery, and it's just always I mean, it's always exciting because it just means the work we are doing is truly yeah. We're on the right track. Yes. Absolutely. And I, as a judge myself, I know, you know, I know how the process is, and the tasting is very rigorous, of course, completely anonymous. The wines are all tasted blind. We have discussions about each wine, and to make that achievement for five times is is a very considerable one. Now, Annette, I'd like, you to describe, first of all, factoria, Laviana. Our listeners are located all around the world. And I'd I'd like you to take us to the special corner of Tuscany where Fateria LaViana is located. Tell us a little bit about the landscape and what the farm is like Yeah. So Faturia LaViala is located about fifty, sixty miles kilometers from Florence and about fifty mile kilometers from Sienna. So it's really a part of Tuscany, close to arezzo, about ten kilometers from Arret. So in a little village, it's called Castion Fibokki. It's obviously your your typical tuscan landscape as in, you know, it's hilly, but we also do have a lot of forest. And what makes Khatulia La viala so special is that we're not just, biodynamic winery or wine estate, but we are also a working farm. So we also produce other things. And we also have an agricultural, so people can also come and visit us. We talked about this also last time. I think the fact that we are literally taking biodynamic to the level of looking at their farms as an entire organism and not just concentrating or focusing on one part such as, you know, wine is date, but that we have all these different crops. We also have animals. We have chickens. We have sheep. A couple of years ago, we also added some cows for, landscape restoration. And it makes it special because we have an incredible amount of biodiversity. And it really has a different energy. When you come to, you can really feel a certain aliveness that I think is is very unique. Okay. That is a really good description. And I think it's very important to emphasize this point, Annette, that Fattoria Laviana is a mixed farm. Perhaps farming in a way that used to be done more commonly in Tuscany during the Met Sedriya, for example, where any number of, crops would be grown alongside grapes, alongside olives. And I'd like to to focus a little bit later on some of the wonderful food products you are making. But I think this mix agriculture, rather than specialized monoculture is a very important feature. Now I'm interested to know something of the history of Fatarilla La Viola because it began in, as an organic farm, In the early days before organic farming was really widely spread. What didn't it? Yes. It it did. So we started in nineteen seventy eight, and, it's a it's a family run farm, and so the founders Pierro and Juliana. Lufranco, they actually came out of the textile business, but had roots in agriculture because they both had grandmothers that had family farms, one close to Sienna and one closer to Parezzo. And so they would spend their summers there, and and they just loved, you know, being so close to nature and seeing how things are grown. And they wanted to have that also for their children, the three brothers that are today running LaViala in the second generation, Johnny Antonio, and Pandino, Lefranco, and they would have never considered doing anything but organic agriculture. But actually, when we started, there was no entity of body that would certify, organic agriculture. It was just a loose connection, and so that was in nineteen eighty three. That was the first certification. And then in nineteen ninety four, there was the first official organic certification because that's when it came into existence. And we have number a hundred and twenty five just to let you know, you know, we're really worth one of the first. And then at the late nineties, the family started to look into biodynamic agriculture, and that was truly a conscious decision because they realized how much more it had to offer. And so slowly, you know, we converted to biodynamic agriculture, which includes all the aspects. So whether It's, in the vineyards, and then also in the winemaking or in the food production. So all the vegetables and fruits are grown biodynamically, but then also processed, under district rules of the biodynamic association demeter. And it's what we're finding today is that it was, I mean, we wouldn't have decided differently, but that it really it has an incredible added value. Again, as I said in the beginning, because, we have really great, soil fertility, and we have an amazing biodiversity we are doing right now currently a study with some, ornithologists and counted all the different bird species that we have at LaViala, and we came up with an stirring number of over a hundred and forty of which over eighty species are actually having nesting at LaViala. And that's just incredible, you know. That is incredible. Because it means, you know, I mean, the reason why we have so many birds is because there are so many insects. The reason why we have so many insects is because we have so many microorganisms in the soil and so many spaces where they can actually propagate today, looking at what's happening in the world and all the species that are going extinct. It's really incredible. Yes. Absolutely. And it is incredible to think that the Lofranco family had that vision for organic farming in the seventies at a time when line producers and when farmers were still using chemicals for fertilizer, pesticides to kill insects and pests and herbicides for grass. So, that vision to be organic when wasn't at all fashionable. It wasn't widely done at all. Has now really been accepted across the board, I think, in Italy. You know, I'm amazed at how many in every region I go to, how important organic farming has become an is becoming, but LaViana have been one of the pioneers. I'd like to turn to the award winning wines, just a brief description of the two wines that won awards before we move on to talk about other aspects of the farm. Can we talk about the Ultra Poaveza in Meto, the colasico extra brute two thousand sixteen? Yes. Of course. We were lucky now. So Fattoria LaViella obviously has its main hub in in Tuscany, around Castino Pibokie. There we have around thousand six hundred hectares, but that also includes a lot of force. But then we also have a small family foundation whose main aim is to basically identify abandoned lands and to then try and either lease them or buy them and turn into biodynamic agriculture. And so we found a beautiful winery in Repoppa Visa, where there was a generational shift, and the new generation did not want to continue. And so we were lucky to lease the vineyard, not just the vineyard, but the whole also the seller, and that really helped us to start making the or champagne method with pinonero since that is one of the regions that's most famous and most pristine for making So the the number two, and the vintage is two thousand sixteen. Obviously, it's a hundred percent pinot narrow. And it was a perfect, let's say, in the vineyard, the selection was already to only, select the healthiest conscious and to really make an accurate selection. And then in the cellar, the fermentation happened in five hundred liter to nose for about one year. And then another part of the wine was done in stainless steel at sixteen degrees. And then later, we, added the base wine together with the other wine and pass it into the bottle. And there, there was a bottle fermentation for over fifty eight months. The end of it was sixty months. So we're very happy with the result. Okay. So very slow, secondary fermentation in the bottle. Yes. And that I'm interested, as you mentioned, of how the family works leasing or acquiring abandoned vineyards. And this is something you've done elsewhere throughout Italy, even as far as Sicily. Is that correct? Exactly. And in Sicily, especially there was also, let's say, on homage to Piero Lofranco, the founder part founder of Victoria La Viala Viola together with his wife because he has his roots in Sicily. So his family originally is from Sicily. And so we we have some vineyards there for the Pasito and also for the San Zarato, and we also do have, some lemon and some orange groves there to use for our other products. Oh, how interesting. Yeah. Yeah. And I think the reason being is an especially today, I think while in the beginning, the family was just, you know, because they travel a lot and and had this really strong commitment and mission to not let land go abandoned because they had seen it here in Tuscany and how then when the land is abandoned, how quickly then it changes also the landscape, but also in a way the cultural cultural heritage is getting lost. And so whenever they were traveling and they saw something that really was abandoned, you know, they would inquire. And so we also, for example, have olive groves in in Pulia, and we also have some vineyards in the market. We also have some vegetable, plots closer in Marima, which is still Tuscany, but closer to the sea. And today, it acts actually is also this kind of diversification is also helpful since because of climate change, the weather has become so unpredictable. It also gives us a certain amount of of security in the sense. If there was to be, a horrible calamity, you know, in in one region, we could still manage to survive by, you know, having something in a different region. For example, last year in Tuscany, especially in the Kianti region, I mean, some of our friends, some of the vineyards we are friends with, I mean, they had basically practically no grapes, and others had maybe a loss of eighty percent. And we were lucky, and I think part of that is also because simply our wines because of the biodynamic agriculture are more resilient, but we did also have some vineyards where we had maybe only fifty percent of the yield we're used to. My goodness. So that's that is the effect of climate change. Was that the PerinOSpera that Downey mildew? It was the PerinOSpera. And the reason being was because first, I mean, we had really heavy rains until June, literally in the, I think, in the history of, you know, it's over forty five years. I mean, almost forty seven going on to forty seven years. We actually couldn't plant the tomatoes. And for the first time, we harvested them. It was almost the end of September, basically, together with the wine because we had such a problem. And so for the vineyards, it really was a problem because first, we had this heavy rain. And then later, we had these incredible heat waves and and drought with temperatures of forty degrees and not just one day, but sustained forty degree, Celsius weather. And so it was really a challenging year. So this year, hopefully, you'll be interested. Sure. Yes. I can see her. Yeah. And I think, but I I mean, you're seeing it all over the world that the weather has just gone crazy, and you can't say, oh, it's gonna be like this. Because you just don't know, you know. No. Absolutely. It's interesting that, the biodynamic approach to farming is helping to give more resilience to vines and indeed other crops. So let's just speak about biodynamics just for a minute and briefly because I know it's a complex subject. Yeah. But you can tell us some of the interventions, biodynamic interventions that are carried out that you believe are really effective both in adding resilience, but also in making wines of such high quality. Mhmm. So, I mean, basically, in a nutshell, biodynamic agriculture really focuses on soil fertility and biodiversity. So, obviously, you would not have just a monoculture, which is the reason why we have also so many different crops and have animals and and chickens because it really looks at the farm as an organism where each part contributes to keeping nature in balance in a way. And what's still also very different from organic agriculture where you can have, obviously, monocultures. Biodynamic agriculture, you don't look just at the crop and try and, and kind of pamper the crop, but you look at the whole system. So you try to keep the whole system in balance. And that way, the crops can take better care of themselves. It's a little bit like a human body, you know, if your immune system is really healthy, then whenever there's some kind of virus going around, you can defend yourself better. And it's the same in nature, you know, when the system is intact, then each plant and each crop can take better care of itself. And so that I think is a fundamental difference. There's very little actually aside from that that we can do in terms of methods. So, obviously, we do crop rotations, where we can in a vineyard and an olive broth. Obviously, that is not possible. We make our own compost. We use, hydrodynamic preparations, which the spray preparations we make ourselves. And that's basically it. So what we really we can prevent things. But once, for example, we do have a problem or a pest, then there's very little we can do. I mean, there's only the manual labor trying to to get rid of it, but what we learned over the decades is that even a pest or a virus like Pronospora in a certain amount actually is part of the ecosystem, and it actually does not harm, you know. It's only when it takes, it takes over that it becomes a problem. And and so I think what's really interesting in biodynamic or regenerative agriculture is that you really just try to get a feeling for your land and you try to listen to the land and be part of the land instead of just trying to fix a problem, you know, by, I don't know, spraying something or adding synthetic fertilizer, you really try to maintain a liveliness as a whole. I don't know if that makes sense. Yeah. No. That makes good sense, and it makes very good sense in the context of because this mixed farm, which you introduced us to at the beginning of this talk, now that entirely makes sense. The animals can help with natural fertilizers and the biodiversity that comes from so many different plants on the farm, all help to, to create this environment where the soil is good and the products are good. And not just the wines. I know Fatarilla Aviana has a very impressive range of wines, but you have an equally impressive range of food products. And I'd like to actually learn a little bit more about that because I know that you go from everything from pasta to different sauces and vegetables. Exactly. Yeah. I was gonna say, I mean, the the name factoria, which is farm. But actually in Italian means it's a self sustaining farm. And so that kind of gave the idea to try and and produce as many different products as possible. So we could release sustain ourselves. So, obviously, there's some things we can't produce like sugar, coffee, or salt, you know. But on a whole, we really it's really interesting. We can sustain a whole pretty sumptuous meal with all the products we make ourselves. And I think the reason being is that in the beginning, as you mentioned, when Fattoria LaViala started at the end of the seventies, I mean, organic agriculture really wasn't much accepted, and then biodynamic agriculture, even less. So it gave them also the instinct to say, okay. So nobody wants our things here in Italy. So how can we, you know, how can we conserve the things that we are making? Obviously, with the wine, you know, you harvest the grapes and you make wine, but then same with the olive oil, which is traditional, product in tuscany and Italy, but then also the vegetables and foods. And so we started making them into sauces and jams, the grains that we grow. Either we use them for them. We also have a lot of different cookies with our own bakery. And then, of course, the heart weed we use for making pasta. I think overall, the holistic aspect of it is also that the family pretty soon decided or together with actually because started more. Aviala started more as an Agriturismo in the beginning, where people came to stay with us. And as luck would have it, would be foreigners, so German, Dutch, British, and they would say, oh, we love this wine, we love this olive oil. We would love to have it, you know, at home. How could we have it at our house? And so the family, actually, in the beginning, would load up this, you know, they'd have a list of people that wanted certain things, and then they would hand deliver them, you know, to Germany, for example. And then later, as things were growing organically, and and the farm became more and more products were added, they actually decided to keep that part alive and not start working with distributors. And until today, actually, we really do farm to table in the sense that we only sell to the end consumer. So you cannot find Fattoria La Viola products in any kind of store or shop, but you can only order them online or obviously buy them in Tuscany, you know, botiga, but other than that, you cannot find them. And I I think that is really another really unique and amazing aspect because this way the value chain remains with the farm, and also the control of the quality remains with the farm. When customers have any kind of products, they talk to us. You know, they write us an email, and we can react immediately, whereas if you go through a distributor aside from the fact that there's added costs and there's a certain dependency or actually a big dependency, also at the end, you know, if your product then ends up in a store and it hasn't been cared for correctly. The distributor isn't gonna fix it, but it's your name that actually is being solid. Yes. Because maybe olive oil wasn't stored correctly. It was in the sun or in the heat, and now it's turned into not a high quality product, but then it's her name that's involved and not the distributor's name. So I think that that is really an important hard in terms of agriculture. I think it's a very important part. And that I think that, you know, to produce this quite extensive range of wines and a quite extensive range of food products, you need to have a way to get these to the market. And as you say, if you were producing and selling to wholesalers who then passed it on to others and then exported, it would be a a much different affair. But I think from a consumer's point of view, and I say this now because I am a regular customer of Laviana here in the UK. The products feel like they're coming direct from the farm to my table the way they're packaged in a very ecological way, the labels, and indeed the information that the stories that are behind the products makes it very satisfying. And and I happily endorse the products that I buy regularly from you. I think that what you're doing is fabulous. Thank you. You for the compliment. Listeners around Europe certainly and in the UK, especially because you have a hub here. Yes. It's okay. Which makes which makes it very, very easy to get the products, especially after the post Brexit Yes. Mess that we've had. Yeah. We had a big problem with Brexit, obviously, but, what saved us it. And we started doing it also, and that's actually because of the whole Amazon movement because before we only had a warehouse in Italy, and then we would fulfill it from there. But then, of course, that would take at least ten days, and people became more impatient. So we started adding warehouses. We have one in Germany and one in the UK, for example. Where we already send our things, you know, to the UK, for example, and then also all the taxes are paid and so forth. And then when people order, they order from our warehouse in the UK, and that's what makes it quite easy. You know, sometimes it happens that maybe a product is isn't in the warehouse and then would take then it does take longer. But this way, people actually don't have to pay any kind of taxes or customs. Yes. It's a it's a huge it's a huge benefit for those of us in the UK. We try to be really conscious of the way we do agriculture and and food processing in a way, but also mindful of our clients because we we literally look at them more as friends than actually, like, clients, where we do a business trans transaction with. I mean, we really want to transport this philosophy or maybe idea and feeling of la viola to a larger audience. You know. Of course. I would guess, Annette, the the best way to do that, and, unfortunately, I haven't been able to make it out to visit Fateriello Aviana yet, but I will come and visit you. But the best way to, for our listeners, who, as I say, are located all around the world and who traveled to Italy would be to come and actually see Faturiana Viana. You mentioned, what, hospitality at the beginning of our talk. Tell us about hospitality at Faturiana. So we have an agriculturalismo, which means that we have several farm houses that we painstakingly restored, but very traditionally that are sprawled out over the roughly thousand six hundred hectares, which is more or less four thousand acres, here at the hub in Tuscany. And so people can stay with us for a week. And then, you know, we offer, lunch and dinner, not every day, because we we also, in terms of our outreach tourism is open to the public only from usually the end of March to mid October. And then we close to the public. Obviously, we continue working, but we need that time just to focus, you know, on on, for example, Christmas in in the winter and then in the spring, just getting everything ready. And so in order to not start having seasonal workers, we we try to really look at, so this is how many people we can employ for the whole year. And so this means this is the services we can offer. So for example, we do offer lunch every day, but we only offer two dinners during the week for the and only solely for the house guests. Just because that is what we can manage with the staff we have for the full year. And then, for example, when we close the staff that's in the Adriturismo, the workers that deal with the public and with clients and speak different languages, they they come and, work in the offices. For example, the women that cook or clean their houses, they support the olive mill and the bottling of olive oil or the packaging of the gift chambers that we produce. And so everybody kind of has a multifaceted workplace. So, you know, you don't just have one job, but you continue moving around a little bit. But that way, we ensure that we don't, you know, hire people in March and then fire them more or less or have to let them go in October because they work fast. Okay. So it's about human sustainability as well and creating a work environment that, is good for everybody. Yeah. What about the visitors who come and stay in the agritonismo? Can they see how things are being done, the food production, or the wine? Yeah. So we have, we have a lot of day visitors, but also of course, the people that are staying with us in the houses. We basically have a transparent production area. So you can visit the wine cellar, obviously, we offer wine tastings there. You can visit the olive mill. You can visit the sauce, kitchens, and the bakery, and you can really see how and where everything is made, obviously, depending on the season. So if you come in, you know, in April, there is no olive oil production, but especially, so September, October, September for their, for the wine harvest. We also for the people that are staying with us, we also offer we usually do one day where they can help us in the vineyard and also harvest some wine. Or starting mid October for the olive harvest, and that's really also very interesting usually to people because a lot of times they, you know, we've been so removed from what it means to produce a kilo of tomatoes or a liter of olive oil, that it really gives people this idea of how much work it is, you know, to actually harvest the olives. For example, And a lot of times, you know, we usually time a day. Oh, yeah. We wanna work the whole day with a little bit of experience. We'll be too, usually, you know, it's like two hours of work and harvesting, and then we do a lunch. And Yes. Absolutely. That's probably enough for most people. But as you say, it's so important to see that, extra virgin olive oil really is such a pure product Yeah. When it's olives are milled the oil and the olive water are pressed. And then the first taste of the pure olive oil when it's so young. Yes. It's a special time. Yeah. It's my favorite time of the year I have to say. Because, I mean, obviously, also, the wine harvest is incredible. Badera. I mean, you can taste the must, but which is also very interesting, but it's not as exciting, you know, because the finished product, the actual wine. I mean, it just takes a little longer, whereas with the olive it's really immediate. And and the first new oil is it's called the new oil in Italy. It's just incredible in terms of color, roma, and and just, it's incredible. Yes. I did. It certainly is. And that you've taken me and all our listeners into the world of Fataria, Naviana this morning. It's been a real pleasure chatting to you again. We had a great conversation last year, but you've really filled in a lot more of the Naviana store. Sorry. So thank you so much for being my guest today. And Yeah. Thank you for having us again. And, yeah, I do hope maybe you'll come visit. Then that way, you can actually fill out even more of the La Yala story for yourself. Yes. I'd love to. And I hope our listeners will too. Yes. We hope you enjoyed today's episode of wine, food, and travel with me, Mark Millen, on Italian wine podcast. Please remember to like, share, and subscribe right here or wherever you get your pods. Likewise, you can visit us at italian wine podcast dot com. Until next time.