Ep. 2128 Cristina Genna of Colomba Bianca winery | Wine, Food & Travel With Marc Millon

This wine is made with old wines. In the nineteen sixty eight, there was a big earthquake in the area of, available beach, which destroyed everything. This land was completely abandoned. But the first thing after a few years that people decided to do to go back to that part of Sicily was to plant again their own vines. The return to this part of Sicily was possible to realize through the wines. Welcome to wine food and travel. With me, Mark Billen, 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 all 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 Millen, on Italian wine podcast. Today, I'm delighted to continue a special sub series that highlights the winners of the prestigious five star wines and wine without walls competition that took place in April just prior to Vinitale twenty twenty four. Those wines that scored more than ninety points were awarded certificates and have been included in the five star wines and wind without walls twenty twenty five book, while the very best wines in each category were singled out for special awards. Today, we traveled to Western Sicily to Mazara Delvalo in the province of Trapani to meet my guest, Christina Jena, who is the marketing manager of a large and important cooperative winery. Colomba Bianca, which won the wine without walls award for best organic red wine for its cecilia doc Nero Davala Vino Biologico Resilience two thousand and twenty two. Which earn ninety five points. It's a huge achievement. So many congratulations to you, Christina, and to all at Colomba Bianca. How are you today? Thank you, Mark. I'm very excited to have the chance to talk with you this morning, and I'm fine also because it's finally raining. So the air has cooled a little bit, and I can breathe. So I'm very well. Oh, good. I can imagine that after a very hot summer, that rain is very welcome. Yes. Absolutely. It was not as hot as last year. We had some issues with the rain, but the land is starting to streak a little bit of the game. It's raining. Okay. Yeah. Is it actually raining now? No. No. No. No. It's great. They're all, they're all nice, they're quite heavily. So Okay. Well, Christina, just to help our listeners who are located all around the world, I know that you have wineries in lots of different places. And we'll discuss that a bit later. Yeah. But can you describe where you are in Western Sicily in Marzaro Delvallo? It's a town. I I know. I've loved visiting there. I've loved going to see the dancing satiro, the satiro, this beautiful Greek sculpture discovered from the seabed. Yes. Tell us a little bit about where you are and about the wineries that you or the vineyards that you have in this part of Sicily. With great pleasure. Which is located on the west side of Chile as you said. And it's spread all around more than seven thousand acres of land. So, basically, we have the chance to be near the sea on the area of Marcellas, Mazara, also near Shrapani, and a little bit on the inside of the land, so on the hills and on the mountains. I can tell you, Mark, what I love about Colombia Bianca regarding the location, because being this spread, we have basically the chance to collect all the essence of Sicily from, the city, on the hills, on the mountains, and, you know, we can have all the different shadows of this amazing region on a glass of wine. And so, yes, seven thousand hectares of land, from the area of travel. Many are the cities where columbagiaca basically is is present. So let me eat, Sala de La Valo. It's a it's a big tree. Okay. And as you say, it is this mosaic of vineyards that allows a huge range of wines to be produced that that really reflect the contrast in Sicily between sea, between inland. Now we're in, as you say, western Sicily area that has been associated previously with the production of mara Marsala wine and a lot of the vineyards that I'm sure the growers who are members of the cooperative have would have in the past, may be sold those grapes to be turned into Marsala. Is that right? Masala is a forty five wine in which the name suggest is produced justin Marcella. We produce, basically, all the varieties, of grapes from Sicily. We are we have all the different kinds of varieties which we use to produce all kinds of wine, but not Marcela. Marcela is something that it's, not in the Columbia Yes. No. I understand that. But, what I'm saying is the cooperative has helped to transform this part of Sicily. Absolutely. That that previously may have been more concerned with production of Marcella. Now this range of outstanding table wines is being produced. Now, Colombia Bianca is also one of the largest organic wineries in Europe, and this is something that's been in place for more than thirty years. Tell us a little bit about organic and sustainable Viticulture. Yes. This is the year where when in the Columbus started its own activity. We started producing bad wine, as, if you consider the travel and governance growing since the one with the biggest amounts of fines of the oil in Europe. So, basically, wherever you go, you can see amazing deals covered or vines. Finally, on the eighties, to see and people understood the potential of our own grapes and we started battling it. So we started this operation to to give value to our own our own product. In the same time, we had some leadership of which wasn't live, basically, because, already on the ninth, we understood that in season, we had the chance to basically produce organic wines. Very easy. We hear the land blessed by you. The boss in here that can be our president says that cc is blessed by god, because it's very easy basically to obtain great wines already from the client. So there's not the need to interfere too much with the production. Your planet, paradigm of production, it's easy to keep and it's something that needs our way of action. It's it's our mission, it's our value to be sustainable to respect the land that this idea of sustainability, and the respect is reflected not just, into the way we produce the wine, but also on the way we we deal with our farmers. Basically, is a priority. So it means that it doesn't belong to any private owner. It's, it's composed by more than three thousand people. So it's basically a three thousand family, which make this this binary something big. For us, its mission is something very pleasant to to to give our energy to create wealth on the territory. So why I'm saying that going back to the sustainability and to the respect of all the elements that come from the people's, this part of, of land. We basically work with the aim that our farmer received the right compensation for the work. So this, wave action acts at the beginning. It was a sincere agriculture and to the wines which express, a best of our territory. So it's an idea of sustainability that goes from the environment to the treatment of people, and we try to to respect all the variables that are behind the living culture from the land to the people which are the heroes behind every battle of wine. So this is our way of work with our idea behind every single speech of wine inside a glass. Okay. That's a beautiful way to really describe this cooperative ideal and cooperative mission. A cooperative made up of three thousand members and working together and the aim being to produce sustainable and excellent wines, but also to make sure that the members themselves receive fair prices and can make good living as well, rather than a company that's just driven by profit. Yeah. Exactly. And we believe that organic is the it's not just the future. It's already the presence of cecilent wines. At the moment, the organic production is the twenty five percent of the total production of Colombiana, of course, our APIs to make these numbers biggest possible. It's a little complicated, tough because of the, you know, the climate conditions. It's a challenge for us. But CCian people has shown to be resilient over the time. We take the challenges and slowly slowly, we try to find solutions. There are many challenges on the productions of I imagine soon. I think one of those challenges must be the extreme temperatures that have been coming through climate change. Have the growers and has the cooperative found that the sustainable and organic methods of farming actually help in the more extreme conditions. Well, Mark, CCium weather has always been very hot. Of course, lately, we are recording some increase in the temperature, but most of our varieties see the green log, the Colorado develop on their own BNA, then some strength that allow them to be strong, also when that there is sound like the order and the little bit of, and and also the the hot weather. Of course, we need to monitor the changing on the land, and that's the reason why Colombia started a collaboration with the University of Palermo from already twelve years where there is a team of, students and professors and also technicians that go on the land and check. Keep on the, very focused eye on all the changes of the land. And together with the university, we are studying some solutions to deal with already the present challenges and especially the future ones. It's a process that it's already on. So we need to stay very careful and us, and not not to be to follow the the the destinies. You know, people in the past that, you know, we followed our own debt. Then, you know, now it's time to work to to study and find solutions. And that's what we are doing, not along, but together with people who are masters in bed. Okay. That's really, really interesting to hear. Now Christina, let's turn to some of the wines at, Columbia Bianca produces, in a minute we'll focus, we'll shine a spotlight on your award winning wine, the best organic red wine, but introduce us to a few of your flagship wines. Some of the wines that our listeners might be able to find wines that are available internationally, wherever in the world they might be. Yes. We started, just to be in present on the Italian. Actually, at first, just on the Cecilia market, Then, the Italian market was, something was very appealing and answered well to our goals. Now, Colombia Bianca is present worldwide. We are in the US. So we are in South America and Mexico. We are in Chile. We are in Brazil. Europe. Oh my god. We have so much fun. Yeah. Expert department because we we are basically in a the whole countries of, the European Union. And this gives us the chance to talk about the sicily more to make people dream about this place. Our idea of, the sea of wine is basically when you drink a glass of wine, you can, you can, travel, standstill, and, just having the confused of the land in San Diego. So we go in, Bulgaria, Portugal, we go on the North countries, and we keep these days of Sicily. We are also on the Asian parts of Japan. We started recently with the Chinese market, and we will be complicated. But, you know, we have a strong female MB expert department. So we're trying to listen to to be there. We are willing to take more challenges and spread even more. At the moment, yes, our main one is the European market. Okay. Well, just introduce our listeners to some of your flagship wines. Not yet the award winning one. We'll come to that in a minute, but just a a brief introduction that gives our listeners a flavor of your wines from Colombia Bianca. That's like I know it's a big I know it's a big ring. So yeah. No. No. But as I if I can, if you allow me before I say something more, I'll invite the people to go in our web where you can see all the different varieties we have. But, of course, we have our top ten varieties such as Treilo, katabakhdov. We have and also international wine. So we have, a wine that are grown near the sea so you can feel the touch of the sea that gives this minerality, this is a safety on the nose. We have the strong and elegant wines from the mountains, from Salais, from different areas. It really depends from the desire that you have. But we have steel wines, so we have wide refreshing our DB but, I mean, I'm a big fan of them to be more so. And, you know, those perfumes of of flowers that you can have very strong in the glass, you can have with this variety. We have also sparkling wines, the project here, the sparkling wines started quite recently. We saw that the trends of, sparkling consumers was increasing, and we tried to to to create some of our product. And that's when we started to start with that LaVie line, which is our sparkly. We also have classic method. This one, really. You can whatever you wanna drink, and you can find them back on over bianca's portfolio. Okay. So it is a big portfolio. Well, let's now shine that spotlight on your award winning best organic red wine, your neto davela Vino biological. Yes. The the the resilience. The resilience. Already from the name, I think you can have a hint about what is what it's about, Rosie. And, basically, this line was a project that started already in the seventies, nineteen seventies. If you consider that this wine is made with old wines, in the nineteen sixty eight, there was a big earthquake in the area of, a valid village which destroyed everything. This land was completely abandoned. But the first thing after a few years that people decided to do to go back to that part of Sisi was to plant again their own vines. So So the return to this to this part of land or to this part of Sicily was possible to realize through the wines. The resilience is the result of that process. It's made with old wines, which are more than thirty years old. And, so this is the the reason behind strong name, resili again. It's an elegant, it's a long lasting, existing wine, and it's, that'll stabilize the ambassador is the king of the red varieties of the region. So wine basically, as I said, that embrace the value of resilience, it's a silky when you you have a glass of it, you can have this bouquet of paneer, red, very sensory sense, mixed with existing notes of coffee and papua. So basically, it's a complex wine on your nose, and when you taste it, you feel the silkiness on your mouth. It's a very great expression of arrogance and strength of of this region. That's a very good description. And I think our listeners will probably be familiar with the grape, Nero Davala, and sicilian examples. But what's interesting I think about Nano Davala is that it's a grape that really does reflect terroir and the styles and character of different Nano Davala from across Sicily can vary from lighter to really dense and heavier wines to more elegant expressions as you've described. What is the terrain in this Valeti Bellachi like? What is the vineyard area? The terroir? Well, here, over from the altitude, we are from one hundred to three hundred meters of the CLLs and the soil is choppy. Okay. So we are far from the influence of the sea here. We have more compact and more mature, more elegant. As I said, they'll double it. Yeah. Absolutely. It's present all around the region. And whatever you plan, it it will be just few kilometers of system that you can have a different personality of, one. You can have the easy drinking. You can also have this partner version so, you know, that young man, very joyful here, the idea that we want to express here also following you that the story that the the philosophy of this resilience line is perhaps something strong or something that makes your mouth look like full of pleasure that gives you a full taste of all the of the features of the right. So you can have here the Freud Express at its own best. As I said, easily, basically, it's a coincidence. So if you plan the very. Just take care of it as far as a completed completely different personality of the training product. Here, we want to have strength. And also this name resilience, reflecting the resilience of the people themselves, the wine growers, the people that returned to this area after that devastating earthquake. I've read about the earthquake. I think entire villages were destroyed. Is that right? Exactly. Yeah. And so this return to the land this return to finding a way to make a living through wine is very important to the story of this wine. Exactly. Basically, in a political point of view, we can say that everything was born again and starting from the the vines. And so, and I I really love the idea that wine is what each this part of land, again, it's on second life. Starting with the wine, but now, arc as well. There are very nice, art decibel sites. We're there in La Valle del Beliche, which, to all of you who are listening to me if you're planning to come specifically, don't forget to visit La Valle del Beliche, just a place that tells you about the history about also the personality of, but, desistium people, desistium story. It's a very nice place. Okay. That's very important. And, it's somewhere I haven't been. I've been to Western City many times. But I haven't been there and I will try to visit on my next trip. Christina, can we turn now to the gastronomy of western Sicily? I think sicilian food is one of the most delicious of all of Italy wonderful regional cuisines. Can you share with us a few of your favorite foods and tell us the columba bianca wines that pair with them? Of course, I want to know about that wonderful gamba rosso from I'm already hungry this morning, but I could leave some cuscoaster at the moment. C c is a continent again, and not just in terms of why it's an action, but also in terms of it's with the offer. If you go on the east side, you have more than influence of, the Greek cuisine. I can tell you something about here, the west side where we had the influence of the arabic cuisine. Many people in the history past five years, and they left us a very rich heritage. But we don't have got to see a cuisine. I'm thinking about Argentina. I'm thinking about which is this eggplant meal. Everything is fried. We we can fry something with fried. And, but if we are thinking about the resilience What I'm keeping in mind is this parmigiana, which is, a little bit, fat and fried, a meal, but with the time, you know, the merdabola, we have the chance to, you know, really fun to take all sensation of the man on the mouth and to have that a great experience that Oh, that sounds so delicious, Christina. And I'm imagining it with that beautiful expression of Now with that gamborroso, how would you eat the Gamorroso, and what would you drink with it? This special gamborroso, the red prawn. It is only really caught around mozzarella. Is that right? Yes. The to the chef and to, especially this this city where you're gonna find the best bread from the best of the old country. And allow me to say it's true. Whenever I go to my lunch break outside, I'm already very enthusiastic to try this kind of taste. The terminal roster, you can have it by itself, of course, with just a little bit of lemons and oil grow. But what I love is to have it in the which is a very old and, identitari meal of the of this part of Sicily from the arabic heritage, which perfectly paired with the Grillo. Grillo is in our portfolio. You can find Grillo, many different shadows, the Grillo Resilience branch of of the Grillo, this kind of expression. It's perfectly paired with the two schools, which is also an important kind of meal. Grillo Resilience and pusco's with red ground and other fishes is something that you will not forget. Those are two wonderful foods that I think are listeners if they find themselves in western Sicily must try and try to find with your wines That's a great suggestion. Christina, finally, can we turn to wine hospitality? Does Colombia have facilities for welcoming visitors? Unfortunately, at the moment, No. But we are already planning to do that. We are working with architects and, many different professionals to have this kind of service. What we do if a group of people wants to come to Columbia and stay with Malaysia. Of course, we welcome them with some coffee first because we have so many things to speak. But together, we can go to see the countryside to see with our own eyes of the different influences. We can see the sea near us, or we can go to the a little bit on the mountain to see how the landscape is covered by this should leave so special. That should let what we see to the land, to the to the hills of the mountains. We don't organize by a few reason at the moment, but as I said, we are in the process to do that. So it's a project for the future. Absolutely. Yes. But they can conduct me. I can give them suggestions about where to drink a local, and, which food do they can have it that have some special desire. Okay. That's good to know. And generally, if people are in Marzara Delvallo, there are many things that one can do from here. I have already mentioned one of the most beautiful statues in the world that was discovered by fishermen in Mazara Delvallo, this Satiro. Tell us a little bit about that. It was, a discovery, which was all planned, which, of course, but in Windsor, when you go to Missouri, the city center, you have the feeling that you are in some Arabic city, check on Dental Line. You will see that the churches, they remind you of some mosque. There is this architecture that is really resembling with the Arabic part of the world. Which is very fascinating because if you move just a little bit far, you will see the temples. So the Greek influences, really, one Life is not enough to visit this amazing region. And, wherever you go, you could see something No one has to to listen to a smart just between you and me, but the best ice cream is in Matarra delgado. Oh, is that right? Can you name the best? I can tell you my actually, no. You know what I'm gonna tell you. If you go to the seaside, there is a special one. It's the only one. You go to the seaside of Matilda, the you will see this place, which my god has, like, forty kind of different ice creams. You will stay there spend the whole day, and you will say, Christina was right. That's the best I just moved my head. Well, that sounds unmissable. Lungomare. Okay. Next time, I will try to hunt that out. Christina, it's been a real pleasure speaking to you this morning. We've covered a lot You've explained the the Coloma Bianca story, the mosaic of vineyards that are worked by three thousand members of the cooperative over seven thousand hectares. It's very large. Much of it organic. The range of wines, especially focusing on the Grillo to go with the cuscoos, this Arab influenced wonderful fish cuscoos from, western Sicily and of course had parmigiana with the Nero Davala resilience. So you've made us all very hungry this morning. Good. That's one of my inventions. I really enjoyed our conversation, and I wish you well for the rest of the is a harvest over now? Yes. It's over. We finished it a little bit earlier this year. Jenny speaking. Soon on the Aetna, people will do their own August for this year. We are in our portfolio to Aetna wines as well. We are trying this experiment and over there, it's gonna start in the last week of September and the first October. That's French of time. Okay. And, yes, Marcus, but can we share with one sentence, sent by Gerta. Certainly. Gerta, when he came to Italy for his own trip, he said. To have seen Italy without having since Italy is not to have seen Italy at all. And Sicily is the clue to everything. So book your ticket comes easily and drink all the different varieties we can have here. Well, that's a wonderful conclusion to our conversation. Thank you so much, Christine Nathan. I look forward to meeting you sometime soon. 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 Italianwine podcast dot com. Until next time.