Ep. 2136 Martina Molino of Mauro Molino winery | Wine, Food & Travel With Marc Millon

Barolo today, it's considered one of the greatest wines in the world. But in the eighties, that reputation had not yet been established. Your dad was one of the pioneers. Would you say? Yeah. For sure. Exactly. And, thanks Mark for sharing that. In fact, like, the history of the barolo area. I've changed so much in the last years and very rapidly. In fact, when I'm listening to the story that my father shared with me, it seems to be like in another word in the eighties. Fascinating people with stories to share, fabulous wines, and the best local foods to accompany them, and beautiful places to discover and visit. All of this and more on wine food and travel with me, Mark Millen, on the Italian wine podcast. Join me for a new episode every Tuesday. Welcome to wine food and travel with me, Mark Millen, on Italian wine podcast. Today, I'm delighted to continue our special sub series that highlights the winners of the prestigious five star wines and wines without walls competition that took place in April just prior to Vin Italy twenty twenty four. Those wines that scored more than ninety points were awarded certificates and have been included in the five star wines and wines without walls twenty twenty five book, which is now available. While the very best wines in each category were singled out for special awards, So today, I'm delighted to travel to Piedman's Leilangue to the heart of the Barolla wine hills of La Mora to meet my guest Martinez of the Maro Molino winery which received a hugely impressive five star special award for best red wine for its Barolo Conka DOCG twenty twenty. Many congratulations, Martina to you and to your family, and thanks for being my guest today. I know this is a hugely busy time of year for you. An exciting moment of the year as the grapes are coming in. How are you today? And is it a beautiful autumn day in La Mora? Hi, Mark. Yeah. It's a it's a great pleasure for me to be here. And today is a great day in La Mora. So we are in the busy time of harvest, but the sun is shining. So finger crossed. Oh, that's good to hear. That's really good to hear. And I'm imagining it have been to the Barolo winehills many, many times. But not all of our listeners have. They're located all over the world and many may not have been to Leilenge. So it's a beautiful area. Can you please describe to us where you are, what it's like, what it looks like, and You know, what's happening right now? Yeah. Sure. So actually, our winery is located in the northwestern corner of Italy, specifically in Piedmont. So, Piedmont means, at the foot of the mountains, because we are actually located between the Alps and the Japanese. This is definitely one of the most famous region in the world for making top quality wines. Our region looks like a very hilly area with some mountains in the background, which is definitely a gray area vocative for the beauty culture. In fact, the specific microclimate that is, given by the chain of the apps that protected us from the cold wind and also the mild current of the liguriancy makes this area very unique in terms of microclimate. We can actually say that our area can be divided in two big macro area, which are language and row arrow. This area, lung and row arrow are divided by a river, which is called tunnel river. The language is very well known for making nebbiolo, which is definitely the king of the of the wine. While in the roero, we can find other octopus varieties such as the roeronase, for example. Our family state though is based in La Mora. La Mora, you have to imagine it as a very tiny village of only two thousand and seven hundred abutons. And La Mora is looking like a rolling hill area all over. So we are basically, so merged by, vineyards. Also, Lamora, it's been awarded, like, in two thousand and fourteen, with the UNESCO World heritage site. For the beautiful landscape of this area and also for the fact that we produce some lovely and amazing wines. So I would say that the language is not only recognized just for the wine production, but also for the amazing food and the cultural environment of our area. Okay. So that's a really, really great description, Martina. And also I'm glad that you've placed Lelangue and the Biola winehills within this northwestern Italy with the Alps ringing the area. And I'm just imagining looking out to Monviso, is there snow on the mountains yet? Actually, in the last days, we get some snow. Yeah. Because we had a cool, a cool climber like weather, and we can see some snow in the Alps. Okay. So it's a really, really beautiful wine land. And La Mora is one of eleven communes that are entitled to produce this famous wine, Barolo. What is it about La Mora that is quite unique? La Mora is very unique in my opinion because compare to other municipality into the Barolo area, you have to consider La Mora as the largest one. So, it's very nice the the landscape of La Mora because if you go up to the top of the hill of La Mora, You have a very, very high elevation. But, for example, if you go down to La Mora where we are located in the Annumseata area, the elevation is much lower. So, as a winery, we are very fortunate to have the majority of our vineyard in the La Mora area specifically for the wine of production of Barolo because the wine can be so different in style due to the fact that La Mora have so many different microclimate within the municipality of the commune. Okay. So that's really interesting as well. The complexity of the terroir even within one of the eleven communes of Morolo. Now, Martina, let's begin with your family story. Your family have been wine gurus in this area for generations, but the story of your family winery begins with your father Mowdle. Can you share with us your family story? Of course. Yeah. So, Maro Molino, first of all, is a family owned winery, who's the adventure began with my father, Maro, in the nineteen eighty two. My father dedicated us several years to the study of the analogy and agronomy. Before starting to produce his first label Barolo Konga in nineteen eighty two. We are very proud of living in the municipality of La Mora, which is in the heart of the Barolo production. As well our winery own twenty actors, which is very important to us. All our vineyards are in our end since many generation, as you mentioned. And out of that, we make roughly hundred and sixty thousand bottles per year. What is very special about us is that every decision is a shared at a family level, with a very artisanal attention to every detail from the production to the sale. Today, we are actually living under the second generation with me and my brother Matteo that we have started to join the company in the early two thousand. What is very special to us is that with being the second generation, We are very dynamic, but at the same time, very linked to the tradition of our terroir. And this is a very positive environment. In fact, today at Maro Molino, we are a team of ten people that are very passionate about the work that they do, and they like to share ideas and contribute to the growth of our company in a very, positive and a way. Our wines actually, we can say that the production of them is based on four pillars that are very important to us. So we believe a lot in the unique terroir of La Mora. And the the fact that La Mora gives very, like, gentle and aromatic and elegant style of, wine, which is very important to us. The second thing is that, we are really ambitious as a winemaker. So our aim is to produce every year the best wine. So the quality constancy for us is very important. The third thing we just touched before is the importance of exalt the terwar of our area. And that's the reason why we are producing so many single vineer of Barolo because every piece of land makes very unique type of wine. And last, but not least, we are very involved in the sustainability into our vineyards. Since the beginning, my father, when he started in the early eighties, he started right away with using the loot resume system, the integrate pest management. Right now, with the second generation, me and my brother, we even invest more in that we are using, in fact, methods such as the cover crops in all our vineyards that are very, very important, special nowadays with the global warming and change of the weather. Okay. That's a really, really good overview of of the family company and of how it's evolved into the second generation. What I'm finding really interesting, Martina, is that the first wine that your father really put his faith into was the and that this is the wine still produced today that this year at five star wines won the award for the best red wine. And that was the best red wine from all the wines in Italy that were sampled. So it's really a testament to the faith that your father had. Barolo today, it's considered one of the greatest wines in the world. But in the eighties, that reputation had not yet been established. Your dad was one of the pioneers. Would you say? Yeah. For sure. Exactly. And, thanks Mark for sharing that. In fact, like, the history of the barolo area. I've changed so much in the last years and very rapidly. In fact, when I'm listening to the story that my father shared with me, it seems to be like in another world in the eighties. So not many like producer or people believed in the potential of, of our area and its own tour. And it was definitely one of the pioneer in being resilient and staying here in, in our region. To start in producing wine. So that was not something to take for grinding for sure. And, like, getting the satisfaction on have, like, this important award on the barolo concha was really something, important to us. Okay. And I'm interested too that I think both your father, as well as you and your brother went to the squala Enologica in Alba. Is that right? Correct. Yeah. We actually all three attended at the same school. And sometimes we share the many teachers as well. So we have basically the same same background. But then we have also choose, which is nice for being a family winery to, like, have some separate throws into our winery. So which is very important, I think. Okay. How do you divide between you and your brother then? So, actually, my brother Matteo is right now in charge a hundred percent for the winemaking for the production. And I actually do more the commercial and marketing part. But, like, being in a family business and level, so we share every time ideas, but we try to keep those two worlds separate. Okay. That seems a very good division, but I'm still imagining you and your family sitting around the kitchen table and making those decisions because it's still very much a family business. Isn't it? Absolutely. Ah, yes. And you gave a great picture of that. So, I mean, all the decision are usually taken with seating on a table with some very good food on the table and a glass of wine. So, yeah, very much I'm looking forward to hearing more about that food in just a little bit. But, first of all, let's just talk about your wines. Now before we move into discussing the king of grapes, in Nebula, this magnificent grape, Let's just talk about maybe just a few of the other classic grapes producing wines. Now you already mentioned a white grape, the our nace from Waiello. So maybe begin with that and just touch on Dolceto and Barbera because they're so important to the soul of the area as well. Aren't they? Absolutely. Yeah. So in fact, I mean, our area sometimes is, more recognized, definitely for Nebula, but the other grapes are so important in fact for, for our area as well. Because it gives a better sense of, also how many different varieties and, how talk to us variety we have in our region. Talking about the white. We do have the Roy Arnese. Roy Arnese is actually the only, like, local white wine variety produced in a, in our area, specifically in the Royal area. So as I said before, rural is a little bit more north compared to the lung on the left bench of the Tana River. And the rural nasal is considering for us, like, great wine for aperitivo, for example, because it's a very fresh and very easy drinking style of variety. But, with a very, like, special character in his own character, which is being to, to be grown more in a sandy soil, type that makes this wine very nice in terms of, aromaticity, much more like flowering notes and gentle aftertaste, sort of a very mineral aftertaste. That basically makes this wine goes very well with many type of appetizer, for example. Talking about the red wines, you mentioned two of the most important variety of our area. The first one is called Dolce. Dolcshedo is actually a grape that, have a sort sort of a done the history of our area, especially like in the fifty, sixty, and seventy. Because you have to imagine that back in those days, Dolcshedo was even more recognized than the Nebula grape. So it was really, the local variety for our area. I remember perfectly that for example, my grandfather used to drink Dolceto every day. So it was really like the everyday drinking wine. And, what is characterizing Dolceto is the fact that it's very, like, juicy, very, like, fresh, like cherries, red fruits, notes, in the nose, but in the palate gets very nice structure because Dolcektor gets quite a bit of tending as well. And, our winery produced also Dolcektor in the village of variliano, which is very close to Doliani. So some of the best area from where the dolce is produced. The second red wine grape is the barbera. Barbera is, again, a very popular variety. Especially the barbera had started to have a bright future, like, in the beginning of the nineties. In fact, my father when he started to produce wine, he started right away with Nebula but afterwards in nineteen ninety with barbera. Barbera to me, it's a such a great grape because it's so diverse compared to the nebulo variety. You can see that immediately from the color. So barbera tend to be much more like dark, purplish color compared to nebulo. And you have, these, like, cherries, red fruits, notes, and some spiciness in the in the nose. And the palate is really outstanding because in Barbara, you don't get any tanning. So it's very smooth and extremely around. Okay. That's a great overview of three very important varieties that I think our listeners need to be acquainted with. We think of the barolo winehills, of course, for the great Nebula wines. But these are such an essential part of life in your area. And as you've mentioned as well, they're so important with the wonderful cuisine of the area. I'm thinking of that more higher acidity in the barbata that makes it such a wonderful food wine. Definitely. It goes basically with everything, but bear eyes. It's very easy to pair it with many type of foods from the Pemontees cuisine, but from all over the world. Yes. Absolutely. Let's now turn to this great, great variety Nebula, and you've already mentioned that it's a variety depending on terror, a very expressive of the personality of both the winemaker, the decisions your brother and you are making of terms of the style of wines, but also, very linked to terroir. I know, for example, that that you're making five different borollos. Is that right? A straight borollos and four single vineyards? Correct. Yeah. We are making five different borollos, and the the peculiarity of our winery is that all our barollos are coming from the Lamora area. So we are really like, a Lamora is a producer, so extremely linked to this, municipality. And, that's very unique also because explain perfectly how we think, like, a very small municipality, we can make completely different style of barollos. And that's really our aim. That's why we are making five barollos in a very small and limited quantity. But this way we can really appreciate it. Water Wars means to our region. Because, you are right, Sonobello is such a special grape, but what makes also Nebula even more special is the diversity that this variety can get from one to the other. And when we are talking about those vineyards, we are talking about vineyards that are very close to each other. That's really, really extraordinary, especially all of the wines coming from La Mora. Now with the straight barolo that you produce, would that be as barolo used to be made much more in the past? Would that be a blending of the Nebula grapes from these vineyards in order to craft a style of Maro Molino Barolo that you're looking to make, and each of the other ones will have a more distinct personality based on the specific terroir of that site? Absolutely. That's absolutely right. So our classic barolo is made more like, in a in a classic way, yeah, which means that is coming from different vineyards that are blended together. In our specific case, the classic Barolo is coming from three different vineyards. That are called Anunciata Anunciata is a very historical crew in the La Mora area in the lower part of La Mora. The second vineyard that we are using is called Berry. Berry is in the upper part of La Mora. So it's one of the higher, point where we can produce Barolo. This is very, important to have this vineyard in the classic Barolo because, makes the great, aromatic profile more as a balsam notes, like, alkalipton mints. While the third vineyard is actually the only one that we have outside of the La Mora municipality in and it's called and it's about the thirty percent of the total. Having little bit of perna vineyard into this wine helps a lot the complexity because, Monte is known for giving more like, full bodied style of barolo. So it's a good mix between the elegance of La Mora and little bit more of complexity Okay. That's that's really interesting to hear how each area has a different expression of Nebula in order to arrive at your classic style. Now just briefly then, if we look at the single vineyards and then more in-depth at the concha, tell us about these vineyards and the single vineyard but only that you are making. What they offer to the consumer? The single vineyard Barolo that we are making are actually for for a different one, and they are very diverse in terms of style and also characteristics that they have to offer to the consumer. The first, single winner is called Gallinoto. Gallinoto is in the higher part of La More within the crew of Berry. And again, the elevation and the fact that this area doesn't get any protection from the surrounding hills. So kind of the sort of the breeze from the mountain heat the vineyard itself make this barolo extremely expressive in terms of nose and aromatic profile. So Galinoto, in my opinion is just a perfect barolo for, like, maybe people that are quite beginner into this wine because it makes a very, like, gentle expression in terms of aromaticity and tiny component. The second bauvina that we have is called Briculuchani. With Briculuchani, we are back in the lower part of La Mora in front of our winery. Briculuchani was basically part of the property since the beginning. When my grandfather bought the estate in the early fifties, Briculuchani was already part of it, and he repented in nineteen seventy one. With Briculuchani, we are a completely different profile. We have a barolo that have much more like, flowering, like dry flowering notes, and also the attending component is a little bit more rich compared to Gallinoto. But at the same time, the tending are very silky and soft. To me, Berculuchani is a great expression of a bottle from La Mora area. You have also to think that on Berculuchani, we make only four thousand and four hundred bottles produced per year. So very small production. The third vineyard is called La Sarah. La Sarah is one of the most famous single vineyard within the Barolo area and is back in the higher part of La Mora, very close to Berry. But, in this area of La Sarah, the vineyard is surrounded by the other fields that create much more a protected microclimate. So warmer microclimate. La Sarah, to me, is definitely more austere type of barolo, probably a barolo that needs a little bit more time compared to the others that I just explained. And on La Sarah, we make only two thousand and seven hundred bottles per year. And the last one is actually the flagship of our winery, which is called Conka. So Barolo Conka is actually the reason why my grandfather moved from the Mont Ferato area to La Mora in nineteen fifty three. So that proves how important this vineyard was already back in the days. And that is also, the first wine that my father started to make in nineteen eighty two. And again, that proves how, this wine is really the wine of our heart. What is characterized in Conka is the beautiful shape of the vineyard that is shaped as a natural amphitheater. In fact, Conka is very well protected from the cold currents. And also the microclimate in conquer is a little bit warmer, but at the same time is very well mitigated by the soil of La Mora, which is very calcareous soil with little bit of sand. And, like, the results, it's really, like, magic. So in my opinion, Congo is really a noble type of, of Barolo. And the production is three thousand bottles per year. So very small as well. Okay. That is a brilliant master class in understanding terroir in Burroli. If you really explain that very clearly and well, and also how precise these areas are, how very small they are. We're talking about tiny quantities of single vineyard borollos. And I think it's very important for our our listeners to begin to understand the importance of crew, the importance of the MGAs because this is a relatively new development. I can remember meeting Renato Rati in London Seattle many, many, many years ago before the official MGA had been created, but I remember a beautiful map that he drew naming the vineyards. So the history of the area has always recognized the importance of Taiwan. And obviously, your grandfather did too when he decided to come to La Conka. And that faith is certainly shown in the fact that this flagship wine is winning such important awards. Martina, you've talked about your wines beautifully, but I know from experience in your area that your wines really are wines that are best enjoyed with food. Would you say that's right? And I do also think that Leilenge, out of all of Italy's many, many, many beautiful wine regions from north to south. The cuisine of where you are is one of the richest and most delicious. Can we talk about food a little bit and about maybe just a handful of classic dishes that you think are essential for our listeners to taste and experience what wines pair best with them, not too much because we don't have a lot of time left, but just to give a flavor of your area. Yeah. So, our area is definitely very rich in terms of cuisine especially because there are so many different types of food that are actually a great pairing with the wines that we produce. It's actually what I would like to say that, is is very rare to find a place where you don't don't have a good food. So everywhere here in the area, where you can eat, the food is really outstanding. And what are actually the the most, representative dish of our area, I would say for sure during this time of the year, we are starting to enter into the truffle season, which is one of the, like, top, type of ingredients, in our area that match very well with, our Barolo wines. But apart of that, we are very, well known for the production of cheeses. Some of the best, cheeses in Italy are, in fact, produced in Kemonte. One of the most representative cheese of the area is called Castell manio, which is produced in fact in the Castell Manuel area. Talking about the other foods, what is very rich, our gastronomy is many type of appetizer. One of my favorite is actually called which is actually a veal that is served chilled with a sauce on the top of it, which is made out of peppers and anchovies. Talking about the pasta, two food that everyone should try when traveling too long are definitely tiring. Thairin is a thin egg based pasta that is often served with the ragu sauce or either with butter and sage. The second most iconic pasta dish is called annual o t del plin. Which is a small pasta filled with a mixture of roasted meats and vegetables and served with sage and butter as well. And the last, but not least, also the meat is very good here. In fact, we have Octonie's beef, which are called the from where we serve many traditional dishes such as the which is very typical of and, even more the famous bravo which is actually a braised deal with the barolo wine. So those are some of the most important dishes in our area. Well, that's you've made us all very hungry with that Cryption. And I'm glad you've mentioned, the importance of cheese is so many wonderful cheeses from from Pemonte. I've been up to Castel Manuel and seen the Castel Manuel, an historic cheese made for centuries in the mountains with aging in very old caves as well. So the cheeses are certainly something to explore and pair extremely well with the wines of the region. So lots for our listeners to try when they find themselves in Le langue. Finally, Martina, can you tell us a little bit about wine hospitality at Maro Molino? Can our listeners visit you? Yeah. So, actually, wine hospitalities coming very important, for for our winery. Specifically after the pandemic, we got the chance to build a new place where we can actually host our guests. So it's absolutely doable. And, it's something that I highly suggest because you can really, experience, our wines and actually touch from where they are produced. So it's definitely something important to our winery. Okay. So our listeners could get in touch with you and make an appointment if they were able to visit. Yeah. Absolutely. It's it's doable either by phone or on the website. You can book also the visit. Okay. That's great. Well, I'm sure you've made many want to come and find you because you've described your area so well. I know it's a busy time. I know the grapes are coming in this morning while the sun is shining. You've had some wet weather, but it's important to bring those grapes in in the good weather. It's a barbera coming in now. Is that correct? Correct. Yeah. Yes. We just finished with barbera, and we will start with the nebbiolo for long nebbiolo. Okay. Great. Well, in Boca Lupo for the Vendaemia, and I hope that, you have a another great year. I look forward to visiting, and I'm sure my listeners do too. So thank you very much for being our guest today. Thank you so much, Mark, and creepy loop. So we are waiting for you here in Vermont. Okay. We hope today's episode of wine food and travel with me, Mark Millen, on the Italian wine podcast, has transported you to somewhere special. Please remember to like, share, and subscribe wherever you get your pods. Likewise, you can visit us at italian wine podcast dot com. Until next time, Chinchin.