Ep. 2143 Vito Senatore of Senatore Vini | Wine, Food & Travel With Marc Millon

A really delicious regional cuisine, a cuisine, with real character and fire and spice on flavors that pair well with your wines. Can you tell us some of the really typical dishes that when you've been traveling and you come home, what do you want to eat and what are the wines that pair best with them? 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 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 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, where the very best wines in each category were singled out for special awards. Today, we traveled to Calabria, to the deep south, the inset of the Italian boot, overlooking the beautiful ionian sea to a wine zone that is among the most ancient in Italy, the most ancient, perhaps in the world, where wines have been made for over two and a half thousand years. I guess today is veto Senator, of his family winery, senator Evini. And the five star wines competition, for which I was one of the judges this year, senator Evini's ciro, d o p Rosato, vino biological Puological twenty twenty three won the award for the best organic Rosay wine. I recall tasting many outstanding organic Rosato wines in the competition. To be judged as the best is a great achievement. Many, congratulations veto to you and your family, and many thanks for being my guest. Is it a beautiful day in Jiro? Thank you, Mark. Thanks for the invitation. For me, it's a really a pleasure. Yes. Today's a beautiful, a beautiful day. And, I'm excited to, to explain you, our reason and our why. Great. Well, first of all, the so I'm going to invite you to take us to Chiro to Chiro Marina, to Chiro itself. Take us to Calabrio where you are because our our listeners are located all around the world. And I really liked them to gain an impression of this special historic place. Yes. Chiro is a really ancient, place. I think that, we produce wine from over than a two thousand over a year here. And our guyopo, the red the grape, is very famous because the legend, say, yes, that, was that the wine given to the, olympianic, not unique, the binaigrecha, on period. I think that I wanna, wanry, our our sale lab, our study is a a beautiful structure, Nestle among the baniards. And is from one kilometers away from the sea and as the crow five and about one kilometer to end up from the movement. So we are in the middle in a very bare circular territory. And in, in our case, the the the ones that are the structural face, the, you know, looking at the famous, the future light hours, from which our rosette takes it, its name. Okay. That's a good image, a visual image, which had, I think the site of a Greek temple. Is that right? Yes. It is, a very accidental lighthouse. A lighthouse. Okay. Yes. You can continue with, it's over three thousand a years old. Okay. And in the past where they had the note to Google Maps. And also they managed it by by this, nautical call, you know, the the lighthouse. And the the history tells us that the the Greeks landed the from, from, to reach a light thousand when they compared the whole disordered, Italy, which was, then call it the mining region. That's very important. And, I just want to, emphasize the point you made that the wines of the the Chiro wines have this long, fame and antecedents of being the wines that were given to the victors of the, ancient Olympic games at Olympium. Exactly. It's really, it's back. This this history is a culture, can be touched with, with our hands, thanks to the, really most archaeological finds that are present in the area. So, our territory is, is really, great, from, from this point. But it's only a territory that is not only famous for history and culture. As we have a wonderful that has won the blue flag for over twenty years, that it's a recognition for the quality of the water and the, the related services. So, let's say that it's also an excellent place to spend your your holidays. Okay. That's a very good point as well. Now we're saying that Chiro, the wines of modern Chiro have this history going back two and a half thousand years, but I I would say, and maybe, you would agree that Chiro is not yet so well known internationally anyway and it deserves to be better known. But your family have been pioneers. Your family have been working in wine for is it four generations now? Tell us a little bit about the history of senator Evini. Have you have your family members, the different generations, and how the business is being conducted today? Yes. Me and my my colleagues, we are the fourth generation of our our family. But The history of the family starts in, in the beginning of the nineteenth and Century with the greet, greet father and to set a school call and that, built for their first wine, wine cell, in a in a scenario, but you know, and then the tradition followed with with Margaret father, Antonio, that, had four So no, for May zone. But one time was really hard to send them to university. So, too, he managed to send it to to university. And, too, he managed to send them to became, farmers. So we have a two medical doctors, a two farmers that build the the image of the unicorn, our brand, our, building, built in two thousand and five. And we choose this this mythological image. This this brand, because we're talking about, uniqueness, Radky Beauty. And so we want to explain that also in Calabrio form, from different years. And now we can reduce high quality quality quality wine. Okay. So it the work you're doing now is really based on the work that, the generations before have carried out. Now, the wines that the wine that won this important award, the best organic, Rosay, of course, indicates that, Sanatori Vini, produce wines organically. Why is this important? And what are some of the important aspects of production? Why did you begin producing organic wines? Because they've become much more consumers. I think are much more aware. They're looking. We're looking for wines, that are organic. But your family, but we're real pioneers. Weren't they? Yes. Because, my father, especially, is a medical doctor. No. It's the and the for for him was, really easy now to to ask us to produce, healthy wine. It's not only good wine. So, for a medical doctor is a really, natural things, you know, to produce, wines that, not create a headache or or stomachache, and also with a lower a quantity of sulfites and with the biological and the organic production of the of the babes. So it's a really natural natural things for for us to respect the environment and the health of the customers. Okay. And, Is it the climatic conditions where you are? Does it does it lend itself to this being, quite far south with the winds coming in off the sea to help ventilate the vines? Is that one reason why you're able to successfully practice, organic video culture? Yes. But, in the last years, I don't know. Don't cover that, it's really hard to, to produce organic organic wax also because that the climate is a very, particular, you know, there are no rains or if, if rain, remain, too much in, in a short period, you know, so it's really not, not easy to produce, organic wines. And then, I say you always let if you find a good organic wine, probably, the producer make ten times the efforts, you know, then a classic classic wine. So, the organic wines is really, really hard to to produce actually. But this satisfaction is really much not to to to produce and, especially, wine, like, like, our population. Okay. That's a very important point, especially as you say veto with the challenges that climate change are bringing the extremes and weather, not just the heat, but the extremes, when rain falls, it just are like rain bombs. And that's not good for the vine. So I know that, produces all all across Italy have you had to face these challenges, and producing wines organically makes it even even more challenging. Perhaps so, if the vines are more resilient because they're stronger for being cultivated organically? The point is, probably make a a prevention, you know, of the issuing of the balance because, we fight a war without, we want, you know, we can use only organic, organic, products, like, copper sulfites in the. Okay. So, the objective is to prevent and to avoid the, the problems in the the values. And this is the the most important point because after after taking the problem, is it really hard to to fight. Yes. For example, last year, it's not in this auto, Italy. There was the problem of peronospora. That cut, more than fifty percent of the production. Yes. That's been a real, a real problem, downy mildew, which this fungal disease that when it gets in a vineyard can can just destroy the production. Were you able to combat that? Were you or were you affected badly? Last year, we we affected a lot of the the mice from the from Aspera, but like you see with, our consolidation, the the words that we won, two two vineetree five star wines, the the the the few the few bottles that we produced last year's were very, very good. So it's a it's a Okay. So a a a big reduction in quantity, but but outstanding quality. Now before we turn to discuss that, Puntaleche Rosato, I'd like to talk a little bit about some of your other flagship lines. To give a a good overview of, some of the wines you're producing. I'd like to begin with Chiro Bianco. Tell us a little bit about this because this is from an ancient grape variety that dates back to the Greek heritage. Yes. We put a lot of, of different wines. We have to, for sure, with our doc Chiro White. That is a Greg or one hundred percent. It's called alay, alay, like Apple, Aleo, that was the the god of the sun, you know, looking the the Greeks's history. We we are lucky because, our our managers produce, a lot of the elder plan. So usually, Greco is a a natural, gray, you know, it's a natural wine. And the flavors are not too much important. But in our case, all the, the flavors are concentrated, are folks in the, you know, a small quantity of, of the grapes. So we can give, give it, really good and important aromas. Then we build also some blends because we we like to to make a blend from, not only using a a gallop and Greco, but also using the international grapes. Think that, another white one that we produce, is our alikiya, and it's a blend of Greco and the traminar. So we've taken the we've taken the traminar that is a an international grape, usually a molten grape in the north of Italy. We planted it, in our vineyards, looking to the sea with our soul, with our sun, with our temperature, and created a a really particular one. It's a a a very particular, particularly. That's a fascinating blend. Tramina, of course, coming from Alto Adice from the. Very aromatic grape variety blended in a Chiro with Greco. Is that right? Yes. Yes. And the the it's a the the objective is to let understand to to the customers, to the people that, not all the wines with the same grapes are the same, you know, because if we take a grapes and a grape and planted in, you know, that territory, we took the the the terrace on different terrace. So they also the flavors, the testing is, and can be a different Does it still have that beautiful aroma of a tremina? Yes. It's a beautiful aroma. We will see it only at the thirty percent. The seventeen percent is, echo, but it's a familiar that we produce at the only forty hectares, forty quintals on Hector. So really, really a global yelp plant. And these allow us to to have a really good good aromas. Okay. So the the the part of the aromas is given from the terminal. And the Greco gives a structure, gives activity to to the wine. So it's a really, you know, perfect combination. Wow. That's a really, really interesting wine. I look forward to trying that. Let's turn to, your flagship, Juan, your Arcano reserve. Tell us about your red chiro because this is really so typical when we think of chiro, I think we think of Galliapo. We think of chiro reds. And your Arcano reserve is a flagship wine. Yes. A guyop is a very particular grape because, and in the rosette wine, you find a really, dedicated to the yopon, really elegant to the yopon. In the red, red wine, a guyopis, very strong because it's a Italian grape, and is a wine that in the past were produced to match with the Calabrio cooking, you know, that it's a spicy cooking. So we need to make a calibration in our mouth of a very strong, strong wine. So it's a very particular has a aromas that are very beautiful and spicy. It's a really beautiful wine that we refine for two years in a double double refinement. It's a different kind of of food because they say six months in America and another two years in a big bottle. So it's a very, complex wine. Okay. A wine that can be laid down to age, this beautiful Galliope, not a deeply colored, red wine, is it? The color is a, a, a, yes, a garnet red. Yes. And the the flower are, have a spice. It's a spice the position and the full flower. I think that this kind of wine and the the tea that I I always suggest is always try to find in equivalent on your mom. So this is a wine that, is a perfect with, a great meat, you know, with, roses. For example, the the only things to be put attached on is, to not to match with, a blue meat because the blue contain a ferro is still. Right? Iron. Yeah. Okay. And with the tonnage of the grape, create a combination, a chemical combination that in Italy is a ferro than Nazi, I don't know, to to to translate it in English, that, give, a bit of a, a bit of a test. Okay. Okay. Just this is the the only tip to to to to give, to not match with it, too much blue to me. Now just a brief word, before we turn to the result, a brief word on your super Calabrian Casiodoro, which also is interesting in in the way you're you're marrying the local great to Gallillapo with cabernet sauvignon? Yes. Casudoro, fifth first of all is a a very important, politics, from from the past. Thinks that Casiador, was a a senator in in Rome, was a politician and ambassador, and from this man is a is the man that create, let me pass this, this word, the chivalry of the amarone because he's, born in Calabrio, but, spend his life in in Vanical. And that there are the first brought, you know, the the fifth writer that where he explained how to produce the the repassal and then the the the the moron. So it's a very important to people, from the from the wine. I think that in the Verona in Venice, there is also an association, in honor of this Castidoromena. So it's a a a manner that was really good if, we try to understand better of his history. About about the wine. Yes, this is a a match of the with the cabernet sauvignon. We tried to smooth the corners of with the cabernet sauvignon that is more, So we tried to, to create a really super, super Calabian wine, taking, taking the important wine of an important grape, like, sell the Wintech two thousand fifteen. So these are wines that before to test, needed to stay about nine years, from still would, a refinement in nine So I'm very, very curious to respond. Okay. Well, that's fascinating. And, very interesting to hear about Casiodorus. I didn't realize he was from Calabrio. I'm, you know, I've read about him. As you say, his links with with, making a wine from the dried grapes, which he describes. He he wrote about Venice. I think he was linked to Theodoreic and Ravenna as well. So he's a very important historical figure, but I didn't know he was from Calabrio. Let's shine a spotlight now on your award winning best organic rose, this, Chiro Rosato Puntaleice. Whudalicia is, yes, it's a docker or a wine, but it's not a classic Chiro rosette because usually in Chiro, there is a a more, dark, you know. We we married a a French philosophy, you know, a provencer philosophy, producing this this wine with a very soft color like Petal, and it's, rosette, reduced by a double harvest because we collect a part of the grape, in the middle of August when the grape is not to mature. So we have a good acidity, but love, low sugar. And we collect again a second part of the your point September when the the grapes is mature. The acidity is low and the sugar are high. And so we make, like, a blend but of the same that your collected in two different times. In this way, we put alcohol low, about twelve point five of alcohol, and we preserve the flavors of the of the grains. Okay. That's a really interesting production. I remember, as I say, I was judging at five star. I remember tasting some beautiful Rosets. I may have tasted yours and marked it, highly as well because we all mark and, taste blind, of course, and then the wines for the highest awards, such as yours, get retasted a number of times by other panels. So it's a real achievement. But it's a good time to turn, I think, now to the gastronomy of Chiro de gastronomy of Calabria because it's a really delicious regional cuisine, a cuisine, with real character and fire and spice on flavors that parallel with your wines. Can you tell us some of the really typical dishes that when you've been traveling and you come home, what do you want to eat and what are the wines that pair best with them? So, we use a pepper engine on luya that are some typical, food of Calabia, very, very famous in the last years. But, we we have also beautiful, a hydraulic, model commit. And when, we can match our, our red wines, and some typical food. I don't know if you'll never test the, peppers and the potatoes that that are really, really, really good. So the the objective of in in the past was to try to to produce wine that can be matched not with with this including, especially in Galapo and the tannins of Galapo need to clean your, your, your move from this, this, this, fatty and spicy cuisine, you know. So was it really So the pepperoncino is very much a feature of Calabian cuisine. I think there's a fast food pepperoncino and diamante every year. Yes. Yes. A pepper engine for us is like, the salt in the in the past. So it's, always in the okay. We know the names. And and what is this dish, this peppers, and potatoes? So is that, pepperoni cooked with potato and pepperoni? Is it the pepperoni? Is it not the Not the spicy one? Yes. Exactly. Is not the spicy one. It's the big. Okay. And that's very typical. And would that be a good food to have with the rosato? Yes. Especially, this rosato is a is a very soft, you know. So we can we can test it like, a package and viscous, you know, It's a a really a good choice, you know, when when when you eat. There are, you know, through to other other typical food, but are really hard to to measure with the one. Because for example, in this area, we produce the the Sardela, how to explain it. Sardela is the the newborn of the fish that, are called the sardinas. Right? But the little sardines, not not the How many tiny tiny that all? Okay. With the pepper and the family. Oh, family. Yeah. Okay. It's it's like a a a Jewish, you know, that you you eat with the bread, but it's really, Okay. Okay. And if the spicy food, you know, I don't know, or will suggest a food with wine. Yes. It's it's a it's a spicy like like nlujah, but nlujah came from, the meat of, of of my gallon of pork, you know. But the sardelle is this paste that you can then spread on bread, a fishy, spicy paste. Yes. I don't think that I think that would be very good with the glass of your chilchiro bianco. Yes. Yes. Probably, yes. Probably, yes. Then, this kind of food that are different in the each city, you know, for example, the city near closers, Chiro, producer. There's a certain line in a different way, you know, because some city use the Sardinas a little bit bigger. Some, less bigger, with some some pepper in, I mean, more or less. So there are a lot of different, kind of, What would be a typical pasta dish for your area? Pasta pasta, we use, for example, the eggplant. No. But there are not, in truth, really typical, a past. For example, the the typical past that we use in in Calabia is a faster, a a form of, back in the past, back in the past, Okay? With, poppet, poppetia, I had no English to explain. Proppola is, like, a cheese, that are sparket on, on, in the in the pasta. And, Salcicha is, another meat, but it's a cook in the meat. The sausages. Yeah. Yeah. Sausages. Yes. But the sausages, there are some sausages that can be cooked in, fresh, you know, and some citrus that are like, like, oh, salumi. Okay. Okay. And this is a salumi. Yes. This is salumi that are, I'm cooking the, inside the the pasta. Is that still really particular, particular, Well, that sounds good. How do you go explain how good to Yeah. No. No. No. You explained it very well. This is also very typical. Now that would be, food to enjoy with the chiro. Rosa. The Russell, I mentioned very well with with meet, you know. For example, we have we have in Calabrio Podolica. And it's a a typical, kind of, of a Calabrio meet that A a breed of cow, isn't it? Yeah. A breed of cattle? Yes. Exactly. It's very, very, very, very well. But, with all the red wines that we produce, there is one red wine that is a very, very people because we're not to suggest with the typical food. That is our uni cosan. Uni cosan is, our top gam wine, is a merlot one hundred percent, but we explain it like a meditation wine because, make, an, is an, overreener on the plant. So it has a little sugar residual, about fifteen to twenty grams of milk that, make it very, very particular, like the meditation wine. So to to to drink, with your partner, with your friends after the meeting with a little bit of dark chocolate, for example, you know. So it's a very particular wine. And if you wanna, I can also, tell tell you in history about this one. Yes, please. Yeah. Because this, the the first time that we we produced this wine was in two thousand and eight. We are an artisan producer. We are producer at one hundred percent. So we don't use a machine to collect the grapes, so always the manual. So we are really sickly in this, for for these things. And in that year, some red grapes. The maturation was crossed. So we we not get the time to collect, in the right moment, all of the international credit agreements. So we collect late, a piece of my law, that, in the the meanwhile, was a little bit more, more over it, you know, more as weak. So we will do not to produce the classic wine, using the demer law. So just to to recover the cost of the production of the year over the grape, we think that okay. Now try to to to produce this wine from this grape, and then try to try to to to collect all the only the cost. We we sell, apart from the price. I don't know. No. We think just to to to not lose, you know, the production cost of the base of, of Belmert law. But we, we understood that we produced a really good wine. And we think that, now how we can to do to produce again this wine without risking, late harvest because late harvest is in October. Maybe this is not the year, the the the the perfect year, but usually in October, there are rain, and there are the animals that it's the the grapes. So it's very dangerous, you know, doing a late harvesting in October. So we found a solution in a very particular typical, strategy that is call it, maybe in English, suffocation of the grape. So our staff pass a stroke of onions, turn gray the grapes one by one is that there is a little suffocation their ass. It's not a suffocation. It's maybe damaging a little bit their ass. Okay? In this way, we don't cut and let over ripe the grape like amarone, but we induce in in Dujang, you know, we, let us start and over, over maturation of the grapes directly on the plant. But in September, in the control room. So they become, passito on the plant. Yes. But it's not a passiva. It's just an overhypened wine because it's not a really sweet wine. Okay? Our wine, you can drink two glass, the glass one bottle, and it's never stuck. Okay? So it's a very, well drink the drink the wine. So we we stay on about fifteen, twenty grams on on later. In fact, this kind of wine in is not collocated, like, Zuit one. It's a classic one, like Norello, like a Casador that we explained before. No. But in Inside is a really competitive Okay. This touch of residual sweetness that comes naturally from the overripe grapes of nino daMeditazione. That's fascinating. That's really really interesting. And you've already given us such a good overview of where you are in growing grapes. I know our visit our listeners will be interested in visiting veto. What opportunities do you have for wine hospitality for visitors to senator Evini? Yes. We we have a beautiful start there. We think that we we organize also wedding in our in our building. So just to let you understand the face, really, pretty, you know, to to to see. During the summer, we are open it, from, for free winter. We are one of the, that if you wanted that, promote not the free winter each weeks, every weeks from June to September. And we there is a day that is the the Thursday, and the each, every every weeks, we we organize this basically one tours, but we can host the people for private testing all, all the day on all of the week, things that, we are honored to also also the cruisers that came from a Crotoni port that is near from from Chiro. So all the the cruisers, like, the Vikings like the c a seaborne, like the Aida that are different who is from North America and and German came to us to to touch with, to touch with, to touch with, their hand, our our reality. So we are really, really well organized and, to trust people and, to, to, to let's discover what, what is that? Okay. That's great to know. It seems a long way down to Chiro to Chiro marina. In the deep south, the inset of the Italian boot, but it's a beautiful place to visit. And I urge our listeners to make the effort to to visit Calabria. It's such a genuine region and the wines and the foods and the hospitality are are really genuine too. Vito, thank you so much for being my guest today for sharing your story, the story of senator Evini, and describing this beautiful award winning mind. It's been a really pleasure meeting you. And I hope, this year's harvest has gone well, and I look forward to meeting you sometime in the future. So, Good afternoon. Thank you, Mark. Thank you. It's a really, really pleasure for me to, explain, about our history. And I hope to host you and, our our customers in our company because it's a truly beautiful experiences. So, we we we wait for you, and then we add up to your disposal. Thank you very much. We hope today's episode of wine food and travel with me, Mark Milam, 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, Chincin.