Ep. 2510 Elena Penna of Cascina Penna-Currado | Wine, Food & Travel with Marc Millon

They were made as traditionally was made back, in the past where it was really made with me the series wine because Verint was really there. They still The wines were drunk in the eighteen hundreds. In the eighteen hundreds, people, they don't know how to fortify, how to sort of preserve, stabilize the wine when they were shipping the wines. So what they were doing was to add alcohol to preserve during the shipping, and it is supposed to cover also the defect. 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's show takes us to Piedmont to the wine town of Saralanga Galba to meet my guest Elena Pena Curado of Cashena Pena Curado. Elena, thanks so much for being with us today. I know you're in the middle of harvest and this is the busiest time. How are you and how is harvest going? Hi, everybody. Thank you for having me. Yes. This is, as you say, the, the busiest moment of the year. We are in the middle of the harvest. We just started to pick, the Riviola. It is going well. Actually, it seems to be a very good vintage. We had a couple of, you know, few days ago, just few little bit of rain, but, Thanks god. Nothing of, serious. So we are happy. We are busy and happy. A little bit earlier than, last year, but, I mean, mother nature, we cannot control them. She does what she wants. Sure. Absolutely. I was just thinking we're in the last week of September and you're harvesting Nabiolo. Is this for the Lange Nabiolo? We started with the Lange Nabiolo. Yes, sir. And next week, we are going Of course. We have to see the weather forecast there, but we will start also. I'm ready for the baroque's. Okay. Great. And the Dolceto, when did that harvest begin? That's the first one. Is that right? Actually, for us, the first was, the Timorasso, the white one. And then we, was followed by the Dolceto, and, and, now is, will be the isabella. Okay. Great. Well, I'm looking forward to learning about your wines and your various projects. But first of all, Anna, our listeners are located all over the world, and though is one of the important famous communes within the Barolla, Wainzo, many of our listeners may not have been there. So can you describe where you are and where your vineyards are? Yes. The is in the coming of, Sarah Lunga Dalba. Yes. Yes. You were saying, as Sarah Lunga Dalba is one of the eleven villages which are part of the barolo appalachian. He's a very tiny, tiny, probably one of the finest, village of the Barolo villages. You have to imagine the Barolo area is, you know, rolling is all around, and on top of the is, each village has a castle and Saralanga Nalba is his own own castle. Our winery is located at the entrance of the village of Saralanga Nalba. And is actually in a very old, farmhouse that was visited by the Marquese family back, in fifteen fifty four. So a very long time ago. We have the fortune to be and to have our new family winery in one of the oldest, females, of the barolo region. It's on top of one of the most important, crew, NGA of the barolo operation, which is the Lazaruto, And, we have a three three hundred and sixty degree view on the, all the Marolo villages and all the Marolo area. So we are lucky to work in a, in a beautiful spot, in a beautiful place. Yes. And it is a beautiful place. You've described it very well, Elena. These eleven Barolo communes, the main towns with these castles on top. Castle of Sara is very much a landmark when you looking around, and the steep hills covered in vines, many of which are the classified MGAs. And you're in this historic cashina. So it sounds a really beautiful place to be. How did the Pena Corada family get to come into this cashina? Tell us the the story of the family winery. We are not new in the wine, wine world. Let's say that we have thirty plus, years of, harvest on our shoulders. Our heritage goes back, five generation ago with the yeti family, but this is really our newborn family project that started with the first intouch in twenty twenty three. And, we got the possibility to have this cashina years ago. Luke and I, we always admired the this property on top of the Sarauga years since we knew each other when you were very young, eighteen me and twenty one Luca. We knew the the family that owned the part of this casino and we had the chance, finally, to buy it after more than thirty or so. It took us a long time to have the possibility to to buy it. And, we bought this property, not to make a winery, honestly, at the time, but because it was really a piece of, history of the area. And, you know, we wanted to have, for us, for the family, maybe to do knows a house for the kids or hotel or whatever it was. In that moment, we didn't know exactly what what to do. And then in twenty twenty three, when we decided to start, our new winery, our new family winery, Of course, this was the best place to restart because here, since more than five hundred years, was made wine. And so that was, the place where we wanted to start back, our story. Oh, that's a beautiful story. So this is really a realization of a dream for you and Luca. Is that right? Yes. For sure. Because since, we were always admire, this property because we have to consider that, year was released by the Marquesi family as I told you, fifty, fifty four. Then, for some period in the sixteen hundreds, was a hospital. It was a to recover people from the Black Black. So that was the only moment where there was no production of one. After that, became Dibarolo place, which means, a place where, like those fees de born, a little bit. So, yeah, basically, all all the all the families that wanted to live, vineyards to, to the church. This, operapia Di Barolo, we're giving, as a donation to this operapia di Barolo. And that one of the place, the operapia di Barolo was here in several in this cashina in this farmhouse. So, really, for more than five hundred years, wine was produced here with only some years of hospital time. Beginning of nineteen hundreds, the upper tier gave us all the the property. I don't know exactly which year to the shared propers that divided the property into. So they split it into the property into the farmhouse in two. And, when we bought, we bought, in twenty eighteen from two different families, and now is, again, back, one unit under Kashinapura. Wow. That's a lengthy history of this historic building where you're now finding yourself making wine. When you bought the property, did it have vineyards? Actually, no. One bathroom or more. And the other one at one dinner that we didn't buy because at that time, we were still working, our, you know, the VETY winery. So we didn't buy, and we bought all in the house, basically. So not in here. So right now, we have we had when we bought, we bought specifically only the farmhouse. Okay. And and then you've since acquired vineyards. How much vineyard do you have now? Actually, when we bought the house, as they told you, there were no vineers and there were no planner to make a winery. Our plan to make a winery started, basically, in, February twenty twenty three. So we're starting from stretch or from zero. This was, of course, something hard, but also an opportunity, a possibility that, gave us the chance to look and to choose places where we wanna we want to be. Today climate change is an issue. And so the fact that not to have any wineries gave us the possibility to go and choose places that, on our opinion, can, stand and can, answer well, the climate changes of today and possibly the climate changes of the future. So we're waiting places like, move forward a little bit higher attitude facing the mountains. So for us, it was very important to f