Ep. 788 Enrica Fontana | Wine, Food & Travel With Marc Millon

This episode is brought to you by the Italy International Academy, the toughest Italian wine program. One thousand candidates have produced two hundred and sixty two Italian wine ambassadors to date. Next courses in Hong Kong Russia, New York, and Verona. Thank you, make the cut. Apply now at viniti international dot com. Welcome to wine food and travel with me, Mark Binon 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 specialties 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, we travel into the Presecco wine Hills of Corneliano Valdo Bialdene. To meet Enrica Fontana, the export manager of Spaniel Coldell Sas. Enrique, thank you so much for being our guest this morning. How are you today? I'm really fine, Mark. Thank you so much. You. Good. Well, first of all, Enrique, I'd really like our our listeners to gain a vivid picture of this very special and small part of the prossecco vineyards, which is quite vast, but this special prossecco Superior Coniliano Valdo Bialane, d o c g, this classic heartland of wine hills. Can you describe it to our listeners? Yes. Sure. Okay. It is a pleasure for me this describing the area wherever we are. The winery is located in Culbertado de Vidor, as a mall village near the center of Valobiadene inside the Coneliano Valobiadene, the OCG area. We are invented in particular in the province of Treviso, a northeast of Italy. Consider fifteen kilometers from Venice and one hundred kilometers from the beauty mountains, the the dolomites. It is in this zone between the two main center of Waldovia adene and Coneliano, that we produce the Coneliano, Valobio adene prosseco Superiora, DOCG. As sparkling white wine, then state today can come only from fifteen municipalities. In total, there are around, eight thousand hectares, which are cultivated with Clara, the main grapes that we use, of course, for Valobiada, the ne prosseco superiority docG. Then inside our area, it is possible also to cultivate other local grapes, varieties, like the diesel, Bianqueta, Perera, and Glera Lunga, which could be used to to make wine, but maximum, fifty percent. And then there are other varieties like And, you know, and, you know, and, you know, Bianco. Well, just staying with the this this area, what I really want our listeners to understand is Prosecco is now produced across, the Veneto and Frioli. Now, we're a quite wide area, but this special heartland in the classic area of, it's, it's quite different from, from the vines on the Pienura. We're onto a steep balcony of beautiful rolling hills, a landscape so beautiful that it's actually been designated a UNESCO world heritage site for, not just the beauty of the landscape, but for the way man has shaped the landscape over centuries carving out the terraces that support the vines. So it's a really special, beautiful area. I'm I'm picturing it now somewhere I've been many times, but, which I always love returning to. You get a lot of visitors coming both to discover wine, but also to enjoy many things. What are some of the things you can people can do when they come to the Presecco Heartland, the the wine hills of Corneliano Valdo Valdo Bialdene. First of all, I want to, yes, as I told you, I want to say that in two thousand and nineteen, the prosaicio hillsides have been recognized as UNESCO war heritage, and it is very important for us. Because as you told Marcia, there is a particular patchwork. Okay. So you see in the same location where there are different vineyard plots, woods area, households, And then in the same plot of land, vineyards belong to different wine growers because, each of them has his own way to cultivate, but the global vision is really wonderful. And consider just to give you an image, these hills which cover the area, and they are characterized by a geomorphological confirmation, known as a Hockback. So the series of steep slopes, is standing, in a east west direction during, centuries, the citizens here have learned to adapt to this environment, shaping its steep slopes. So wine growers created the chili which is the technical name, which is a particular type of terrace that is covered with grass and not with stones. So this is, just some details to describe the area. As as you introduce here, we there are many people who come here, many tourists, and they can do a lot of activities. Consider that in nineteen sixty six, it was create the prosecco Road, which is the first one, wine road in Italy. So visitors can traverse historical villages, vineyards, discovering the countryside, the heritage, made by remains, churches, and, of course, limiting local people. It is possible to organize these things in wineries, eat local foods, restaurants. And it depends if, for lovers over the countryside, They can rent a bike and discover our area biking across vineyards. There are many tracking routes across steep slopes or paths. And for people who love mountains, they could hit two Pianice, twenty minutes, far from Badovia Dene Center. Here, there are different trace pets and mountains cottages, where it is possible to eat typical food like ricotta, cheese, and same contact with cows and nature. Of course, if tourists have more interest in culture, in Coneliano, there are some historical buildings like Duamo, so the cathedral and the castle. Other interesting places, are Castello, San Salvador, located in Susagana, and it is a ancient fortress, from the fortieth century, standing on a hill with a spectacular view. Then there is Molineto de la Crada, which is very local famous here in Soligeto, the church of San Virgillo, in Casa Martino, the church of La Piedo, in San Piedo. Ma'am, lots and lots of beautiful beautiful things to see and do. And it's interesting that theostrade del Prosecco was the first wine road in all of Italy. So the prossecco region has been, this classic heartland has been really a center of wine for a very long time. I know there's a very important, wine institute where research has gone on into great varieties, into winemaking. And, it shows how important Prosecco is historically in the scheme of Italian wine. Yeah. Yes. We consider that in a Coraliano. There is the Anologist wine school, and it is very famous. And then we, continue to invest to work here in in this area to to increase not only a new way to to cultivate. We try to do all our best to to promote the area because tradition and it's very important for us and we believe, of course, in what, in what we produce and what we make. Of course. Now why don't we speak then about the Spaniel called Del SaaS wine estate, a little bit about the history and what you're doing today? Yes. Spaniel family has been cultivating vineyards since the early twentieth century. When it all began with grandfather, Cerafino. And in nineteen eighty six, we started with a direct production, and the sparkling process of wine made with our grapes. Today, our one vineyard, sorry, covered thirty six hectares stretching out over the hills and slopes, best suited to this cultivation in the towns of the Coneliano, Valobiadene, the OC GP seco superior area. One of the most important vineyard for us is the called Sase situated on the hill of the same name in the town on Faldobbiadene, and it is a part of our inheritance. So it is a symbol of our family history and the origin of our brand. So a link between our family and territory, Spaniela, Colesas. Vignas have always been managed and worked by the family So there is the father, Orazio, and one son who work outside in the vineyards with other colleagues or with a team of people. And then there are the other two sons, both winemakers, who supervised the winemaking process in the winery. So we produce Coneliano Valobiadene, Roseco superiority docG, exclusively from grapes cultivating in our vineyards. So all the lands, every vine, single cluster of grapes, are monitored, taken care of, and follow along their way to to the battle. So, yeah, it is important for us because we follow the whole process of from the grapes in the vineyards to to the final prado. Okay. So that's very important that in the docG, it's entirely from grapes cultivated in the Spaniel family's own vineyards. Now, Enrique, can you explain briefly, the method of producing prosecco, the world loves prosecco knows it as a wonderful Italian sparkling wine, but it it's not everybody knows how it's produced. Okay. Okay. Consider that we harvest only by hand. And after the harvest, usually in the month of September, the grapes pick up are pick up and taken to the winery. And so we start, different production stages. First of all, the pressing. So using press machine, which press the grapes gently in order to obtain the the grape master. At the end, the counting takes place. So the cloudy mask is left to settle a low temperature, consider around eight, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, stainless, steel tanks. After about twenty four hours, the clear part of the mask is separated from the sediment. And later, the first fermentation takes place, thanks to the use of yeast, which, added to the mast, and they activate the alcoholic fermentation the temperature is controlled, and here it is around, eighteen, twenty d Chesius degree. At the end of the first fermentation, that it takes, consider minimum twenty days, we obtain the the base wine. And now, it is the time to blend together base wines in order to create covey. This does not happen for rive because, it's a selection. So this is another he he remains the same, the same base wine. And we follow Martino Tisherma. So wine is put with sugar and yeast inside a specific pressurized steel tanks, which are called autoclaves. So during this process, So the wine, referments, and yeast, use sugar to create the carbon dioxide, which generate the bubbles. So so this method in Martino Tisherma, it's really important for us because, we preserve the primary aromas of the grapes, keeping their scents to the wine. And the second fermentation takes place at least, thirty days But in our case, for all our wines, it is productive for months. So just this short time, just do an introduce of our, production method. Okay. That's that's really important to explain and recon because I think that the Martinotti method, the Martinotti Sherman, as opposed to fermentation, secondary fermentation in the bottle, this method is what gives Prosecco its real character and charm with that freshness of fruit that you described. Now, you mentioned a rive wine. The rive are this is something that not everybody is aware of. There's forty three special single vineyard designated ground crew sites of the prosecco superiorre, Conidiano Vald de Bayardin area where we're we're actually able to taste the terroir, the single vineyards, and you have a very important rivay wine. Can you tell us a little bit about this? So first of all, just to to introduce Rivay in our dialect means, steep slopes. So a vineyard where it is really difficult to work and harvest the grapes. As you mentioned, inside the DOCG area, there are thirty free riva. And they are so thirty free places with particular microclimate, exposure, and soil. Grapes are harvested only by hand, and it is compulsory to write on the label, the place where vineyards are all ciliated and the vintage. This type of wine is very important because it expresses the main characteristics of an area. So each vintage is different from another one because inside the river, you find the territory, the soil, the history of vine variety, and, of course, the man, the one growers. So with product review, we search and an entity, which is giving thanks to to the aspects, I told before. So soil microclimate, man, vintage. So there are a really individual expression of Perseco, unique as you say to the territory and to the producer? Yes. Sure. So we produce a rive de Soligator because, we have different hectares, in a Soligator specific on the Chiza hill. And we have selected grapes, which are cultivated on the northern side south facing binger. And here, we have grapes which catch the sun during the first hours of the day and thanks to the wind coming from the north. This is a perfect place where you don't have humidity and you have a use of pvc and acidity. Thanks also to the soil. In our case, the soil is composed by polygenic conglomerate and rocks. Reaching iron. And these are grapes that once individually unified and subjected to the sparkling process, are able to express the very quintessence of our territory. And so in our river, we it is not, just, just, for aperitif, but, we, prefer to match with foods because it is really important also this aspect for, for all our wines. So, for our although, of course, the second fermentation, followed the Italian method. So, the wine reformancing the autoclave, and we have that the wine remains for minimum three months on final lease for the first fermentation and then other three months on the second fermentation. At the end, we have a wine with a good structure. And as I told you, you are perfect to match with folder I have just I imagine a risotto with crayfish and zucchini or pastas or yes. No. That sounds wonderful. And, actually, I had a a chance to sample the riva di Soligato wine, and it is as you say, a more structured and more complex prosecco, and I can well imagine it with some of the wonderful cuisine that that is found in your area. Let's talk a little bit about food then, Enrique. About some Kiatiti Picchi, and about prosseco superiority matching well with the foods of the territory. Yeah. We, in our area, and cheese are two elements very common. So, Pressa, being the salami type of sausage cured meat, which I imagine goes very well with, brute prossecco, with the bubbles helping to to, clean the palette from the richness of the meat. Yeah. Usually, we we eat, so press, and cheese, and drinking a glass of fondo. So press is like salami made with pork meat and it age more than a normal salami. So consider eight months. We have different type of cheese from fresh cheese to the season. So it really depends, but most of our cheeses come from cow's milk. And we it's usually on, on Sunday with a family, Piedo. So it is another, regional food more local. And this, pizza made with pork, rabbit, and chicken meats. Edging aromatic herb, like, rosemary. And, it is slowly cooked. So usually, spiedo is served with, polenta. And it is a very traditional food in, in this area. Polenta is really important in the Veneto, then that's something that you would eat regularly. Yeah. And then, we we eat, all first courses, or risotto, tagliatelle, lasagna and near perfect, with vegetables or with a ragu, a glass of wine with bubbles, brewed. So the excess right version is perfect. Of course, with the prosseco superiore, you can, match together first course is with vegetables, wild meats, carpaccio, the version extra dry and dry can also, preserve with, a dessert like, jam tart or dry cookies, which are very common here. Or a tiramisu. Just to be clear for our listeners who may not be familiar, an extra dry or a dry, of course, refers to the prosseccos that are increasingly on the sweeter side, gently sweet, not not overly sweet. Lovely soft style of prossecco. Yeah. So consider that in our in our area, you have different type of wines. So, the brute version, is the dryer version because, it has less sugar than the extra dry, the extra dry is around from twelve to seventeen grams per liter. And then the dry version has more sugar than the the other ones. Okay? So the dry version usually is drink with, a dessert. So this range of brassetas from the simple, simpler wines perhaps called fondo, as you mentioned, to the more complex Rivay wines, and the different levels of sweetness. And now, for SECa to be enjoyed at various times of day, and indeed throughout a meal with different courses. You've given us a really beautiful picture of this special small area of Prosecco. And I hope that that our listeners will begin to look for and understand these nuances between the different areas that produce prossecco. And most importantly, for the prossecco superiore, Corneliano Valdo Bialdene, d o c g. It's a long name for a wine, but it's important for people to understand why the corner of the world where you are produces such great wines. Yeah. Thank you, Mark, for your explanation. Yeah. The name is a little bit long, but it's really important that people understand. And, of course, people are welcome to visit the area and, in our territory because it's really nice. And, it is the historical place here for before the prosseco superiore. So you want to, yeah, to to welcome you to to visit this beautiful, area. In fact, I noticed that Spaniel called the family have an Agritoryismo a farmhouse where people could come and rent and, and stay and really immerse themselves in the wine hills of prossecco. And that's probably, I think, the best way to learn about and taste and absorb an area, really feeling, and get to know what it has to offer. So I hope some of our listeners will will come and visit. Yeah. As you told this, the best, the best thing is, coming here, tasting together a glass of wine, see the VR's, meeting local people meeting the wine rovers. And in this way, you can, you can have a complete, imaging of our territory. Yes. Well, thank you so much. Thank you for joining us today, Enrique, and for sharing your world with us and the wines of Spaniel Coldell Sasse. I look forward to coming to the area and seeing you sometime in the future. Thanks, Mark. And, I hope to to meet you soon. You are welcome, and thank you again for for your time. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcast. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, email, IFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. 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