Ep. 890 Sebastiano Spagnoletti Zeuli | Wine, Food & Travel With Marc Millon

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This episode is brought to you by Vinitally international wine and spirits exhibition. The fifty fourth edition of Vinitally was held from ten to the thirteenth of April. If you missed it, don't worry. Go to Vineethly plus dot com for on demand recordings of all the sessions from the exhibition. And remember to save the date, the next edition of Vineethly will be held from the second to the fifth of April two thousand and twenty three. 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'll 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. Today, we are heading south into Pulia, Italy's southernmost region on the Adriatic side, we're at La Quintiniti Andrea in Andrea. Otherwise known as Lavignuolo to meet Sebastiano Espagnolletti Zioli, who is a sales manager of this important small group of wine growers. Chasa bastiano, how are you today? Is it, is it the sun shining in Pulia? Hi, Mark. Everything good. And, definitely, it is sun shining here, Pulia. I imagine the sun almost always shines most of the time. Most of the time. We had quite, a rainy winter this year. Is that right? Yeah. Probably not as rainy as we've had in England. Tell us a little bit about where you are. Give our listeners a chance to imagine andrea, the merger, and the beauty of the region you're in. So we are basically the Impulia. So the region, which is on the heel of the boot of Italy, Angja is located in the northern part of Pulia. We are sixty kilometers north from Badi, which is the biggest city here in Pulia. And, Andrea is ten kilometers from the seaside and basically at, at the gates of the merger area. So we are in the middle between the sea and the hill zone of the merger area. We are in a sunny area where clearly in the south of Italy, And it's you have both both aspects, which are definitely a a must to see. The aspects, you mean, of the sea and the inland hills? Absolutely. Absolutely. Seaside, you have the the the the the great nice and, relaxing moments of the sea. And you have also, the Muulja area, which is different every, every time of the year. If you come in the springtime, like now, you have a it's basically all green, and it seems to be in another place, not in Polia, not in the south. While in the summer, it changes completely, and it becomes almost lunar as a, as a, a landscape, because it becomes all, yellow, and it changes a lot, the, the, its configuration. So it's, it it's very interesting because it's a landscape, which changes about the work time. Okay. It sounds absolutely beautiful. I've been to the Morja, and, I remember this unique landscape. Of course, it was, an area that one of the great characters of the Middle Ages is Frederick II, known as El Stupormundi, loved, and built his his favorite castle in, just outside of where you are. Tell us a little bit about this. Yes. He he was quite attached to Andrea. In fact, Andrea was called by Friedrich the second, once he came back from Palestine and, and, embraced him when, at his return, was called by Friedrich the second, Andrea Fidellis. Was one of the few cities which decided to embrace and to welcome the emperor back from his, his adventures. And in fact, very close to Andrea, he built, Castel Monta, which is spectacular architectural, an octagon castle, which is, placed on the highest hill here in mine, in the area. In fact, you can see it from all over the northern part of Pulia. And, it's, magical, I must say, because it's located in, in, in the Muja where you cannot hear absolutely anything, and you can, see all over the, the, the, the, area of the north. Yes. It's, really spectacular. In fact, it's a UNESCO heritage site, isn't it? It is. And it's, one of the most visited, places that, in, in, in this area, together with Trami. And, in fact, Gucci is going to, exhibit his, it's, it's a garments in the next, in the next month. So it's definitely an, an, an, a, an important and must see place to go. Yes. Absolutely. That's interesting that Gucci is is going to be, exhibiting because I think, Frederick Frederick the second was known to love lavish fabrics and beautiful things. So it's, it's fitting to have that in his former former home. Now La Quintina de Andrea, known also as Vignuolo. Tell us a little bit about the history of your winery. You're a small cooperative of wine growers. Is that correct? We are. We are. We have a history of, a cooperative, which started, a little before than the La Quinta with, in the, in the fifties, the cooperative was a little larger. Than it is now. And, in twenty thirteen, a group of families of, growers decided to bring along this history and continue the, the work of the auto cooperative with the idea of, focusing on three main aspects that were that are basically the philosophy of the auto cooperative, which are, quality attention to nature and territory. So quality for us means that, everything starts from the land, everything starts from the grapes. And, from, from there on, quality needs to be continued and worked in order to give a a high level quality wine. And therefore, the the grapes are all certified IGP, the OC and UCG, which this helps us in, in in terms of quantity and also in terms of attention to what we bring in the, in the, in the winery where the, our winemaker of Francoje, decides, which is the best the best grape to, to be used in order to provide the best wine ever. Our attention to nature is very much related to the fact that we have been very, interested in provide, a great, a balance of our ecosystem, which is also a way to reduce the amount of chemicals. And, with this idea, we also decided to go in the direction of organic. Most of our, family farms are, now organic. And, we have noticed that this is definitely better for the, the environment for our customers, but also for our work. Because we have to use, we use less and less and less of chemicals in, in our, in our work. And, lastly, territory, where we know how is our territory, we know which is the best grape to, to work in this area. And this is the reason why we, we love to work, Nero, Nero, Bumbino Bianco, which are local varieties not well not so well known in the world, but we we believe that the they have a great potential, and must they must be known by all the consumers that may be interested in this kind of waves. Okay. I I'm just going back in time and thinking that maybe when the Cantina cooperative Tiva was started in in the fifties. I imagine the wines would have been mainly Vinnie dataglia. Is that right? Wines that were made in bulk to send north for blending, whereas now you're making prestigious wines that that win awards that find their way all into the bottle and win awards. So it's a big transformation of the wine industry since that time. Yes. Well, initially, the cooperative was a way to permit to small growers or medium growers, to, bring their grapes and increase value of the grapes. And, the, the main usage of such grapes was make, wine, make the, the, the, the grapes, make wine, and then, sell it as bulk wine in the north of Italy or also in in in France, for example, okay, then there was the port of, the port of Barletta, which was used for loading wine in order to be sent in the north. And in France. Okay. So these were navigable wines with enough strength and alcohol. They could survive this voyage by sea and beef up wines that needed a little bit more color, more alcohol. But now, of course, the wines are prestigious in their own right. You're best known wines. Bear this doc, named after Frederick Frederick the Second castle that we've just discussed. Tell us a little bit about the Castel Del Monte, d o c. And in particular, the terroir, the territory, this, of the Morja that is particularly favored for Viticulture. So, the DOC of Castel Monte is one of the most, one, one of the biggest, DOC here in Pulia. It's one, one of the most well known, also, because three out of four DOCGs are produced in this area. It is, a favorable area for Viticulture, for different reasons. We are very close to the seaside about ten kilometers, fifteen kilometers from the seaside. So we have this influence of the sea, which controls the temperature and doesn't give great shocks in terms of, of, of, cold, or, heat. We have the wind, which comes from, from the sea, from the sea, especially during the, the, the summertime. And the, this helps us with all the, potential threats that the the, the the the vines may have during, during the maturation of the grapes. And, we are located not not close to the seaside, but but a little bit higher. All the vines are, mainly nurtured between a hundred and three hundred meters above the sea line. So, this helps a lot, the, ex the, the creation of sugar during, during the, the summer, during the maturation of the grapes, with, day night excursion of temperature, quite, quite important. So, and, lastly, the terroir is, exceptional. I'm talking about the terrain because we have this, limestone, that wayne, which provides, to our wines, this, freshness, which is very much, specific of, of this area. Okay. That limestone giving, the pH soil, giving them, a higher acidity, but to both the reds and the whites. Is that correct? It gives a nice facility to the to the reds, to the whites, to the rosette, one of the most important things that we that we produce, is Rosier. It's very much in the, in our, in our heritage. And, it provides a nice, drinkability and, a nice pairing with all the food that we, we make here at here in Portia. Now you've mentioned some of the, ah, toptanists, some of the native grape varieties of your area. And you're right. They're not well known to wine drinkers, wine lovers, around the world, but they do deserve to be better known. So let's introduced, for example, Nero Detroya, which I think is capable of producing truly great red wine. It does definitely. There is a a nice myth about Nero Detroya. The myth says that Yomedi's brought Nero Detroya of directly from Troy, after the war, and, he planted it, close to Canosa. And from there on, it spread it all over the north part of Pulia. It is, definitely difficult vine to be, nurtured because, and, and also to bring to full maturation the gray, the the grape. It normally fully matures between the first days of October, till the twentieth of October. So it's a very late maturing grape. And, you can, you can use it if you manage, or for red wines, if it's, if the penetration went in the right way, or in in Rosay, if a maturation didn't really go in the right direction. It in red wine, it is, incredible grape because you have this special, stunning structure, which is which provides to the wine, a DNA for refining and in bottle and for aging. And, in, in, in the nose, is, you have all always this, this, violet, which is always present in, in, in its, in its, in its, in its, in its, in its, okay, very powerful, very, robust wine, which has definitely a great potential in my opinion with, in, in, in, in providing a, a great wine, to, to, to our customers. We, we have This, this grape used in a different ways or a hundred percent near O'etroya, or we blend it with, a yaniko, and sometimes also with multiple channels, different profiles of wine, near O'etroya, which is or aged in, in, in Barrique or used, stainless steel beds. And, also, the usage of other other grapes can help or can use can give a different way of, providing Metro Ethiopia, in to the to the public. Okay. That's interesting because, of course, Alianiko, more, associated with Campania and basilicata, which are near your corner, of Pulia. And Montipuliano from Malisa Abruzzo also coming down here. So that's an interesting confluence of of areas. I think Natalie Torroia can really make some wonderful, wonderful lines of real elegance and finesse. And so I hope I hope our listeners will will look for the name and enjoy this great wine. Now, Bombino Nero, another very interesting grape, particularly for your outstanding Rosatta? It is meant for Rosato in this kind of grape. It's, grape, which matures more or less in the same time of the Nero Etrolla. We pick it a little bit earlier in order to preserve the, the, the, the bouquet that this kind of grape can provide. And, we use it for Rosato, as you mentioned. Rosato for us is coral Nuance. So we normally keep the the grapes with the masts about twenty four hours. Before fermentation. And, it, it has this, special power in the nose, very warm, very sudden wine with this, strawberry, this raspberry. So very fine, fruits that that you can see in the which you can, you can, feel in your nose. And, in the, in the mouth, at the end, you have this freshness, which is very much related to the fact. That is, the limestone terrain, provides to to to the wine. So it's a it's a mixture between Southern wine and Northern wine, or Northern White wine. So it's a perfect combination. And this is the reason why we have obtained the docG, because it's, definitely a special wine to, to be, to be trained. This is the docG, Castel del monte Bombino Nero. Is that right for the Rosato? Exactly. Exactly. It is the doc GIP, bambino nero. Bambino nero, we we also, make it in a combination and blend with a narrow ytroy. So, it is an an an alternative, to the bambino nero. Bambino nero is very elegant. It's very fun, it has great finesse, and it's meant for aperitivo. While we blend it with nerutroia, in order to provide the wine, which is has a little bit more power, it has a little bit of tonic structure, and it can be used easily to be paired with, with food and with, with a, a whole meal. So, it, the the the idea of bambino nero can be vary in this case. Okay. Well, that's great. And that's a good opportunity to turn to the foods of the Morja. I know that the Alta Morja is noted for the Transumansa and an area of pasture land. So I'm assuming that lamb and goat feature strongly in the cuchina. Is that right? We have also that. And, we are so we have also this, cow and, horse and, donkeys meat that was very much used in, in our, in our cooking, together with a lot of vegetables. This is, very specific of our area. It's, unique we use a lot of this kind of, or diff of different, vegetables coming from the, from the countryside where that are hand picked directly from the people. Would these these would be wild vegetables and the chikorilla, the Lampersoni, wild vegetables, or as well as cultivated in the, in the, in the, or top? Very much both. You know, quite a lot of, of our savage, vegetables. So we also use Senat. It's very much used or Chime diarapa, for example, which are more well known. And, we use a lot of these kind of, the end of this kind of vegetables. And also, for example, zucchini, we used to eat also the leaves of the zucchini, with pasta. So it's everything of the vegetables depending on the timing of the year. We, we have different types of vegetables and different types of plates. Yes. I always think of puglia as something of the garden of Italy with such a wealth of wonderful vegetables. And, of course, olive oil, from PULLia is very, very fine. And the, you, you also produce your own DOP olive oil. As far as the, the foods of your area, if you would say there were some foods that any visitor must try, whether it's an antipasto, a primo piano, a secundo, or a Dolce, what would you advise our listeners visiting the area to make sure they eat and enjoy matched, of course, with the wines that we've been discussing. Well, you have, mentioned transmons. You must come to to Andrea and eat, Stracciatella or Burata. And, blend, and, period. These wonderful cheeses. Definitely incredible cheeses. And blend, and the period with, with a nice rosato, fresh rosato. Of our winery. Okay. And you mentioned the Chima de Rape, so that would be ideal with the Orrecchiette, the pasta handmade in the shape of little ears. Yeah. They are. They are the they they are incredible. And, with a little bit of anchovy also inside, and some some garlic, they are special. And, together with that, a nice Natalie destroyer would work. Oh, that sounds excellent. We've talking a little bit about the inland foods, but you did say you're the proximity of the sea is great influence on the vines. What about on the food? Is the Cucina de marre also part of the culture and the gastronomy? Well, it's, very close to the sea. Well, Andrea, not so much but you can, ten kilometers from Andrea. There is the sea lion, so you can eat Mediterranean fish. And, also some, crude to de mattis or raw fish. And you can pair it with our white wines, which, which are very fresh, very nice to, to be paired with a with a with a fish. Bumbino Bianco, in fact, is, a grape, which is very light and very acid. So it can be a nice companion for your for your meals and of, of fish? Well, that all sounds, a really delicious menu. And, another reason to visit, your area. I think it's, Beautiful story of the winery and of how you've developed from the historic Cantina Cuapartiva into this high quality producer now of wines that are representing the Castel del monte and the Morja. So I hope our listeners will be more familiar with the wines of food and the region and come and visit. Are is it possible for people to visit the Cantina? Absolutely. It is possible. Pre it's preferable to to be, to book the visit. So we can arrange the the visit and arrange the tasting. We are also, starting to, host our visitors in, our masseria and the countryside where it will be possible to see the areas of production and also taste the wines in our Corte together with all the the the the food that we can, we we produce so olive oil and, some, and we it will be possible, so to taste, mozzarella or Starchatella, for example. That sounds absolutely wonderful. I hope I can make my way down there to visit you myself So bastiano, it's been a real pleasure meeting you this morning. Thank you very much for being my guest, and I hope we can meet soon. Marcia. Mark, it was a real pleasure to be invited and I hope to see you soon here in Poria. Okay. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Italian wine podcast, brought to you by Vinitally international wine and spirits exhibition, The biggest drinks trade fair in the world. Save the date. The next edition of Vineet League will be held the second through the fifth of April two thousand and twenty three. Remember to subscribe to Italian wine podcast and catch us on SoundCloud, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods. You can also find us at Italian wine podcast dot com. Hi, guys. I'm Joy Livingston, and I am the producer of the Italian wine podcast. Thank you for listening. We are the only wine podcast that has been doing a daily show since the pandemic began. 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