August 27, 2025 • 48 mins
Az. Ag. Bocale di Valentini was founded by Giuseppe Valentini in the 1950s in Montefalco (Umbria) "Bocale" is local dialect for the two-liter wines jugs used before the family's wines were sold in bottles (starting in the 1990s). Bocale produces the signature wines of Montefalco: Trebbiano Spoletino, an aromatic white, Montefalco Rosso DOC, a medium red and Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG, an earthy tannic red. Valentino Valentini represents the third generation of the family business.
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The Connected Table is broadcast live Wednesdays at 2PM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
The Connected Table Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:21):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to the Connected Table Live. We're your hosts, Melanie
Young and David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple. We
enjoy bringing you the amazing people who were front and
center and behind the scenes in wine, food, spirits and
hospitality around the world. We're bringing you live today from
(01:02):
our virtual background, which is in Umbria. We are in Montefalco.
Monto Falco is a marvelous wine region in Umbria which
we have visited I think three times, right, David, Yes
it is.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
That was our third trip this past June.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah, and it's got some great history to it. And
we are going to be speaking today with a member
of a very historical family who's been an important family
in Montefalco for over a century. We are talking with
Valentino Volentini from the winery Bocali Boculi in Montefalco. He
(01:45):
is was a mayor of Montefalco at some point and
we'll talk about that. The winery was started by his grandfather, Giuseppe,
and we had the great pleasure. I've visited twice and
we visited together in June, so that Valentino Valentini, welcome
to the Connected table.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Chiao, good morning, Chao Melanie and Chao David. Thank you
to invite me today and thank you for coming to
visit my winery in June.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Well, we had such a great time while we were
with you, and it was that I think it was
a beautiful day. A little bit of rain came through
as we were standing out on your terrace and we
went inside and had some beautiful wines. So it's nice
to get you on the show to talk about your
family and your winery history, and a little bit about
your family history in Montefalco as well.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Yeah, my grandfather started in nineteen twenty six, so I'm
a long history for my winery and the two generation. Yeah,
that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
And you know what is your family's connection to Umbria
and Montefalco. You mentioned when you send us material that
the family has been involved for over a century. Give
us a short history on the long history.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Yeah, my grandfather and the family they moved from a
small town close to Montefalco, gualdo Catano, that is already
in the area of Sagrentino, from Gualdo Catania to Montefalco.
In the nineteen twenty six. They established in the hills
of the lower part of the site of the real
Montefalco that looked to Spoleto in the south east side,
(03:15):
and they started with the oil meal with the winery.
They have a big farm, fifty actors and they made
everything cereals, forage. They have a lot of animals, cow oaks,
and they make of course wine and olive oil. And
there was five brothers, twelve nepiws or a big family
like in the Italian style in this time, and people
(03:35):
the twenty in the farm of my grandfather. They bring
the jag, the unit of to buy one and dollive oil,
the two leader jack, the five leader jag forty five
was the bigger because the my grandfather, they don't make
the buttering light today. Now we bought in the nineteen
nive percent of our production. So people bring the unit
to buy one and dany boil. The unit of two
(03:58):
leaders was called bocal In the local dialect, Bocali means
two leader jag. And probably people started to say, we
would like to go to buy one Bocali too. Bocali
to the Valentini family, and then they started to call
my family Bocali, so Bocali became infuiosed the nickname of
my family. And when in my generation, the generation choose
(04:19):
to restore everything, we replanted all the farm. In the
end of the nineties, we building the building of the
winery and we started with a totally different system. With
the harvest two thousand and five, we choose in honor
to the founders, the name Bocali. So now we have
in our bottles, in all our wines, in our olive oil,
the brand Bocali, thanks to my grandfather and the brothers.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I love it. It's a great story and it's an
easy winery name to pronounce, and I could see it.
It's like in the United States, we have seven eleven.
The store is open from seven am to eleven pm
and people go to the seven eleven. So Bocali is
where you went and got your wine. But when did
you start bottling the wine and becoming a mon under winery.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
We started with the harvest two thousand and five. We
replanted the vineer in three years nineteen ninety nine, two thousand,
two thousand and one. And you know that when you
replanted all the vineyar, you need to wait minimum three
years to start to have grape. So we changed everything
was we invested in the indigenous grapes. So we planted
tre pianos polatino that is the white indigenous grape. We
(05:22):
planted sagrantino that is the indigenous grape. And we just
started with a new, totally new system with the harvest
two thousand and five. We change is also the kind
of the grape because you know, you need to know
that after the Second War, all the farmers they changed
the indigenous grape with the international grapes. Why because the
production paractor of the indigenous grape is very very low
(05:44):
and in the poor Italy. After the Second War, all
the farmers tried to change the kind of grape to
make more production, to have more income, and so they
changed with other kind of grapes. So we found a
very very small quantity of sagrantino in my vinia, so
we choose to invest it in the unique grape of
this area, trebianos Polatino, that is the grape of the
(06:06):
valley between Treve and Spoleto. Trevi is the town that
you have behind behind you, we can see a beautiful
view of the valley of the Umbria Valley and we
can see Trevi that give the name to the Tribanospolatino.
The Latin name of this time that is in front
of Montefalco was Trevia in the Roman time, so it's
(06:27):
the grape that grew up from Trevi and Spoleto. In
the opposite side, in front of you, there is the
hill of Montefalco and Sagarentino is traditionally the grape of
the hills, and four small towns around Montefalco they can
produce sagarantino. So it's a very very small are tiny,
tiny area for twenty five thousand people in the area
(06:47):
of Sacrantino. So we're invested in the indigenous grape and
we start to bottling all our production. We change also
the market because my grandfather market was a local market.
With the jug you can make a few kilometers. Now
we export around the seventy percent of our production. Your country,
the United States is the most important market for me.
We sell in twenty three states in the States, from
(07:11):
Washington State to Florida, from Massachusetts to Florida, and many
many countries also in the States. In the middle then
we sell of course in Canada, we sell in Brazil
or North Europe. We sell altso in Asia, in Taiwan
and Japan and South Korea, sometime in China. So we
try to we are a small windy because we produce
forty thousand bottle one step behind because all the farm
(07:35):
is twenty five acres and the vineyard is around fifteen acres,
and we produce a very small production forty thousand bottle
every years. We tried to have a warm market so
the seventy percent of our lines stay in the in
the export market.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
You know, that's quite an accomplishment for such a short
amount of time. Congratulations on that. I want to talk
about a little bit about what sets Ante Falco apart
from say, other regions in Umbria or that part of
Italy as well, because it's got a very unique tear war.
Sangretino is a gripe that really grows only there. Tell
us a little bit about segrantino, your main grape, and
(08:14):
then also the terar war that really helps it be
successful as a growing of course.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Yeah. The first information I would like to say where
is Zumbria, because Umbra is not one of the most
known region in the United States. Everybody knows Tascany, Sicily,
Rome of course, the big important town like Venice, like Naples.
We are cycling in the middle of Italy. Umbra is
one of the smaller region in Italy. We are recycling
between Rome and Florence. We are the green heart of Italy.
(08:45):
If you give a look in the picture behind you,
the first color that you can see is green. We
are the only region in the Peninsula area without the sea,
but we have a sea green because we have the
olive trees and the vines. That is the first colon
the color that you see when you see the hills
of Umbria. Umbria is famous for some frencis. Is the
(09:06):
town of Asisi probably is one of the most important
in Umbria and Montefalco is a very long history in
the wine process. Many many people think that Montefalco is
a very young area for wine production. We have many,
many documents from the Roman time from Pinion Vecchio that
he wrote about the vines in the hills of Montefalco
(09:26):
and Beavania. So we made wine in Montefarco from the
Roman times. Then in Montefalco we have in the ancient library.
You told me you was talking about that I was
the mayor of Montefarca. I was the mayor of from
nineteen ninety nine two two thousand and nine. And we'll
discover a lot of documents, all documents in the ancient
library of Montefalco. And we have many statues of the
(09:49):
town hall with the rule to grow up a grape,
to sell grape to make wine. And we have one
important document from the fifteen twenty that the town all
established the day to start the harvest. The documents started
to say nobody start to pick up the grape before
the twenty of September. Means that five hundred years ago
(10:10):
the quality of the grade was so important to make
high quality wines. Then we have a very interesting document
in Montefalco in the seventeen three when the town hall
the give the first license to sell a glass of
wine because before was not allowed to drink outside home.
You can buy a jug a damagean and bring home
(10:31):
and drink. And the Franciscan monks, they was very very
powerful because we were under the pope domination in this time,
in this side of Italy, in the middle of Italy,
we had six hundred years of pope domination and in
this time the town hall give to the Franciscan monks
the license to start a model wine bar. And then
we had a very strange time at black period the
(10:54):
last century, from the First World War and the Second
World War, and especially after the Long War, Montefalco lost
a lot of population from eight thousand people to five
thousand people in the north of Italy, in the north
of Europe, and we started to make wine with the
model process in the seventies. In the nineties Montefalco became
(11:16):
probably one of the most important area in Italy after
the big and the most known area like Toscany, venetov
uIP A. Monte, of course and in Italy started in
the eighties. In the nineties, a very interesting process. The
discover of all the indigenous grape in the center south
of Italy now Sicily is unknown then forty years ago
(11:39):
Pulia campaignia Umbria was totally unknown now and Sagarrentino was
the first area in the center south of Italy that started.
For this reason, when I was made from two thousand
and six to two thousand and nine, I was also
the president of Italian Wine Cities Association, because everybody recognized
that Montefalco was very very important in this time to
(12:02):
discover the indigenous grape in the south south that we
have and we'll discovered a very interesting indigenous grape that
is very old grape. The first document to talk about
Sagargentino is in the entire library of ASISI and this
is a document of the sixteenth century. So we know
that the name of Segantino, of the Segentino gray for
(12:22):
many many years. And this is the reason because we
get very very easily the highest level of quality, a
long history in the wine process, that is the Ochi
g is the highest level of the Italian quality wines.
That only sixty wine in Italy can have the label
of the Ochig on the top of the bottle, so
the maximum level of quality. And this is the reason
(12:44):
because we have a long history in the wine process.
From the sixteenth century, we made wine with Sagarentino grape
in the hills of Montefalco. Secondina is very particular grape
because a very slow production five tonescharacter usually a red
crape made eight nine tones paracter to make high quality wines.
Secondino is a very very small production, and this is
(13:06):
the reason because the farmers changed segrantino for other kind
of red grapes, like my grandfather in the end of
the seventies of the last century. In nineteen seventies we
founded probably one hundred thousands bought the plants wines of
secentino because the secondino was used only for the pacito version.
(13:27):
We have secentino dry and sagonantino posito. Why because we
have a very thick, thick skin, so we can dry
for two months two months and al secentino grape without
problem with the more so we can make a sweet
wine and dry wine with segantino. And after the Second
War everybody changed sagarantino with other kind of grape to
(13:48):
make the dry wine, the table whine and they use
Sagarantino only for the sweet version. In the end of
the seventies we started to make Sagarantino for the dry
wine and now probably is one of the ten most
important red grapes in Italy and red wine in Italy.
Seconilla another information is the most is the wine red
(14:09):
wine with the biggest concentration of antioxidant at all. Segantinlla
has four thousand milligram ores is bitter rollo. Then the
normal red grape in Italy and in the world has
around two thousand milligram per liter. It's very healthy wine.
If you drink one two glasses per milk of course,
and one interesting things and the last one and then
(14:30):
I give you the word to you when you see
the leaves in November, when all the vineyard change color
before fall down the leaves, all the leaves usually change
color in yellow from green to yellow. Segentino change in
red because the antioxidants stay on the skin and then
in the glass when you drink, also on the leaves.
This reason because turning red and not in yellow.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Well, we just had to go there in November, David,
because we were there in yeah hard and heydays the
first week or.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Weeks of November is beautiful. You can see all the
hills yellow with Sangioves and trebianos, Boltino and red with
with Sagarentino.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
So let's talk about what the name is, why is
it called Sagrantino, and let's talk about the property we
talked about. It's a very yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
We talked yeah, because very we we have a new
because we talked about We made many research about the
origin of Sagargentino. In the Latin name such a means mess,
means happy days, or means something that you need to
make a party. But we founded many documents in the
(15:41):
last five years that we discover a different origin of
the name Sagargentino. One step behind the origin of the
name of Montefalco come from Frederick Second, the emperor. After
the fall down of the Roman emperor, we had a
very important emperor in the in Italy from Germany and
it was famous. Frederick Second, the emperor was very was
(16:03):
famous for the for the university in Palermo and in Naples.
Was the founder of the first university in Italy. We
are talking about the thirteenth century and Montefalco. The name
the Roman name was called Corone that means on the
top of the hill, because Montefalco is exactly on the
top of the hill and Co Corone in the twelve
(16:23):
forty one changed name from co Corone to Montefalco thanks
Freedrico Segondo s Isheliah fedri Go Segondo Frederick Second. It
was famous for the hunting, not only not only for
the university, but also for the hunting with the hawks
with the falcon, and he wrote probably the most important
book in the in the world. Also today is the
(16:46):
most important book in the world that is called arts
of to hunt with the with the hawks. The arts
to are to hunt.
Speaker 6 (16:55):
With the with the with the hawks, and Montefalco is
exactly on the top of the hills us the falcon
to hunting downstairs in the valley, because the valley was
with a lot of the river lake and and was
useful to use the top of the hill and Montefalco
change from Cocrone to Montefalcon in this In this.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Time we founded also some documents that Frederic second wrote
to the headquarter. Because the headworker of Frederica Segondo was
in the south of Italy in Pulia, in Castel del
mount is a very beautiful castle in the north of Pulia.
It's famous, so famous that stay also in the euro
Mummy if you say the coin in the backside, there
(17:38):
is the castle of Frederica Segondo. And he was asking
the violachim that was a medieval medicine and it was
an natural antibiotic made with wine, sugar and violet metal
in infusion in the inside. And he has an answer
from the headquarter and he made the miolachium, the antibiotic
(18:00):
for the falcon and for in Montefalco with the local wine,
and Sagarrantino means the sacher, the wine that take care
to the soccer falcon, and sacher is exactly one kind
of falcon. We then lay Arabic name, so Fredriko Segondo
zwevia Fredrick Segon give the name to the town Montefalco
(18:22):
and to the wine Sagarantino. So we have a very
very long.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
History that's fascinating, and you know, it's really unique because
there is a town Montefalco, there is a region, and
there is a wine Sagrantino de Montefalco. And that sense
of place is so important because as we have said
Segrentino was only made in Montefalco. How would you describe?
(18:47):
And we can too because we tasted a few vintages
and expressions at Ocali. For those who are less familiar
with the expression of Sagrantino de Montefalco, how would you
describe it? How would you pair it?
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Segantino is a very powerful wine. Is a wine with
a very big thick skin, so we have a lot
of concentration of this wine. And it's a tiny wine,
so it's perfect to praying with a little bit fat meal,
like a steak, like a lamb, like a cheek, with
pasta with cheek. So it's a very it's important wine
(19:25):
and it's a wine with a lot of antioxidant inside.
For the American palate, probably one of the wine that
you made in the United States is a people that
like cap from California likes of course Sangarrantino, but it's
a different style. Because Italy is very lucky because we
made wine with seven under different kinds of grapes, so
(19:48):
Italy is the only country in the world that make
unique wine. Segantino grew up or in four small town
around Montefalco like other kinds other seven under different kind
of grape OLiS angels you find everywhere in the middle
of Italy. All the other grape like Tribiano's politico or
the white indigenous grape grow up only in seven small town.
And you know that the town in Italy is not
(20:10):
like the town in the United States. Monte Falco is
five thousand people. All they are of Segentino is twenty
five thousand people, So it's a very very small, tiny area.
And we change a lot of Sagargantino process in the
last year because we would like to the secondino was
so tunny in the past. We so we need to
(20:31):
wait a lot of time to drink this wine. Now
we change two important things the timing of the harvest
because in the past we pick up the grape probably
two harvest to to to too early, because we need
to weigh the balance of two different maturations, the sugar
maturation and the phenolic maturation. The sugar maturation is done
(20:54):
in the end of September. The phenolic maturation you need
to wait close to the end of October. And in
the last years we wait the freenolic motoration because we
are more velvet tone in the secontino. And then we
change also the process in the winery from the big
sides of the battle to the from the small barrel,
and we went back to the big sides of the battle.
(21:16):
You know that the barrel made two different kinds of
works in different way, the meg oxygenation and the test
of the wood in the to the wine, the migoxigenation
in the big barrel. We need more time, but the
time is not the problem for us. The rule of
Secontein is three years of aging in the winery, and
our Segantino stayed two years in battle and minimum one
year in bottle. The second world that the wood. The
(21:38):
maid is given the test of the wood to the wine.
Smaller is the butter, and new is the hook. More
heavy is the test of the wood. The bigger is
the size of the wood, and order is the wood.
Less is the test of the wood. I told you
we made wine with seven and the different kind of grape.
We made unique wine. So we would like to make
(21:59):
segonantino with the regional characteristic. This is the reason because
we use the big size of the wood and old wood.
We clean the wood to preserve for a long time
with the steam machine, so we sterilize the button when
we change, so we can use for many, many years
without without probit. We produce around eight nine thousand bottles
(22:20):
per years of sacatino, and you can find in the
in the Italian restaurants in the most important town in
the United States, and also in the selectic in the
wine shop in the United States. The mostly market for
me is the United States, so you find my secontino
everywhere in the United States.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
You know, it's a it's a deep, velvety, lush wine.
It would be really good with lamb and of course
a good steak, but also some aged cheeses andsotos. It's
really a lovely wine and it's one you want to savor.
You know, this is not your let's kick it back wine.
(22:59):
It's a same it's a savory wine and just absolutely lovely.
We tasted a few expressions. You have one named after
your father. Tell us the differences, and the one you
produce a vocali.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
Yeah, the name of the onery is in honor to
the third generation, and the first selection that we made
is in honor to the second generation from my father,
and you know, and every year so I told you
we change which we try to make something different to
understand what happened with the longer age, in different kind
of measuration, different timing of harvest. We make an experiment
(23:34):
every years. We try to find the best way for
our customers, and we haven't. We stay stopped because we
need to change every time the palat of people. They
lack different wines. So with the same grape we can
make different kind of wine with different processes. And with
Segrentino we change a lot of content with the skin.
(23:56):
In the past, we had fourteen fifty days of contact
with the skin. In now we are around forty forty
five days. We had a different kind of content, longer
but software contact because before we made fifteen twenty days,
but four or five pumping over every day. That means
that wet making contact the skin with all the juice
(24:19):
and the wine for five time in the day. Now
we have a longer content or only one pumping over
per days, and we have a softer and more drinkable times.
In the second team, and we say, what happened if
we made the softer contact with the skin less than
one pumping over is in per days is impossible but
we can make by hand a software contact by hand,
(24:42):
so we make the pushing down by hand, and this
job was made for my father Anyo. We started using
the big the barrel five and the leaders opening the
top side butter that we use it in the past
for aging the wine. And my father made the pushing
down and we have a off the contact with the skin.
But this way we can make only one thousand, one thousand,
(25:04):
two hundred bottles of very very small quantity and a
limited edition all the bottle of venual like in this vintage,
the nineteen that you tested, we made one thousand, four
hundred and twenty six bottle every years. And the name
of the wine exactly is Montefalco Sagarantino Ennuo in honor
to my father Ennio.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
That's so nice, you know.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
I find Sagarantino very interesting, great because historically it was
made as a sweet wine, and it really wasn't until
the until the last century, the late last century, that
they started making it as a dry wine. But the
tenants I also find. You think it's a huge wine
because it's high alcohol, it's got a lot of body
to it, but the tennants are very fine and very
(25:49):
silky in my opinion, and it lends very beautifully to
a dry red wine.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
And the time in the ten it's made a very
interesting wine in the pacito version because paciito made with
Sagrantino grape. It was for many many years the only
paciito made with red grape. The Ochi g the ochig
was talking before, is the highest level of the Italian wines,
and all the other pacito in Italy is made with
(26:17):
white grape. Now we have also rich otto of val polygella.
This is also the ochig A Sagarrantino pacido was in
nineteen ninety two the first paciito the Ochi g made
with red grape, and it's very particular and unusual pacito
sweet wine because thanks the tannins of Segentino, the starting
(26:37):
in the mouth is sweet, but the end is dry
because the tann is cleaning media to your mouth. So
also people that don't like so much sweet wine drink
pacido of Sagarrantino because the land in the mouth is
dry and you have two kinds of pairing with a
cheese is perfect. And also all the desert with chocolate,
the best pairing in the desert is sagarantino, pacito and
(27:00):
chocolate because and especially the bitter chocolate bigger the dark chocolate,
because it's a little bit bitter and with the pairing
with the sweet of the chocolate is perfect. Of the
Sagarantino's perfect.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
We were told that historically pasito was served for Sunday roasts.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Pacito, of course was used because it was not so
sweet secentino. In Italy we made sweet wine with the
sugar residal around two hundred and fifty gram per liter.
Segatino is less than one hundred gram per lider eighteen ninety,
so it's not so sweet. It's sweet, but not so sweet.
So in the past people use also for the lamb
(27:41):
during the meal drinking. Sagarrantino, pascito and secondina facido was
the was the wine for the for the Christmas Eve
was there the wine of ulster time was the wine
to make a gift for all the farmers. They have
a lot of products, cheese, whye and olive oil, geese, chicken,
(28:03):
but they haven't money, so they make gift giving and
they paid. Sometime when the doctor makes a visit and
they having money to pay, they give a chicken a
bottle of pascito and a bottle of olive oil to
pay the doctor. This is the best way, and secondino
was the most important gift to make the second tin
of pasito. And the end of the nineties we started
(28:26):
to make second tina pascito also in the dry version,
because we founded a very important document of the nineteen
twenty five that was the catalog of a wine fair
in Monte Falcon nineteen twenty five, and we founded three
winers that the wine that made the showed in this
(28:48):
position was dry and sweet. Exactly was avocado that means sweet,
a little bit sweet and a shooto that means rye.
So we had the two versions of segentino sweet and
dry in the nineteen twenty five. Then, like I told
you before, after the Second War, the farmers changed sagarantino
(29:13):
without a kind of grape to make the table wine,
and they left some plants to make the segonantino bacito.
And the end of the seventies we started to make
dry wine with sagrantino grape.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
So interesting the history. There is another red wine we
should talk about that is a blended wine Montefalco di Rosso.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Let's discuss that Montefalcoroso is the easy drinking wine of
our area. Is made with the seventy percent of san Jovisi,
the most known grape in the middle of Italy, and
we blend with Sagrantino to try to make a unique Sanjovisi,
because you find san Jovis in the Midi Romannia, in Toscany,
(29:57):
Marque Umbria, in the north of Lazio. We're in the
middle of it and we would like to make a
unique san Jovis blending with Sagarantino. The mostly, of course
is san Jovis, the fifteen percent is Sagarantino, ten Merloo
and five corino. It's a wine that stays one year
in battle one thousand liter sides of the buttle and
(30:19):
minimum six months in bottom before this, minimum eighteen months
before this. In this moment we are selling in the
winey the winters twenty twenty two and Segentino is the
wine with the big meal when you eat something important.
Montivalcrosso is the daily wine you can drink and you
can pairing with everything, with calcotts, with pasta, with the
(30:44):
red meats, with the right white meats, so it is
easy to pairing with everything. Easy drinking and is the
most wine that we sell in the United States. The
mostly wine that we sell in the United States is
Montefalcroosso and Treviianos Polatino.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
It's probably the wine by the glass wine too, right, Yeah,
there are.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Two wines that we have a lot by the glass
in the United States because Sargentino usually we had also
some restaurants that made by the glass Agrantino by it's
more harder because it's a big higher priced. Montefalcrosso and
Tribianos pollatino they are perfect in the in the range
of the wine by the glass, so we sell a
lot because the real especially the entire restaurants, they proposed
(31:27):
the Montefalcrus and Tribianos paratino by the glass to the customers.
And now we need to talk about Tribiano's polatino, right, yes, exactly.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
I was just going to bring that up.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
So there is a there is a third main grape
in the region and it is called Trebiano's Polatino and
it is a type of trebiano. Why don't you tell
us about it because it's really unique to that area.
Speaker 4 (31:49):
Yeah, Tribiano's Polatino. I told you before, is the grape
of the valley. The original name, the origion of the
name is totally different than the other Tribano in Italy.
We have Tribiano in Tosca, we have Tribiana in a Brute,
so we have Tribiano in Lugan in a Garda lake.
Everywhere is made because Tribiano means the white, local white,
(32:10):
so we have the local white everywhere. Trebiano's Polatino. The
region of the name came from Trevi, the Latin name
of Trevi that was Trevia, so it's the grape that
grew up from Trebia and Spoleto. Trebia is the town
in front of Montefalco. Spolito is the most important town
of the Umbriaa in the lower side of the Umbria
Valley that closed the Umbria Valley and Tribianos. Pollatino was
(32:34):
so difficult to grow up this kind of grape because
it was the grape of the valley and the valley.
The farmers they can use the vina. The farmers in
the past they need to make to make everything, because
the first target of the farm was make the food
for the family, for the workers of the family, for
the animals, of the family. So they make cereals, they
make forests, they make other kinds of fruit vegetables in
(32:57):
the valley so they can use all the land of
the farm to make vineyards to grow up the vines
with the vineyar system and the valley they use a
very strange system. The system was called marriage system. What
means they used usually close to the road, close to
the border with another property to put some plants and
(33:19):
they grew up the vines in another kind of plants,
usually it was an l and the vines grow up
with this system. The grape that made these kind of
vines was one hundred eighty ninety, so a lot of production.
Because every years in the vinear were prune in the
grape the vines in the marriage system was impossible to
(33:40):
make the prodin. Now we changed the system and we
use the system of the hills. We use usually gouyo
and we made eight nine bunches per plant and Beamspolytina
is a very unusual white grape because all the other
white grape. The harvest in Italy in Europe is in
the August and in the start of September. We pick
(34:02):
up the grape of Tribiano spolatino in the second alpha October.
So we close the harvest with Tribiano Sporatino and Sagargantino.
So we pick up the grape of the white crape
when we close the harvest. This is very very unusual.
And when we pick up the Tribiano spolitina and the
second alpha October, we pick up usually eight nine bunches
per plant. Two three bunches are still green in the
(34:25):
second half of October. With the former system, the merriage
system was impossible to get the maturation. And this is
the reason because the most important and the most known
white crape in Umbria is Cricketo, is not Tribiano sporatino.
I promise you that in a few years Tribiano spolatino
will be the most important white crape in Umbria, especially
(34:49):
in the Sagargantino area, will be with Sagarantino, the white
indigenous grape that grew up in our area. Now we
pick up the grape in the second alph of October.
Then the grape stain in contact with the skin. One
night we made the coal maturation in contact with the skin.
The day after of the harvest, usually we press the
(35:09):
grape and then star fermentation. The secret of the flowers
of Tribiango's polytin is a very slow fermentation sixteen seventeen
degrees celsus for one month and then four months on
the fine least before the bottle. And Tribianos polatino is
a very very increasing Also in the in the nous
is many many flowers, peaches, fruit particularly, and there is
(35:35):
a very interesting balance between the acidity of the green
bunches that we pick up when we have the harvest
and the perfect maturation bunches. And it's perfect with zaffron,
with rice, with zaffron with white and black, travels with
all kinds of fish. So it's perfect for painting with
many many dishes that also that you use in the
(35:57):
United States.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
How would you compare or what wine or variety would
you compare to pianos pilatino two that our listeners may
be more familiar with.
Speaker 4 (36:12):
For the with the other white too with the red no,
because the Tribanos paratino I told you when you was
here is the more is the white wine more similar
than the red because the very late harvest, because we
need to wait the maturation of the grape in the
second half of October. There is not a kind of
grape with the harvest so late, and then there is
the contact with the skin. Usually when you pick up
(36:34):
the grape, the skin stay outside of the winery. We
have immediately depressing. Second Tribiano sparadino can stay also a
long time in contact with the skin. We are making
some experiment. Probably in the next year we will have
a Trebiano sparatino new version that make the contact with
the skin with the during the fermentation, so thirty thirty
(36:55):
five days in contact with the skin. So we are
trying to make an experiment and probably the next we
see that you come in my winery you can test
a second version of Tribiano sparatino. A limited edition of
Tribiano sporatino. And Tribiano sparatino is unique. Probably the flowers
and people that love in the United States Chardon, they can,
(37:18):
they fall in love with Tribiano's parlatina.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Of course, there you go.
Speaker 5 (37:23):
It's very aromatic one aromatic one, but also whole lot
of flinty minerality to it as well.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
It's very interesting kind of stealiness to it. You know,
it's interesting. He was talking about the marriage vines.
Speaker 5 (37:34):
We went to another winery, not yours, Valentino, but it
was near you, and they actually had some of those
legacy vines still growing on trees uh in their vineyard.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
It was very interesting to see that.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
It's a very small chocolate. It was a very small
winery and the founder was the father of Volentino.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
Yeah, they are very close to me because I'm in
the lower part of the hill of Montefalco and the
marriage system was the cis of the vallet that is
very very close to me. And I would like to
plant again because I would like to show the old system.
They say, if you show the picture of my grandfather
that probably you have we can see behind my grandfather
(38:15):
and the brothers the view that you have behind you.
But also the old system, the merriage system, the vines
that grow up in the other kind of of three
because the farmers they need to use all small piece
of land, and the merriage system was useful to use
all small piece of land close to the border, cross
(38:35):
to the road, because the farmers they need to use
all small piece of land. I remember you, Italy after
the Second War was so poor and the farmers try
to make the biggest production in the farm.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 5 (38:51):
On their website Bocala dot Wine, there's a there's a
very old black and white picture of I'm assuming it's
your grandfather with some ox and he's standing in front
of one of those old vines.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Yeah, the marriage fine.
Speaker 4 (39:05):
Exactly, I'm talking about this picture. There is my grandfather Giuseppe,
the brother Valentino, and the other brother widow. This picture
was talken probably in nineteen forty four because there is
a small child in front of three men. This child
was born in April forty two, so probably is a
child of two years two years and a half is
(39:27):
the elder cousin of my father. And this is the
picture that is the best promotion of the history of
Mawari because there is the land of Umbria, there is
the Trebianos Polatino old system my grandfather and my family
and the oaks that they used to work the land
is a very particular oaks kind of oaks. This is
(39:50):
called Canina that is famous in the middle of Italy,
in Toscany and Umbria, and they are very very different
than the other kind of oaks because you can see
very long legs and there was they need power to
work the land because they used this kind of oox
to work the soil before planting again the cereals, and
(40:10):
they worked the land usually in September, end of August
and start of September. And this picture was taken to
I think in the end of the summer forty four.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
You know, it's hard to imagine from the American viewpoint
how poor Italy was after the war, because the war
happened in Italy and Europe and we set troops over,
but we were not at war in the United States.
It was a different setting. And everywhere we travel, whether
it's Italy or France, we see the effect of the
(40:44):
wars and how everybody had to rebuild and replant and
rethink how to support their families. Since the end of
the day, it started with supporting families. When you talk
about cereal, Just to be clear for our American listeners,
you're talking about grains, so wheat and other kinds of grains,
not the cereal we get in a box here.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
And we never forgot that we can rebuild Italy tanks.
Thousands and thousand American young guys that went in Italy
to fight against the Nazis and the Fascists to give
the demogacy to Italy. So we can't forget.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
We can't. And what is great about it is those
wonderful men who served and some women who served. They
came back with an appreciation for Italian food and wine.
That really built the renaissance of Italian wine and food
grocery stores and restaurants in the United States. It's the
number one No now what Mexican is, but it's one
(41:45):
of the top cuisines in the United States. And that's
why Italian wines are so popular. And it all kind
of started from the era of the war. So let's
talk about visiting Bocali. For those who'd like to visit,
give us an idea of how to get there from
a major airport or from the town of Montefalco, and
what color tours you offer.
Speaker 4 (42:06):
I told you that we are exactly in the middle
of Itory. So the nearest airport, international airport is Rome
to hour and alf so very very close to Montefalco.
And then in Umbria you can visit the main capital
that is Peruja. Peruja is famous for the chocolate is
the bashe of Perugina is one of the famous chocolate
(42:27):
in Italy. We have three important towns for chocolate production, Torino,
Peruja and Modica in Sicily, so the three best chocolate
in Italy. And Peruja is famous for Perugina chocolate. Then
I told you before a Cisi that is the town
of San Francis. And we have many many small towns
like Montefalco, bevinyas Pelo. I told you before that we
(42:50):
were for six andre years under the pope domination, and
one important things thanks the pope domination was that the
Pope they need to make the communication through the most
important master of the rhinocence. And we have friscoes of
the master of riciencense everywhere, not also not only in
(43:10):
the big cities. You find in Spellopinturichio, you find in Peruja,
Pierre de la Francesca, you find the Perugino that was
Pietro Vanucci. In Montefalco you find the starting of rhinoce Cinumbia.
Montefalco is famous for two things we was talking about,
Sagarantino and the wine production from the Roman time. But
(43:32):
Montefalco is also famous for the starting of rhinocens we
make the introdution of the new vintage of Sangentino in
the San Francis Church, and in front of you was
the most important painting in Umbria of the starting of
Rhinocense fourteen fifty two painted by Benozzo, God's only Florentine
painting that means the start of the Rhinocencinumbia. Then you
(43:53):
find Philip Polypin's poleto signor Eli Norvieto. So Umbria is
a beautiful region, unknown region and you can visit Rome
and Florence and have a step in Umbria and visit
the most important wine region that is Montefalco. And we
have in Montafalco around eighty five wineries open every day
(44:15):
and like my one is a small one and we
are open every day minimum two times per days, eleven
in the morning and three pm in the afternoon to
make visit and tours in testing in the winery. Everywhere
you can visit and testing wine, olive oil, cereals because
we are also famous for cereals for calcats. Umbria is
(44:37):
famous for the Bannerina area and Nordia town that is
very important for the calcats and the hem If you
visit Rome, and you try to find the sandwich with ham.
The shop that sell calcats in Rome is called nord
s Gineria, and North Gineria take the name from the
(44:57):
name of Nordia. That is a town in Lumbia, famous
also for the black tuffers. So Lumbia, you can ever relax,
you can feel the real style of life of Italy.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
Well you said it's a heart. It's agreeed Italy. I
think it's the heart and I just want to echo.
I ate truffles every day. They were so good.
Speaker 4 (45:19):
The eggs is the best way to taste the truffles.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Just fabulous, just fabulous.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
Well, you know, and is the best breading.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
It is, it is, And you know, we really had
only tasted Trebiano Spalatino once prior when we first came
to Montefalco, and I think we both agreed that the
wines are being made even better than ever in the
second visit that we did. And it definitely is a
white wine for everyone to get their hands on and try.
And it's very farsatle with food. So again we've been
(45:54):
talking with Valentino Valentinio book Holli Winery. You were not
only the main of Mantifalco. But we think your an ambassador
for Umbria.
Speaker 4 (46:03):
I was so young when I was mayor. I was
twenty seven and it was elected for two terms. Yeah,
and wasn't very interesting time because was the time when
Montefalco changed a lot when I started one information when
I started the winery in Montefalco was nine when I
finished eighty five, because what's the time that all the
(46:27):
farmer like my family, from grape production they became wine production.
So they closed all the process from grain production to
the wine production. So we have a lot of grain
production around one hundred and sixty eighty five now make
the label and the bottling.
Speaker 2 (46:46):
That's a lot of progress. And there's some wonderful wineries
including book Holli. So we encourage everyone to there is
a consortio in Mantafalco. Is a Montafalco that you can
learn more information. And of course we have Bocali's website which.
Speaker 3 (47:02):
Is Bocalai dot wine.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Bookcllie dot Wine. We encourage everybody to take a look
and go to your local wine shop or restaurant and
ask to try some sacarantino into Montafalco and if they
have it Trebianas Bolletino, so you can learn from taste
for yourself how wonderful these wines are. Valentino Valentini, thank
you for joining us on the Connected Table. It's always
a pleasure to see you, and it's always a pleasure
(47:26):
to visit Montafalco.
Speaker 3 (47:27):
Right, David, we can't wait to go back regionday. Thank
you so much and certainly worthy of everybody's attention.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
Yeah, there's so much more to explore in Umbria. We
still haven't been to Perusia. We haven't been to a
lot of areas, but we're going to make it back.
So you've been listening to another edition of The Connected
Table Live based on our virtual background, we have been
near Montefalco in Umbria, the green heart of Italy. We
encourage you to check more information out on our website,
(47:55):
The Connected Table dot com. You can listen to this
show and all our podcasts on more than sixty five
channels around the world on demand anytime, and please check
out this show again and all our other shows on
the Connected Table TV. And we're part of Talk for Media.
So as always we love to say moto bene grazi
pertucti when we're talking we see, we raise a glass.
(48:23):
And to everyone who is watching and listening, always stay
insatiably curious.
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(00:21):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to the Connected Table Live. We're your hosts, Melanie
Young and David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple. We
enjoy bringing you the amazing people who were front and
center and behind the scenes in wine, food, spirits and
hospitality around the world. We're bringing you live today from
(01:02):
our virtual background, which is in Umbria. We are in Montefalco.
Monto Falco is a marvelous wine region in Umbria which
we have visited I think three times, right, David, Yes
it is.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
That was our third trip this past June.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah, and it's got some great history to it. And
we are going to be speaking today with a member
of a very historical family who's been an important family
in Montefalco for over a century. We are talking with
Valentino Volentini from the winery Bocali Boculi in Montefalco. He
(01:45):
is was a mayor of Montefalco at some point and
we'll talk about that. The winery was started by his grandfather, Giuseppe,
and we had the great pleasure. I've visited twice and
we visited together in June, so that Valentino Valentini, welcome
to the Connected table.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Chiao, good morning, Chao Melanie and Chao David. Thank you
to invite me today and thank you for coming to
visit my winery in June.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Well, we had such a great time while we were
with you, and it was that I think it was
a beautiful day. A little bit of rain came through
as we were standing out on your terrace and we
went inside and had some beautiful wines. So it's nice
to get you on the show to talk about your
family and your winery history, and a little bit about
your family history in Montefalco as well.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Yeah, my grandfather started in nineteen twenty six, so I'm
a long history for my winery and the two generation. Yeah,
that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
And you know what is your family's connection to Umbria
and Montefalco. You mentioned when you send us material that
the family has been involved for over a century. Give
us a short history on the long history.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Yeah, my grandfather and the family they moved from a
small town close to Montefalco, gualdo Catano, that is already
in the area of Sagrentino, from Gualdo Catania to Montefalco.
In the nineteen twenty six. They established in the hills
of the lower part of the site of the real
Montefalco that looked to Spoleto in the south east side,
(03:15):
and they started with the oil meal with the winery.
They have a big farm, fifty actors and they made
everything cereals, forage. They have a lot of animals, cow oaks,
and they make of course wine and olive oil. And
there was five brothers, twelve nepiws or a big family
like in the Italian style in this time, and people
(03:35):
the twenty in the farm of my grandfather. They bring
the jag, the unit of to buy one and dollive oil,
the two leader jack, the five leader jag forty five
was the bigger because the my grandfather, they don't make
the buttering light today. Now we bought in the nineteen
nive percent of our production. So people bring the unit
to buy one and dany boil. The unit of two
(03:58):
leaders was called bocal In the local dialect, Bocali means
two leader jag. And probably people started to say, we
would like to go to buy one Bocali too. Bocali
to the Valentini family, and then they started to call
my family Bocali, so Bocali became infuiosed the nickname of
my family. And when in my generation, the generation choose
(04:19):
to restore everything, we replanted all the farm. In the
end of the nineties, we building the building of the
winery and we started with a totally different system. With
the harvest two thousand and five, we choose in honor
to the founders, the name Bocali. So now we have
in our bottles, in all our wines, in our olive oil,
the brand Bocali, thanks to my grandfather and the brothers.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I love it. It's a great story and it's an
easy winery name to pronounce, and I could see it.
It's like in the United States, we have seven eleven.
The store is open from seven am to eleven pm
and people go to the seven eleven. So Bocali is
where you went and got your wine. But when did
you start bottling the wine and becoming a mon under winery.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
We started with the harvest two thousand and five. We
replanted the vineer in three years nineteen ninety nine, two thousand,
two thousand and one. And you know that when you
replanted all the vineyar, you need to wait minimum three
years to start to have grape. So we changed everything
was we invested in the indigenous grapes. So we planted
tre pianos polatino that is the white indigenous grape. We
(05:22):
planted sagrantino that is the indigenous grape. And we just
started with a new, totally new system with the harvest
two thousand and five. We change is also the kind
of the grape because you know, you need to know
that after the Second War, all the farmers they changed
the indigenous grape with the international grapes. Why because the
production paractor of the indigenous grape is very very low
(05:44):
and in the poor Italy. After the Second War, all
the farmers tried to change the kind of grape to
make more production, to have more income, and so they
changed with other kind of grapes. So we found a
very very small quantity of sagrantino in my vinia, so
we choose to invest it in the unique grape of
this area, trebianos Polatino, that is the grape of the
(06:06):
valley between Treve and Spoleto. Trevi is the town that
you have behind behind you, we can see a beautiful
view of the valley of the Umbria Valley and we
can see Trevi that give the name to the Tribanospolatino.
The Latin name of this time that is in front
of Montefalco was Trevia in the Roman time, so it's
(06:27):
the grape that grew up from Trevi and Spoleto. In
the opposite side, in front of you, there is the
hill of Montefalco and Sagarentino is traditionally the grape of
the hills, and four small towns around Montefalco they can
produce sagarantino. So it's a very very small are tiny,
tiny area for twenty five thousand people in the area
(06:47):
of Sacrantino. So we're invested in the indigenous grape and
we start to bottling all our production. We change also
the market because my grandfather market was a local market.
With the jug you can make a few kilometers. Now
we export around the seventy percent of our production. Your country,
the United States is the most important market for me.
We sell in twenty three states in the States, from
(07:11):
Washington State to Florida, from Massachusetts to Florida, and many
many countries also in the States. In the middle then
we sell of course in Canada, we sell in Brazil
or North Europe. We sell altso in Asia, in Taiwan
and Japan and South Korea, sometime in China. So we
try to we are a small windy because we produce
forty thousand bottle one step behind because all the farm
(07:35):
is twenty five acres and the vineyard is around fifteen acres,
and we produce a very small production forty thousand bottle
every years. We tried to have a warm market so
the seventy percent of our lines stay in the in
the export market.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
You know, that's quite an accomplishment for such a short
amount of time. Congratulations on that. I want to talk
about a little bit about what sets Ante Falco apart
from say, other regions in Umbria or that part of
Italy as well, because it's got a very unique tear war.
Sangretino is a gripe that really grows only there. Tell
us a little bit about segrantino, your main grape, and
(08:14):
then also the terar war that really helps it be
successful as a growing of course.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Yeah. The first information I would like to say where
is Zumbria, because Umbra is not one of the most
known region in the United States. Everybody knows Tascany, Sicily,
Rome of course, the big important town like Venice, like Naples.
We are cycling in the middle of Italy. Umbra is
one of the smaller region in Italy. We are recycling
between Rome and Florence. We are the green heart of Italy.
(08:45):
If you give a look in the picture behind you,
the first color that you can see is green. We
are the only region in the Peninsula area without the sea,
but we have a sea green because we have the
olive trees and the vines. That is the first colon
the color that you see when you see the hills
of Umbria. Umbria is famous for some frencis. Is the
(09:06):
town of Asisi probably is one of the most important
in Umbria and Montefalco is a very long history in
the wine process. Many many people think that Montefalco is
a very young area for wine production. We have many,
many documents from the Roman time from Pinion Vecchio that
he wrote about the vines in the hills of Montefalco
(09:26):
and Beavania. So we made wine in Montefarco from the
Roman times. Then in Montefalco we have in the ancient library.
You told me you was talking about that I was
the mayor of Montefarca. I was the mayor of from
nineteen ninety nine two two thousand and nine. And we'll
discover a lot of documents, all documents in the ancient
library of Montefalco. And we have many statues of the
(09:49):
town hall with the rule to grow up a grape,
to sell grape to make wine. And we have one
important document from the fifteen twenty that the town all
established the day to start the harvest. The documents started
to say nobody start to pick up the grape before
the twenty of September. Means that five hundred years ago
(10:10):
the quality of the grade was so important to make
high quality wines. Then we have a very interesting document
in Montefalco in the seventeen three when the town hall
the give the first license to sell a glass of
wine because before was not allowed to drink outside home.
You can buy a jug a damagean and bring home
(10:31):
and drink. And the Franciscan monks, they was very very
powerful because we were under the pope domination in this time,
in this side of Italy, in the middle of Italy,
we had six hundred years of pope domination and in
this time the town hall give to the Franciscan monks
the license to start a model wine bar. And then
we had a very strange time at black period the
(10:54):
last century, from the First World War and the Second
World War, and especially after the Long War, Montefalco lost
a lot of population from eight thousand people to five
thousand people in the north of Italy, in the north
of Europe, and we started to make wine with the
model process in the seventies. In the nineties Montefalco became
(11:16):
probably one of the most important area in Italy after
the big and the most known area like Toscany, venetov
uIP A. Monte, of course and in Italy started in
the eighties. In the nineties, a very interesting process. The
discover of all the indigenous grape in the center south
of Italy now Sicily is unknown then forty years ago
(11:39):
Pulia campaignia Umbria was totally unknown now and Sagarrentino was
the first area in the center south of Italy that started.
For this reason, when I was made from two thousand
and six to two thousand and nine, I was also
the president of Italian Wine Cities Association, because everybody recognized
that Montefalco was very very important in this time to
(12:02):
discover the indigenous grape in the south south that we
have and we'll discovered a very interesting indigenous grape that
is very old grape. The first document to talk about
Sagargentino is in the entire library of ASISI and this
is a document of the sixteenth century. So we know
that the name of Segantino, of the Segentino gray for
(12:22):
many many years. And this is the reason because we
get very very easily the highest level of quality, a
long history in the wine process, that is the Ochi
g is the highest level of the Italian quality wines.
That only sixty wine in Italy can have the label
of the Ochig on the top of the bottle, so
the maximum level of quality. And this is the reason
(12:44):
because we have a long history in the wine process.
From the sixteenth century, we made wine with Sagarentino grape
in the hills of Montefalco. Secondina is very particular grape
because a very slow production five tonescharacter usually a red
crape made eight nine tones paracter to make high quality wines.
Secondino is a very very small production, and this is
(13:06):
the reason because the farmers changed segrantino for other kind
of red grapes, like my grandfather in the end of
the seventies of the last century. In nineteen seventies we
founded probably one hundred thousands bought the plants wines of
secentino because the secondino was used only for the pacito version.
(13:27):
We have secentino dry and sagonantino posito. Why because we
have a very thick, thick skin, so we can dry
for two months two months and al secentino grape without
problem with the more so we can make a sweet
wine and dry wine with segantino. And after the Second
War everybody changed sagarantino with other kind of grape to
(13:48):
make the dry wine, the table whine and they use
Sagarantino only for the sweet version. In the end of
the seventies we started to make Sagarantino for the dry
wine and now probably is one of the ten most
important red grapes in Italy and red wine in Italy.
Seconilla another information is the most is the wine red
(14:09):
wine with the biggest concentration of antioxidant at all. Segantinlla
has four thousand milligram ores is bitter rollo. Then the
normal red grape in Italy and in the world has
around two thousand milligram per liter. It's very healthy wine.
If you drink one two glasses per milk of course,
and one interesting things and the last one and then
(14:30):
I give you the word to you when you see
the leaves in November, when all the vineyard change color
before fall down the leaves, all the leaves usually change
color in yellow from green to yellow. Segentino change in
red because the antioxidants stay on the skin and then
in the glass when you drink, also on the leaves.
This reason because turning red and not in yellow.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Well, we just had to go there in November, David,
because we were there in yeah hard and heydays the
first week or.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Weeks of November is beautiful. You can see all the
hills yellow with Sangioves and trebianos, Boltino and red with
with Sagarentino.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
So let's talk about what the name is, why is
it called Sagrantino, and let's talk about the property we
talked about. It's a very yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
We talked yeah, because very we we have a new
because we talked about We made many research about the
origin of Sagargentino. In the Latin name such a means mess,
means happy days, or means something that you need to
make a party. But we founded many documents in the
(15:41):
last five years that we discover a different origin of
the name Sagargentino. One step behind the origin of the
name of Montefalco come from Frederick Second, the emperor. After
the fall down of the Roman emperor, we had a
very important emperor in the in Italy from Germany and
it was famous. Frederick Second, the emperor was very was
(16:03):
famous for the for the university in Palermo and in Naples.
Was the founder of the first university in Italy. We
are talking about the thirteenth century and Montefalco. The name
the Roman name was called Corone that means on the
top of the hill, because Montefalco is exactly on the
top of the hill and Co Corone in the twelve
(16:23):
forty one changed name from co Corone to Montefalco thanks
Freedrico Segondo s Isheliah fedri Go Segondo Frederick Second. It
was famous for the hunting, not only not only for
the university, but also for the hunting with the hawks
with the falcon, and he wrote probably the most important
book in the in the world. Also today is the
(16:46):
most important book in the world that is called arts
of to hunt with the with the hawks. The arts
to are to hunt.
Speaker 6 (16:55):
With the with the with the hawks, and Montefalco is
exactly on the top of the hills us the falcon
to hunting downstairs in the valley, because the valley was
with a lot of the river lake and and was
useful to use the top of the hill and Montefalco
change from Cocrone to Montefalcon in this In this.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Time we founded also some documents that Frederic second wrote
to the headquarter. Because the headworker of Frederica Segondo was
in the south of Italy in Pulia, in Castel del
mount is a very beautiful castle in the north of Pulia.
It's famous, so famous that stay also in the euro
Mummy if you say the coin in the backside, there
(17:38):
is the castle of Frederica Segondo. And he was asking
the violachim that was a medieval medicine and it was
an natural antibiotic made with wine, sugar and violet metal
in infusion in the inside. And he has an answer
from the headquarter and he made the miolachium, the antibiotic
(18:00):
for the falcon and for in Montefalco with the local wine,
and Sagarrantino means the sacher, the wine that take care
to the soccer falcon, and sacher is exactly one kind
of falcon. We then lay Arabic name, so Fredriko Segondo
zwevia Fredrick Segon give the name to the town Montefalco
(18:22):
and to the wine Sagarantino. So we have a very
very long.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
History that's fascinating, and you know, it's really unique because
there is a town Montefalco, there is a region, and
there is a wine Sagrantino de Montefalco. And that sense
of place is so important because as we have said
Segrentino was only made in Montefalco. How would you describe?
(18:47):
And we can too because we tasted a few vintages
and expressions at Ocali. For those who are less familiar
with the expression of Sagrantino de Montefalco, how would you
describe it? How would you pair it?
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Segantino is a very powerful wine. Is a wine with
a very big thick skin, so we have a lot
of concentration of this wine. And it's a tiny wine,
so it's perfect to praying with a little bit fat meal,
like a steak, like a lamb, like a cheek, with
pasta with cheek. So it's a very it's important wine
(19:25):
and it's a wine with a lot of antioxidant inside.
For the American palate, probably one of the wine that
you made in the United States is a people that
like cap from California likes of course Sangarrantino, but it's
a different style. Because Italy is very lucky because we
made wine with seven under different kinds of grapes, so
(19:48):
Italy is the only country in the world that make
unique wine. Segantino grew up or in four small town
around Montefalco like other kinds other seven under different kind
of grape OLiS angels you find everywhere in the middle
of Italy. All the other grape like Tribiano's politico or
the white indigenous grape grow up only in seven small town.
And you know that the town in Italy is not
(20:10):
like the town in the United States. Monte Falco is
five thousand people. All they are of Segentino is twenty
five thousand people, So it's a very very small, tiny area.
And we change a lot of Sagargantino process in the
last year because we would like to the secondino was
so tunny in the past. We so we need to
(20:31):
wait a lot of time to drink this wine. Now
we change two important things the timing of the harvest
because in the past we pick up the grape probably
two harvest to to to too early, because we need
to weigh the balance of two different maturations, the sugar
maturation and the phenolic maturation. The sugar maturation is done
(20:54):
in the end of September. The phenolic maturation you need
to wait close to the end of October. And in
the last years we wait the freenolic motoration because we
are more velvet tone in the secontino. And then we
change also the process in the winery from the big
sides of the battle to the from the small barrel,
and we went back to the big sides of the battle.
(21:16):
You know that the barrel made two different kinds of
works in different way, the meg oxygenation and the test
of the wood in the to the wine, the migoxigenation
in the big barrel. We need more time, but the
time is not the problem for us. The rule of
Secontein is three years of aging in the winery, and
our Segantino stayed two years in battle and minimum one
year in bottle. The second world that the wood. The
(21:38):
maid is given the test of the wood to the wine.
Smaller is the butter, and new is the hook. More
heavy is the test of the wood. The bigger is
the size of the wood, and order is the wood.
Less is the test of the wood. I told you
we made wine with seven and the different kind of grape.
We made unique wine. So we would like to make
(21:59):
segonantino with the regional characteristic. This is the reason because
we use the big size of the wood and old wood.
We clean the wood to preserve for a long time
with the steam machine, so we sterilize the button when
we change, so we can use for many, many years
without without probit. We produce around eight nine thousand bottles
(22:20):
per years of sacatino, and you can find in the
in the Italian restaurants in the most important town in
the United States, and also in the selectic in the
wine shop in the United States. The mostly market for
me is the United States, so you find my secontino
everywhere in the United States.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
You know, it's a it's a deep, velvety, lush wine.
It would be really good with lamb and of course
a good steak, but also some aged cheeses andsotos. It's
really a lovely wine and it's one you want to savor.
You know, this is not your let's kick it back wine.
(22:59):
It's a same it's a savory wine and just absolutely lovely.
We tasted a few expressions. You have one named after
your father. Tell us the differences, and the one you
produce a vocali.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
Yeah, the name of the onery is in honor to
the third generation, and the first selection that we made
is in honor to the second generation from my father,
and you know, and every year so I told you
we change which we try to make something different to
understand what happened with the longer age, in different kind
of measuration, different timing of harvest. We make an experiment
(23:34):
every years. We try to find the best way for
our customers, and we haven't. We stay stopped because we
need to change every time the palat of people. They
lack different wines. So with the same grape we can
make different kind of wine with different processes. And with
Segrentino we change a lot of content with the skin.
(23:56):
In the past, we had fourteen fifty days of contact
with the skin. In now we are around forty forty
five days. We had a different kind of content, longer
but software contact because before we made fifteen twenty days,
but four or five pumping over every day. That means
that wet making contact the skin with all the juice
(24:19):
and the wine for five time in the day. Now
we have a longer content or only one pumping over
per days, and we have a softer and more drinkable times.
In the second team, and we say, what happened if
we made the softer contact with the skin less than
one pumping over is in per days is impossible but
we can make by hand a software contact by hand,
(24:42):
so we make the pushing down by hand, and this
job was made for my father Anyo. We started using
the big the barrel five and the leaders opening the
top side butter that we use it in the past
for aging the wine. And my father made the pushing
down and we have a off the contact with the skin.
But this way we can make only one thousand, one thousand,
(25:04):
two hundred bottles of very very small quantity and a
limited edition all the bottle of venual like in this vintage,
the nineteen that you tested, we made one thousand, four
hundred and twenty six bottle every years. And the name
of the wine exactly is Montefalco Sagarantino Ennuo in honor
to my father Ennio.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
That's so nice, you know.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
I find Sagarantino very interesting, great because historically it was
made as a sweet wine, and it really wasn't until
the until the last century, the late last century, that
they started making it as a dry wine. But the
tenants I also find. You think it's a huge wine
because it's high alcohol, it's got a lot of body
to it, but the tennants are very fine and very
(25:49):
silky in my opinion, and it lends very beautifully to
a dry red wine.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
And the time in the ten it's made a very
interesting wine in the pacito version because paciito made with
Sagrantino grape. It was for many many years the only
paciito made with red grape. The Ochi g the ochig
was talking before, is the highest level of the Italian wines,
and all the other pacito in Italy is made with
(26:17):
white grape. Now we have also rich otto of val polygella.
This is also the ochig A Sagarrantino pacido was in
nineteen ninety two the first paciito the Ochi g made
with red grape, and it's very particular and unusual pacito
sweet wine because thanks the tannins of Segentino, the starting
(26:37):
in the mouth is sweet, but the end is dry
because the tann is cleaning media to your mouth. So
also people that don't like so much sweet wine drink
pacido of Sagarrantino because the land in the mouth is
dry and you have two kinds of pairing with a
cheese is perfect. And also all the desert with chocolate,
the best pairing in the desert is sagarantino, pacito and
(27:00):
chocolate because and especially the bitter chocolate bigger the dark chocolate,
because it's a little bit bitter and with the pairing
with the sweet of the chocolate is perfect. Of the
Sagarantino's perfect.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
We were told that historically pasito was served for Sunday roasts.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Pacito, of course was used because it was not so
sweet secentino. In Italy we made sweet wine with the
sugar residal around two hundred and fifty gram per liter.
Segatino is less than one hundred gram per lider eighteen ninety,
so it's not so sweet. It's sweet, but not so sweet.
So in the past people use also for the lamb
(27:41):
during the meal drinking. Sagarrantino, pascito and secondina facido was
the was the wine for the for the Christmas Eve
was there the wine of ulster time was the wine
to make a gift for all the farmers. They have
a lot of products, cheese, whye and olive oil, geese, chicken,
(28:03):
but they haven't money, so they make gift giving and
they paid. Sometime when the doctor makes a visit and
they having money to pay, they give a chicken a
bottle of pascito and a bottle of olive oil to
pay the doctor. This is the best way, and secondino
was the most important gift to make the second tin
of pasito. And the end of the nineties we started
(28:26):
to make second tina pascito also in the dry version,
because we founded a very important document of the nineteen
twenty five that was the catalog of a wine fair
in Monte Falcon nineteen twenty five, and we founded three
winers that the wine that made the showed in this
(28:48):
position was dry and sweet. Exactly was avocado that means sweet,
a little bit sweet and a shooto that means rye.
So we had the two versions of segentino sweet and
dry in the nineteen twenty five. Then, like I told
you before, after the Second War, the farmers changed sagarantino
(29:13):
without a kind of grape to make the table wine,
and they left some plants to make the segonantino bacito.
And the end of the seventies we started to make
dry wine with sagrantino grape.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
So interesting the history. There is another red wine we
should talk about that is a blended wine Montefalco di Rosso.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Let's discuss that Montefalcoroso is the easy drinking wine of
our area. Is made with the seventy percent of san Jovisi,
the most known grape in the middle of Italy, and
we blend with Sagrantino to try to make a unique Sanjovisi,
because you find san Jovis in the Midi Romannia, in Toscany,
(29:57):
Marque Umbria, in the north of Lazio. We're in the
middle of it and we would like to make a
unique san Jovis blending with Sagarantino. The mostly, of course
is san Jovis, the fifteen percent is Sagarantino, ten Merloo
and five corino. It's a wine that stays one year
in battle one thousand liter sides of the buttle and
(30:19):
minimum six months in bottom before this, minimum eighteen months
before this. In this moment we are selling in the
winey the winters twenty twenty two and Segentino is the
wine with the big meal when you eat something important.
Montivalcrosso is the daily wine you can drink and you
can pairing with everything, with calcotts, with pasta, with the
(30:44):
red meats, with the right white meats, so it is
easy to pairing with everything. Easy drinking and is the
most wine that we sell in the United States. The
mostly wine that we sell in the United States is
Montefalcroosso and Treviianos Polatino.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
It's probably the wine by the glass wine too, right, Yeah,
there are.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Two wines that we have a lot by the glass
in the United States because Sargentino usually we had also
some restaurants that made by the glass Agrantino by it's
more harder because it's a big higher priced. Montefalcrosso and
Tribianos pollatino they are perfect in the in the range
of the wine by the glass, so we sell a
lot because the real especially the entire restaurants, they proposed
(31:27):
the Montefalcrus and Tribianos paratino by the glass to the customers.
And now we need to talk about Tribiano's polatino, right, yes, exactly.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
I was just going to bring that up.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
So there is a there is a third main grape
in the region and it is called Trebiano's Polatino and
it is a type of trebiano. Why don't you tell
us about it because it's really unique to that area.
Speaker 4 (31:49):
Yeah, Tribiano's Polatino. I told you before, is the grape
of the valley. The original name, the origion of the
name is totally different than the other Tribano in Italy.
We have Tribiano in Tosca, we have Tribiana in a Brute,
so we have Tribiano in Lugan in a Garda lake.
Everywhere is made because Tribiano means the white, local white,
(32:10):
so we have the local white everywhere. Trebiano's Polatino. The
region of the name came from Trevi, the Latin name
of Trevi that was Trevia, so it's the grape that
grew up from Trebia and Spoleto. Trebia is the town
in front of Montefalco. Spolito is the most important town
of the Umbriaa in the lower side of the Umbria
Valley that closed the Umbria Valley and Tribianos. Pollatino was
(32:34):
so difficult to grow up this kind of grape because
it was the grape of the valley and the valley.
The farmers they can use the vina. The farmers in
the past they need to make to make everything, because
the first target of the farm was make the food
for the family, for the workers of the family, for
the animals, of the family. So they make cereals, they
make forests, they make other kinds of fruit vegetables in
(32:57):
the valley so they can use all the land of
the farm to make vineyards to grow up the vines
with the vineyar system and the valley they use a
very strange system. The system was called marriage system. What
means they used usually close to the road, close to
the border with another property to put some plants and
(33:19):
they grew up the vines in another kind of plants,
usually it was an l and the vines grow up
with this system. The grape that made these kind of
vines was one hundred eighty ninety, so a lot of production.
Because every years in the vinear were prune in the
grape the vines in the marriage system was impossible to
(33:40):
make the prodin. Now we changed the system and we
use the system of the hills. We use usually gouyo
and we made eight nine bunches per plant and Beamspolytina
is a very unusual white grape because all the other
white grape. The harvest in Italy in Europe is in
the August and in the start of September. We pick
(34:02):
up the grape of Tribiano spolatino in the second alpha October.
So we close the harvest with Tribiano Sporatino and Sagargantino.
So we pick up the grape of the white crape
when we close the harvest. This is very very unusual.
And when we pick up the Tribiano spolitina and the
second alpha October, we pick up usually eight nine bunches
per plant. Two three bunches are still green in the
(34:25):
second half of October. With the former system, the merriage
system was impossible to get the maturation. And this is
the reason because the most important and the most known
white crape in Umbria is Cricketo, is not Tribiano sporatino.
I promise you that in a few years Tribiano spolatino
will be the most important white crape in Umbria, especially
(34:49):
in the Sagargantino area, will be with Sagarantino, the white
indigenous grape that grew up in our area. Now we
pick up the grape in the second alph of October.
Then the grape stain in contact with the skin. One
night we made the coal maturation in contact with the skin.
The day after of the harvest, usually we press the
(35:09):
grape and then star fermentation. The secret of the flowers
of Tribiango's polytin is a very slow fermentation sixteen seventeen
degrees celsus for one month and then four months on
the fine least before the bottle. And Tribianos polatino is
a very very increasing Also in the in the nous
is many many flowers, peaches, fruit particularly, and there is
(35:35):
a very interesting balance between the acidity of the green
bunches that we pick up when we have the harvest
and the perfect maturation bunches. And it's perfect with zaffron,
with rice, with zaffron with white and black, travels with
all kinds of fish. So it's perfect for painting with
many many dishes that also that you use in the
(35:57):
United States.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
How would you compare or what wine or variety would
you compare to pianos pilatino two that our listeners may
be more familiar with.
Speaker 4 (36:12):
For the with the other white too with the red no,
because the Tribanos paratino I told you when you was
here is the more is the white wine more similar
than the red because the very late harvest, because we
need to wait the maturation of the grape in the
second half of October. There is not a kind of
grape with the harvest so late, and then there is
the contact with the skin. Usually when you pick up
(36:34):
the grape, the skin stay outside of the winery. We
have immediately depressing. Second Tribiano sparadino can stay also a
long time in contact with the skin. We are making
some experiment. Probably in the next year we will have
a Trebiano sparatino new version that make the contact with
the skin with the during the fermentation, so thirty thirty
(36:55):
five days in contact with the skin. So we are
trying to make an experiment and probably the next we
see that you come in my winery you can test
a second version of Tribiano sparatino. A limited edition of
Tribiano sporatino. And Tribiano sparatino is unique. Probably the flowers
and people that love in the United States Chardon, they can,
(37:18):
they fall in love with Tribiano's parlatina.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Of course, there you go.
Speaker 5 (37:23):
It's very aromatic one aromatic one, but also whole lot
of flinty minerality to it as well.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
It's very interesting kind of stealiness to it. You know,
it's interesting. He was talking about the marriage vines.
Speaker 5 (37:34):
We went to another winery, not yours, Valentino, but it
was near you, and they actually had some of those
legacy vines still growing on trees uh in their vineyard.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
It was very interesting to see that.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
It's a very small chocolate. It was a very small
winery and the founder was the father of Volentino.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
Yeah, they are very close to me because I'm in
the lower part of the hill of Montefalco and the
marriage system was the cis of the vallet that is
very very close to me. And I would like to
plant again because I would like to show the old system.
They say, if you show the picture of my grandfather
that probably you have we can see behind my grandfather
(38:15):
and the brothers the view that you have behind you.
But also the old system, the merriage system, the vines
that grow up in the other kind of of three
because the farmers they need to use all small piece
of land, and the merriage system was useful to use
all small piece of land close to the border, cross
(38:35):
to the road, because the farmers they need to use
all small piece of land. I remember you, Italy after
the Second War was so poor and the farmers try
to make the biggest production in the farm.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 5 (38:51):
On their website Bocala dot Wine, there's a there's a
very old black and white picture of I'm assuming it's
your grandfather with some ox and he's standing in front
of one of those old vines.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Yeah, the marriage fine.
Speaker 4 (39:05):
Exactly, I'm talking about this picture. There is my grandfather Giuseppe,
the brother Valentino, and the other brother widow. This picture
was talken probably in nineteen forty four because there is
a small child in front of three men. This child
was born in April forty two, so probably is a
child of two years two years and a half is
(39:27):
the elder cousin of my father. And this is the
picture that is the best promotion of the history of
Mawari because there is the land of Umbria, there is
the Trebianos Polatino old system my grandfather and my family
and the oaks that they used to work the land
is a very particular oaks kind of oaks. This is
(39:50):
called Canina that is famous in the middle of Italy,
in Toscany and Umbria, and they are very very different
than the other kind of oaks because you can see
very long legs and there was they need power to
work the land because they used this kind of oox
to work the soil before planting again the cereals, and
(40:10):
they worked the land usually in September, end of August
and start of September. And this picture was taken to
I think in the end of the summer forty four.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
You know, it's hard to imagine from the American viewpoint
how poor Italy was after the war, because the war
happened in Italy and Europe and we set troops over,
but we were not at war in the United States.
It was a different setting. And everywhere we travel, whether
it's Italy or France, we see the effect of the
(40:44):
wars and how everybody had to rebuild and replant and
rethink how to support their families. Since the end of
the day, it started with supporting families. When you talk
about cereal, Just to be clear for our American listeners,
you're talking about grains, so wheat and other kinds of grains,
not the cereal we get in a box here.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
And we never forgot that we can rebuild Italy tanks.
Thousands and thousand American young guys that went in Italy
to fight against the Nazis and the Fascists to give
the demogacy to Italy. So we can't forget.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
We can't. And what is great about it is those
wonderful men who served and some women who served. They
came back with an appreciation for Italian food and wine.
That really built the renaissance of Italian wine and food
grocery stores and restaurants in the United States. It's the
number one No now what Mexican is, but it's one
(41:45):
of the top cuisines in the United States. And that's
why Italian wines are so popular. And it all kind
of started from the era of the war. So let's
talk about visiting Bocali. For those who'd like to visit,
give us an idea of how to get there from
a major airport or from the town of Montefalco, and
what color tours you offer.
Speaker 4 (42:06):
I told you that we are exactly in the middle
of Itory. So the nearest airport, international airport is Rome
to hour and alf so very very close to Montefalco.
And then in Umbria you can visit the main capital
that is Peruja. Peruja is famous for the chocolate is
the bashe of Perugina is one of the famous chocolate
(42:27):
in Italy. We have three important towns for chocolate production, Torino,
Peruja and Modica in Sicily, so the three best chocolate
in Italy. And Peruja is famous for Perugina chocolate. Then
I told you before a Cisi that is the town
of San Francis. And we have many many small towns
like Montefalco, bevinyas Pelo. I told you before that we
(42:50):
were for six andre years under the pope domination, and
one important things thanks the pope domination was that the
Pope they need to make the communication through the most
important master of the rhinocence. And we have friscoes of
the master of riciencense everywhere, not also not only in
(43:10):
the big cities. You find in Spellopinturichio, you find in Peruja,
Pierre de la Francesca, you find the Perugino that was
Pietro Vanucci. In Montefalco you find the starting of rhinoce Cinumbia.
Montefalco is famous for two things we was talking about,
Sagarantino and the wine production from the Roman time. But
(43:32):
Montefalco is also famous for the starting of rhinocens we
make the introdution of the new vintage of Sangentino in
the San Francis Church, and in front of you was
the most important painting in Umbria of the starting of
Rhinocense fourteen fifty two painted by Benozzo, God's only Florentine
painting that means the start of the Rhinocencinumbia. Then you
(43:53):
find Philip Polypin's poleto signor Eli Norvieto. So Umbria is
a beautiful region, unknown region and you can visit Rome
and Florence and have a step in Umbria and visit
the most important wine region that is Montefalco. And we
have in Montafalco around eighty five wineries open every day
(44:15):
and like my one is a small one and we
are open every day minimum two times per days, eleven
in the morning and three pm in the afternoon to
make visit and tours in testing in the winery. Everywhere
you can visit and testing wine, olive oil, cereals because
we are also famous for cereals for calcats. Umbria is
(44:37):
famous for the Bannerina area and Nordia town that is
very important for the calcats and the hem If you
visit Rome, and you try to find the sandwich with ham.
The shop that sell calcats in Rome is called nord
s Gineria, and North Gineria take the name from the
(44:57):
name of Nordia. That is a town in Lumbia, famous
also for the black tuffers. So Lumbia, you can ever relax,
you can feel the real style of life of Italy.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
Well you said it's a heart. It's agreeed Italy. I
think it's the heart and I just want to echo.
I ate truffles every day. They were so good.
Speaker 4 (45:19):
The eggs is the best way to taste the truffles.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Just fabulous, just fabulous.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
Well, you know, and is the best breading.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
It is, it is, And you know, we really had
only tasted Trebiano Spalatino once prior when we first came
to Montefalco, and I think we both agreed that the
wines are being made even better than ever in the
second visit that we did. And it definitely is a
white wine for everyone to get their hands on and try.
And it's very farsatle with food. So again we've been
(45:54):
talking with Valentino Valentinio book Holli Winery. You were not
only the main of Mantifalco. But we think your an ambassador
for Umbria.
Speaker 4 (46:03):
I was so young when I was mayor. I was
twenty seven and it was elected for two terms. Yeah,
and wasn't very interesting time because was the time when
Montefalco changed a lot when I started one information when
I started the winery in Montefalco was nine when I
finished eighty five, because what's the time that all the
(46:27):
farmer like my family, from grape production they became wine production.
So they closed all the process from grain production to
the wine production. So we have a lot of grain
production around one hundred and sixty eighty five now make
the label and the bottling.
Speaker 2 (46:46):
That's a lot of progress. And there's some wonderful wineries
including book Holli. So we encourage everyone to there is
a consortio in Mantafalco. Is a Montafalco that you can
learn more information. And of course we have Bocali's website which.
Speaker 3 (47:02):
Is Bocalai dot wine.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Bookcllie dot Wine. We encourage everybody to take a look
and go to your local wine shop or restaurant and
ask to try some sacarantino into Montafalco and if they
have it Trebianas Bolletino, so you can learn from taste
for yourself how wonderful these wines are. Valentino Valentini, thank
you for joining us on the Connected Table. It's always
a pleasure to see you, and it's always a pleasure
(47:26):
to visit Montafalco.
Speaker 3 (47:27):
Right, David, we can't wait to go back regionday. Thank
you so much and certainly worthy of everybody's attention.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
Yeah, there's so much more to explore in Umbria. We
still haven't been to Perusia. We haven't been to a
lot of areas, but we're going to make it back.
So you've been listening to another edition of The Connected
Table Live based on our virtual background, we have been
near Montefalco in Umbria, the green heart of Italy. We
encourage you to check more information out on our website,
(47:55):
The Connected Table dot com. You can listen to this
show and all our podcasts on more than sixty five
channels around the world on demand anytime, and please check
out this show again and all our other shows on
the Connected Table TV. And we're part of Talk for Media.
So as always we love to say moto bene grazi
pertucti when we're talking we see, we raise a glass.
(48:23):
And to everyone who is watching and listening, always stay
insatiably curious.
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