January 10, 2024 • 43 mins
The name Biondi-Santi is synonymous with the Brunello wines of Tuscany’s Montalcino. At Biondi-Santi family estate, Tenute Il Greppo, Ferrucio Biondi Santi first barrel-aged 100% Sangiovese Grosso in 1888, naming it “Brunello di Montalcino.” In 2017 family owner, Jacopo Biondi-Santi, sold the winery to French firm EPI. Many wondered what would change. Biondi-Santi CEO Giampiero Bertolini is a wine industry veteran committed to maintaining the tradition and high standards of this storied wine.
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The Connected Table Radio Show is broadcast on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
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Welcome to the Connected Table live whereyour hosts Melanie Young and David Ransom.
You're insatiably curious culinary couple. Wetravel the world to bring you our
listeners, the dynamic people who arekfront and center and behind the scenes in
wine, food, spirits and hospitality. We'd love sharing their stories with you,
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and you can find all our showson more than forty and more podcast
channels to be heard around the worldon demand, and of course, please
follow us on Instagram At the ConnectedTable. We're taking you today to Tuscany
to a storied winery. The nameBEYONDI Santi is synonymous with the Brunello wines
(01:22):
of Tuscanese Montulcino area. It wasat the Beyondi Santi family estate Tonuto Algreppo,
the Feruccio Beyondi Santi first barrel agedone percent Sangioveesi Grosso in eighteen eighty
eight, thereby inventing Runello di Montalcinoas we know it today. That's right,
(01:44):
Melanie regarded as a pillar of theItalian wine community and a staunch advocate
for traditional wines and viticulture over theensuing decades. It came as a shock
to many when in twenty seventeen thelast family owner, Jacopo Beyondi Santi,
decided to sell the estate and relatedwinery holdings to the French firm EPI,
who also owns the French champagne houseCharles Heisig, Piper Heizik and by default,
(02:09):
one of California's sparkling wines, PiperSonoma. So thoughts of what will
they do with it cross people's minds. It will never be the same,
yet not much as change. Thenew owners have kept things much as they
were while installing a new CEO atbiondi Sante Wine Industry, veteran Gianpiero Bertolini,
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and they've kept on winemaker Federico Roddi, who took the helm of production
in twenty seventeen to oversee the estate'sunique heritage and continuation of the original mission
to make world class wines of exceptionalquality and small quantity. We are joined
today by Jimparo Bertolini to discuss thishistoric estate and the vision for the future.
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Jemparo Bertolini has spent sixs Marquesi theFrescobaldi Group as marketing director, and
he took over as global marketing andsales director for the four brands of this
group. He's had a long careerin the industry. He worked for Procter
and Gamble for many years working inthe consumer products goods, moved into wine,
and of course now he is CEOat BEYONDI Santi. Welcome, Welcome,
(03:21):
Thank you, Melanie, Thank youDavid for inviting me. Jempero,
We're so glad to have you onthe show. Tell us a little bit
about your personal background where you grewup. You live in Tuscany, but
you weren't actually born there, sowe'd love to hear that backstory a little
bit. Yes, I'm living intoscan I feel Toscan. But I was
born in South America, specifically inEcuador, I would say almost by chance,
(03:43):
because my family was there in thatperiod. My father used to work
in the hospitality business, so Iwas traveling. I mean, they were
traveling quite a lot, and thatwas something very important for me because the
open mind kind of my father andmy mother really helped me to understand the
things from a different point of view. Despite I grew up most of my
(04:08):
life in Tuscany, and that's whyI'm feeling Tuscan originally. But this mentality
of my parents that they moved seventeendifferent cases houses in their lives, so
can you imagine. So that's goodand bad. But I would say I
got this nice view of the world, which is a little bit different if
(04:28):
you live just in one place allyour life. So this is where I'm
from, and since I was seven, I'm living in Tuscany basically, and
I grew up here, I studiedhere, and then when I wore I
started working, I start traveling alsoand working abroad, and I'm back in
(04:49):
this fantastic world which is the wineand Tuscan is an incredible place to live
and to work in wine Wow,you have hospitality in your DNA, Jimparo,
but you have degrees in international marketing. You attended the International Marketing program
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, andyou had a fairly significant career working for
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Procter and Gamble for many years first, which as we know, is a
very tough corporate consumer products, goodgoods company and excellent training. So what
did you learn from that part ofyour life to bring to Marcesi de Frescobaldi
and how did that connection work toget you into the wine industry with Marchesi
(05:35):
de Frescobaldi. Well, the PNGexperience has been absolutely functional for me to
develop my career because, more thananything else, is a great school and
spending almost ten years there was anincredible experience learning a lot about how to
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manage people, to manage resources.It's not only about my marketing, it's
about management generally speaking. And thatobviously was what I brought and what I
have inherited from that experience, andI brought in my newer experience first off
Friscobaldi and after beyond this ane sothat that was really important for me because
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when I got into Frescobaldi, Ididn't have any wine experience. I was
just a consumer, passionate consumer,but not really a wine consumer a wine
manager. So I got the experiencefrom the estate from the company, and
that was matched by with my managementapproach which was inherited by PNG. That
(06:43):
was a good a good thing,I would say, But believe me,
I had to listen a lot atthe beginning, because I mean, wine
is different from consumers in general terms, and you have to really understand all
the nuances for each of the differentkind of wines we were selling. And
(07:03):
I had to really to listen forseveral years before really learning how to manage
things properly. You know, Davidand Jempero. That's so true because with
consumer product goods, everything's pretty muchthe same. You tweak product, you
launch a new product. But withwine, you're talking about a product that
starts with nature, and as weall know, nature can be temperamental.
(07:28):
You don't know vintage to vintage whatwill happen. But what's interesting, what
I always learned coming from a marketingbackground, is that you're the expert,
and you lend your expertise to thepeople who are experts in what they're doing.
So your value to what you broughtwas incredible because you didn't need to
know wine. You need to knowthe business end of it, and then
you learn the wine. Just toapply your knowledge to Frescobaldi and now Byonde
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Sante exactly that was exactly the goodbench kitting at the beginning, then to
the commercial and that was very wellmatched with their wine experience, and this
honesty was a very good combination factor. You know, it's very interesting to
me how he goes from such alarge company like Frescobaldi to then running BEYONDI
Santi, which historically is a veryfairly small estate. Right, So,
(08:18):
Jimperra, let's talk about BEYONDI Santi. You took over the reins in was
it twenty twenty, No, itwas twenty eighteen. At the end of
eighteen it became filmed at the history. So let's talk a little bit about
the history of the estate from itsfounding and the BEYONDI Santi families, who
really are pioneers in the production ofBrunello. As we mentioned in the intro,
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we'd love to get a little bitof the backstory about the family and
the estate and up until the timethat you took over. Yeah, this
is an incredible unique history in Italy. I always get very passionate when I'm
talking about this, so you haveto stop me, Stop me, please,
because I could talk for two hours. But it's an incredible history that,
(09:00):
as you mentioned with Ferruccio, beyondthis, Anti actually started twenty years
before him, when Clemente Anti inventedthe name Brunello, which comes from the
color of the red wine. BrunoItalian means means dark, so Brunello is
a little darker. But the realwine, Brunello wine was produced by by
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Ferruccio. And it's very important tounderstand that that the Italian wine making in
that period, because it was allabout quantity and nothing about quality, and
Ferruccio instead he decided to do somethingvery qualitative when here with a very distinctive
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characteristic, which was longevity, whichis really what is even today distinguished very
much beyond this Anti from all overthe other producer. And it took a
very difficult way because it decided todo so with just one b idel sancho
with the gross as you mentioned atthe beginning, and this was very very
unique because in that period to growand to to write the Sanjos Grosser Montacio
(10:11):
was not very easy. Sanjos isa difficult but itels. But anyway,
he decided to go in this directionand that was a great thing because the
wines that are I mean, westill have all the reserve produced since the
very beginning, so we can reallyprove that the history is there and the
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longevity is there. That believing Ihave a chance to taste very old vintages
and this is really really cool.So the first real member was Ferrucco,
but I always like to mention acouple of others. One is Ferruccio song,
which is incredible on this Tankredi hasbeen an incredible and incredible wine maker,
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an incredible consultant because it was consultingin many a state in Italy,
not only working for the Grippo,and it did a couple of very important
things. First one was in thesixties when the Talian government decided to define
to create the new appellation of Brunellodi Montaccino. He decided to ask tan
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Credibion des Anti to write the rulesto define the quality of Brunello di Montaccino,
and these rules are still followed today. All the producer today more than
two hundred producer in Montacino following thisrule. So we can say that the
family was functional to create the quality, the level of quality that we wanted
(11:41):
to achieve in the area. Butalso it was the as I mentioned,
a great winemaker, and it didthe famous vintage ninety fifty five reserve,
which was considered by Wine Spectator oneof the twelve most important wine in the
last century. That was the onlyItalian wine in this special ranking. And
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to believe me, I had thechance to taste it recently and that was
absolutely amazing. Still it's so young, so fresh, after so many years.
There was something very special in thatone. And then Tan Credy.
Then Tan Credy's son, Franco isI would say, another incredible member of
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this dynasty. And Franco started innineteen seventy one. His last vintach was
twenty twelve, which we have releasedfour years ago. And Franco was a
different personality from the father. Wasmore austere person, but it was called
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the Gentleman of Brunello. Very elegantperson, very respectful. It's an incredible
has been an incredible person. Wasalso a very good technician to the end
that it was the one that selectedthe famous clone BBS eleven, which means
Brunello beyond this Anti eleven. Thatwas the first clone of Sanchos grosssoever who
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carried who was authorized to carry thename of the family in Italy. Because
it was such an qualitative studies thatlasted seven years the state with the University
of Florence, that the talent governmentaccepted to give the name BBS eleven Brunello
beyond this Anti the name of thefamily. And today the wines that we
(13:37):
are still producing, majority of thevinyard planted with the BBS eleven. And
then it did also something again veryfunctional to increase the value of the appellation,
and it was nothing technical, butit was more a sort of lobbing
for the appellation. He organized anincredible event at the estate in nineteen ninety
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four inviting fifteen of the most importantjournalists from all over the world and showing
the quality of a very good Sanjoveseand more specifically organized a vertical testing covering
one hundred years from eighty eighty eightto nineteen eighty eight. And all this
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was organized because in that period forBEYONDI Santi and the traditional producer of Brunellos,
was very very difficult to sell winewith this elegant profile, low heltcol,
nice structure, but not so bigwines like the super task and were
in that moment. So given thissituation, Franco decided to help the appellation
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and show what a good Brunello couldreally make. And he was the only
one that could prove that, becausenobody else could really have a vertical of
a one hundred years with wine whichwere still good, still good to the
end that the eighteen ninety one secondVintach was rated by one of the journalists
(15:11):
one hundred points. That happened onehundred and he had three years after the
production of that both so that wassomething very very important and since then that
was a turning point for the brunellopilationbecause the people realized how important was Montaccino,
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how good could be the wines ifobviously grown with certain rules, and
if you remember the vintage in ninetyseven ninety nine, where vintage is fantastic
in Montaccino, that was really amoment where we came back as a pillation
among the fine wines of the world. So frank Coo was really functional to
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really create the value of this landthat today is the most expensive value in
Italy together with few spots of Barolos, so in almost one million director if
you want to buy a vineyard inMontaccino. So it's quite relevant. And
that value mostly was created by thefamily. So that's really the role of
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the family through the years. Sothat's why it's so important this family for
the for Tascan and for the Polation, but even for Italy because this wine
was was ran by the Queen Elizabeththe second, just to tell you how
big they were. Also in theirvision, your actor friend Sinatra used to
bring a case of brunello in everyshow, so it was the family also
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understood the importance of being present inthe right places. That definitely increased the
value of beyond this antique and theBrunello de Montacino position, it's incredible to
me the story of that family andreally what they did to create this wine
and this region. Well they weremaster marketers. I mean, let's just
face it. One hundred, onehundred year vertical tasting is you know,
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we attended one in October of twentytwenty three. That was a vertical of
nineteen eighty three to twenty twenty,and we felt elite in that room in
New York and we did taste theBrunello to Mantucino Reserve in nineteen ninety nine
Lostorica, so we felt very privileged. So I can only imagine one hundred
(17:27):
years that's just amazing. But that'sbrilliant marketing too. Absolutely, absolutely,
they were very brilliant. That's anotheris another way of looking at the family,
because they were very little visionary alsoand the way they were communicating with
their wines. But it comes tomy mind that it was probably a struggle
for a long time as well,because Mantulcino was not a wealthy area in
(17:52):
Tuscany for a long time, andit didn't become that until really much later
in the history of making wine there. That's absolutely true. That's absolutely true,
because in the sixties in the seventiesit was not easy for the area.
So the real let's say grow inthe market start happening in the eighties,
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still limited because then there was thebig fashion of different kind of wines
which were not done. And thennow they are back. And I believe
that now we are very much inthe right direction, because the world is
going in the direction of freshness,elegance, low alcohol, not super big
wines, and the Montaccino, thebnela montaccino produced in a traditional way in
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big cask. This is really whatwe are today, So we are really
there now, and that's really thebest representation of San Giaovesi too, because
santia Vesi, in my mind ait's not a big, extracted, heavy
wine. It's a very delicate,beautifully balanced wine when it's made well.
So that turn to making bigger extractionwines that really kind of happened in the
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nineties in Mantulcino. I like thefact that that's been reversed now to a
certain extent, and it's going backto that more classic style, which was
what Beyondi Santi really wanted to dowith the great ye John Perrol for many
decades. Obviously, as we've talkedabout, the Beyondi Sante family was an
entity that truly saw that its missionwas the keeper of the traditional way of
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making wine, as we just said. But times change and the family ultimately
decided it was time to hand overthe reins of the estate to EPI.
How did this come about and whydo you think they felt it was time
to sell. That's a good question, That's a good quess. It was
the Jacopo's decision. Jacopas you mentioned, is the son of Franco. He
(19:49):
decided probably to invest his life inanother property which was his own property since
the nineties in the south of Toscany, and then he decided to sell.
And I don't know whether there areother reasons behind that. Honesty, I
was not that at the time,as you know, but definitely I believe
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that Api, and I would saymore the owner, mister the School,
is the right person to run thisbusiness in the future in a way that
respects what we have inherited, becausethis is really the key point. What
we are doing now the state whenwe took over, is really to respect
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what we have inherited and try tobring this state in the future in a
way which is very current with thepast. So we are not here to
do something different than that. Weare doing evolution and not revolution, especially
in the style of the wines,which is a style we mentioned. We
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believe that this is what we haveto do. And so Api and Christopher
the School, they really understand winebusiness and they really understand that we need
investment for the very long term.And this is what we are doing now.
When we have inherited this and Itook over in twenty eighteen, we
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set up a ten years plan toinvest mostly in the production in the vineyard,
first in the cellar, with thepurpose of really understanding what we have
more and more and then maybe weshould start doing some changes. But because
we need to change something to keepthe same style, because the climate is
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changing, so we cannot do thesame thing, otherwise the wine wouldn't be
the same. So this is whatwe are philosophically doing now at this stage.
Well, what's interesting, it's fairlycommon. We're seeing a lot of
families sell to larger companies to ensurethe legacy and future of the estate.
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I'm curious, are any family membersstill involved. No, they are not
anymore. The last member was TankrediBeyondi Santi. Tankredy is the son of
Yakopu. So I offered Truncated andCredy to stay with us for the future.
Body decided to stay with the fatherand the other property and then he
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left in twenty twenty. Yeah,so now we are running independently from the
family, you know, coming froma winemaking family myself. My family owned
the winery in New York for many, many years and made some wonderful wines.
I kind of understand that day today operations and what it takes to
run a winery. You come froma very large winery Frescobaldi, That and
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Beyond the Santi seems to operate onopposite ends of the marketing spectrum. Right,
So, Frescobaldi very large, multipleestates, innovative wine making that helps
drive sales of millions of bottles ofwine. Beyond the Santi a single estate,
small perduction traditional wine making values.How have you had to adjust your
vision as a CEO of marketing winein taking on this role at Beyond the
Santi. Again, I have tolisten a lot before and I spent months
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to understand what the what was beyondthe Anti in depth, And the biggest
difference I found is that through Scobaldi, I had to manage so many different
things. So I was more,let's say, on the surface of everything.
Here I go very deep in everysingle thing. So the approach is
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completely different. It's very small,but believe we still it still involves a
lot of time because we need togo very deep in every single detail from
the from the vineyard in the celler, in the marketing, in the communication,
everything, everything which was not possiblein the other companies. The company
was totally different and at the beginningwas very difficult honesty because there was another
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factor which was negatively influencing the beginningof this history, which was French people
coming to Montalcino. So everyone wasvery skeptical about what it could happen to
this historical state. So I hadto spend the first three years really to
(24:26):
welcoming people at the state to showwhat we were doing in the cell in
the vignyear. And that was reallyimportant because they finally understood that there is
a serious project that starts from theroot, to start from the Soviet,
from the vignier, from from wherewe get our treasury, which is the
fruit. And now they changed completeopinion, and so they understood. Obviously
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they were waiting for the result nowbecause the first wine that we produced was
just released this year and it wasvery well accepted. But still we need
to show and to prove what weare able to do. But it's much
better now. It was very difficultat the again, well First of all,
the mark of a good CEO isto listen, and like fine wine,
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it takes time to plant the seedsof advancement and change, which you
were clearly expressed for our listeners.We talked about size. What's the size
of the vineyards? How old arethey today? We have a thirty three
actors of vinya. When I arrivedat Great Pool, I had to buy
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six sectors because it was needed tohave a replanting project for part of the
vineyards. So to keep power productionstable at least, I had to buy
some new vinya, which actually ittook six months to me to find because
I had to select more than twentydifferent offers to find the right soil,
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the exposure, the right altitude thatreflects the style of beyond this anti that
was we were lucky. At theend we found a very good vineo and
this is where we are today.So we are devoting a lot of effort
in these thirty three actors. Soone of the important things that you did
is you retain the winemaker Federico Rodiin twenty seventeen. Why do you feel
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this was important? And tell usa bit about Federico in his own vision
for the wines. Well, FedericoI like to call him the Taliban of
Sanjovisi. Federico is a is anincredible passionate, a very skilled technician that
has spent more than twenty years inTascany with sanjo Visi, and that to
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me is absolutely important because one thingyou have to know that the old team
that was there was retained. Wespend time to prove them to be good
and they are there. They're allgood, that they're all there, and
this is very important because we keptall the now the in the company,
in the state and Federico it wasjust arrived in twenty seventeen, but it
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has a very long experience in thein sanevis and its vision is really too
again to produce wine that reflect withcurrents what the family has been doing.
We do a lot of testing toreally understand what we are doing and comparing
this with the past, because thephilosophy is to bring in the bottle what
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is the best expression of our soil. But respect in the style of the
house. That's to me is thefirst thing, and Federico is really keen
to keep doing this. It's it'svery deep and everything it does. It
started very nice studies in the soilwith the clones. We have a very
(27:56):
old vineyard which is from the ninetythirty and we started in twenty seventeen,
since the beginning with the University ofFlorence, another study to select the clones
that we found there. We foundmore than fifty different mother plans in that
very old vineyard. And now Federicois very deeply studying these clones and replanting
(28:23):
them, replanting them, not allof them, part of them and see
how they react and what they delivered. So it's the right person for this
estate that would say you shouldn't listento her. You know, when we
had dinner the BEYONDI Santi Vertical dinnerthat you talked about Melanie earlier, it
(28:45):
was with pert Rico, and wesaw that passion in him for this estate
and these wines and Jamparo. Oneof his projects, as you've discussed but
we haven't really touched on it much, is that he's modernized in the vineyards
at il Grapo and using massile selection, which is essentially taking certain clones to
(29:07):
create a house vine. Let's discussthe historical significance of Ilgrepa vinyards. You
say your oldest one dates back tothe nineteen thirties at this point, and
why this process of massile selection isso important to the integrity of Beyond the
Sante's future. Well, let's startfrom one point that in Tuscany it's very
very rare to find very old vineyardsbecause unfortunately in the seventies there were funds
(29:33):
to abrupt everything and to replant allthe vinyard, so that was destroyed.
We are very lucky to have thisvery important vineyard which is from the nineteen
thirties, and this is our safeWe are really studying, I would say,
a new concept for beyond this ANTI, because beyond this ANTI has been
driven by the BBS eleven so farin the seventies. So just one clone.
(30:00):
And now given these historical plans thatwe found, the DAYA is to
have our own recipe which will bemade on more than one of that clones
for the future. So this isa concept which will change substantial in the
future. One we could prove thequality of the clone we are selecting.
(30:22):
So there is a very high significancein this because it's the history in Montacino.
I don't think there are older vignyathan them in Montalcino today, so
it's really a very important actor ofvignya which we are lucky to own there.
We know how precious land is inMontalcino. I just want to point
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out that we were honored to beable to taste the Brunello, the Montalcino
Reserve twenty sixteen, twenty thirteen,the Reserve twenty twelve, Losturica, nineteen
ninety nine Losturica and the Brunello Reservenineteen eighty three Losturica, all wonderful vintages,
and you know that this is aclassic wine. It withstands the test
(31:04):
of time, and really it isa philosophy that is very unique in a
world today where everything is trying tobecome modernized and adapting to quote, consumer
tastes. Beyond the Sanday has stayedthe course, and that's really really important
to underscore. Jemparo, are thereother initiatives that you are going to be
(31:30):
working on in the future, Well, I mean, we will never stop
doing things here. We have alreadyimplemented many projects the state, as I
mentioned, mostly in production, butdefinitely one of the key things that we
are studying and we will be studyingmore and more is how to interact to
sorry to counteract the global warming.So we are really focusing effort to in
(31:56):
project that should tell us something inthis direction. Just to give you a
couple of examples, new vineyard,the one that we replanted, were replanted
with a structor which was designed byour technical team, and this structure allows
the fruit to be protected by theheat thanks to the shape of the of
(32:20):
the of the vine that are likea sort of umbrella. So this structor
which is made to last for atleast seventy eighty years. That's the first
important point is made in Cortin.Cortin is a very strong lead to last
forever. But also the fact thatyou can move all the wires and the
structure is flexible allows more protection ofthe fruit. So that's one of the
(32:43):
things we are studying now. It'san important project because it's quite expensive.
But also we are studying ways toprotect through net, for example, the
net to protect the vines. It'ssomething also very important for the for the
global warming, and then we wantto be obviously under present sustainable. So
(33:04):
that's a process that has initiated asinitiated from the soil, from the agriculture
way we are managing our our vineyard. And this is very important because the
world is going in that direction andwe need to basically, we need to
go back to what the workers we'redoing two hundred years ago. They were
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absolutely sustainable. So our old conceptfor the future will be this direction,
a very green direction to respect thenatural. Sustainability is definitely a watchword these
days. However, you need tobe economically sustainable as well. Right,
that was a big buzzword when wewere at some conferences in Verona, that
(33:45):
it's about not only environmental sustainability,but economic sustainability. In a world where
it's widely reported younger people are turningaway from wine, they're going to,
you know, other types of beverages. How to bring them along so they
become acolytes of brunello and mantucino.And you know, a good, great
(34:07):
way, of course we've talked aboutis the rosso the mantucino. That's a
great gateway into discovering the beauty ofmantucino and the Sangiovesi grape and then ease
everybody into brunello and mantucino. Yeah, no, that's absolutely absolutely. There
also is very functional for this andhonestly, Melanie, we are putting a
(34:32):
lot of effort in producing a verygood russo because that's the door to our
experience and what I always like andFederico also likes, is to have exactly
the style of the house already inthe russo to ben and then you can
go to Brunello to understand more.But russo should be our driver for the
(34:55):
younger generation in the future because youngergeneration in THEE I'm not very much into
the brunello, so we need togo closer to them to let them understand
the brunello through the russo would bevery functional for them. And the Concertio
Brunello to Mantalcino, which is thegoverning body that oversees all the brunella producers,
(35:17):
is actually putting their money behind Rosoat this point as well, because
I believe they've just expanded the acreageand amount to making rosso exactly. That
was a decision taken a few daysago by the consortium, which is important.
Honestly, at the level of theappillation, I would have managed this
(35:38):
differently. I would not have expandedthe acres, but I would have probably
increased the number of bottle of rossoand reduce the number of bottle of brunello
and make a better selection and qualityon brunello, and then having morals for
getting more people into the policia withthe same total number of bottles, that
(36:02):
would have given a bigger power inthe market, more tension in the market,
that and more quality on netwok.So that that was my vision.
I always discussed this with a consortium, but obviously the people want to enlarge
to produce more bottle. My pointis not to produce more botto, but
is to produce better But that's that'smy vision. But anyway, it's a
(36:25):
it's an important move. We'll see, We'll see. That's my opinion.
You know, that's an interesting point, actually, Melanie. Yeah, well,
you know, I'm a big fanof quality over quantity. But economic
stability is widely discussed now as theindustry, global wine industry faces its challenges
(36:47):
in a changing environment. But youknow, this particular house of beyond the
Sunday has withstood the test of timefor centuries and it's here to stay.
And I think that this evolution,as you said, revolution, is the
way to continue preserving legacy while adaptingto change. I fully agree on that,
(37:15):
absolutely, and this is what wehave to do and to have to
express our incredible quality as appellation ina way that the people understand, which
means to have a style which isrecognizable because at the end of the story,
we do many things to bring onebottle to consumer and the consumer should
(37:36):
say, yes, this is Brunello. And in the past it was a
little bit more difficult because there weredifferent vision style and there was not just
one way of defining the Brunello intermostyle. Today we are getting much better.
The quality is improving, which isabsolutely crucial, and this is what we
had to bring to the consumer.More currents in what we do every year,
(38:00):
consistency and persistency. Right, yes, correct. So let's take your
CEO off for a while, Jimparrow, and tell us about you. What
do you enjoy doing when you're notrunning companies? Well, I enjoyed doing
reading nice book I like biographies ofnice and interesting people. For for example,
(38:22):
now I'm reading a nice biography ofthe former owner of a big group
in Italy, which is because bookSoftka the owner of the classes righte band.
You know this guy, so itwas the richest man in Italy passed
away last year actually this year,and the story it's incredible. I like
to play golf, but that takesa lot of time, so I don't
play much, or skiing in winter. I used to go very often when
(38:46):
I was younger, and I keepdoing when I can. That's what I
do, and obviously enjoy with goodones with people. So obviously we love
Brunella and Mantucino. We've had along history with Brunelle on the Mantocino.
My former company ran all the Brentben Venudo Brunello events in the United States
for many years. And I alwayswhen I'm interviewed about Italian wines, people
(39:10):
always say what is your favorite?Well, you never want to say your
favorite because you want to never pickanything out like children. But I always
say that Brunello de Montocino was myfirst Italian kiss and therefore I have a
special relationship with it because it wasreally my first intro and really was was
the refinement of a great Italian wine. And always love it. But when
(39:31):
you're relaxing, is what's in yourglass? I like a couple of different
wines. If you go on thewhite wines I like very much Reaslings,
and if you go to the redwine, I like very much Pinot Noir
and Nebiolo's obviously with San Joves aswell Sanjovisi grosso from Montagio. L's to
(39:52):
be you know, Sanjoves in Italyis so big and we need to really
be more specific on this. Theseare the kind of idea which I like
the most in an or Nebiolo andSangio Vesi, a man after my own
heart, or as Kevin'sraeli used togo san Gio Vese. We used to
work with him to do a lotof master classes on Brunello de Montccino and
he's a huge fan, the teacherKevin's Raeli and he goes Sandrio Vesi.
(40:15):
But you're right, there are manystyles of san Gio Vesi. We're talking
about Sangiovesi Grosso. And again it'svery unique that you have a named clone.
I mean, that is really reallyspecial and underscore rare. Yeah.
Absolutely, it was the first timein the seventies. Never happened before because
in Italy had to follow specific prosidoto get that. I mean too many,
(40:37):
I mean, how many wineries havetheir own designer clone. I don't
know any other. Maybe they arenow some, but honestly I'm not aware
of that. It's very so interesting, but that's really really unique. You're
so fortunate to be at the helmof such a storied wine estate. Wow,
(40:59):
beyondy Santi meets so many hundred pointwines, so many amazing milestones that
have really shaped the region. We'rereally looking forward to seeing what's going to
happen next and where you're going totake the company. We definitely want to
take the company to the next level, which is what it was this Anti
(41:20):
in the last century. So wewant to be among the most important wines
in the world in a very smallarena of wines that the people mentioned.
When you think about super qualitative wineand in Italy today maybe there are three
or four which are in a betterposition than as because they did very well
and there are great wines. Sowe need to recover that position because I
(41:44):
believe that the University of Beyond thisAnti it's something very special and this state
deserve that position. So this isreally our vision how to get there.
It's basically what were doing, Ibelieve because the progress that we have seen
in the last four years have beenwell beyond any other expectition, so I'm
(42:08):
very confident that we will be therein a few years hopefully. Well.
You seem to be doing something rightbecause I've noticed over the past few years
that I've been able to find BEYONDISanti. It's important more than I was
able to when I was younger,and so that's a good thing because I
love the wines. Great. That'sgreat, absolutely so, Jimparo Bertolini,
(42:30):
CEO Beyond y Santi. We areso honored that you've taken the time to
sit down with us at the ConnectedTable to talk about your story and the
story of this historic estate. Wereally appreciate it. Thank you very much.
It was my pleasure every time Ican share this history, it's really
a pleasure. Thank you for that. Thank you, y Well. We
look forward to going back to Tuscanysoon and to visiting, and of course
(42:53):
we encourage all of our listeners totry these beautiful wines and to consider visiting
Tuscany and go to Montocino. It'sa gorgeous area. You will come back
and you will be an ambassador ofMontulcino as we are. In the meantime,
We encourage everybody to explore taste,Try expand your horizons a palate,
(43:15):
and stay insatiably curious. Thank you,
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(00:40):
Welcome to the Connected Table live whereyour hosts Melanie Young and David Ransom.
You're insatiably curious culinary couple. Wetravel the world to bring you our
listeners, the dynamic people who arekfront and center and behind the scenes in
wine, food, spirits and hospitality. We'd love sharing their stories with you,
(01:00):
and you can find all our showson more than forty and more podcast
channels to be heard around the worldon demand, and of course, please
follow us on Instagram At the ConnectedTable. We're taking you today to Tuscany
to a storied winery. The nameBEYONDI Santi is synonymous with the Brunello wines
(01:22):
of Tuscanese Montulcino area. It wasat the Beyondi Santi family estate Tonuto Algreppo,
the Feruccio Beyondi Santi first barrel agedone percent Sangioveesi Grosso in eighteen eighty
eight, thereby inventing Runello di Montalcinoas we know it today. That's right,
(01:44):
Melanie regarded as a pillar of theItalian wine community and a staunch advocate
for traditional wines and viticulture over theensuing decades. It came as a shock
to many when in twenty seventeen thelast family owner, Jacopo Beyondi Santi,
decided to sell the estate and relatedwinery holdings to the French firm EPI,
who also owns the French champagne houseCharles Heisig, Piper Heizik and by default,
(02:09):
one of California's sparkling wines, PiperSonoma. So thoughts of what will
they do with it cross people's minds. It will never be the same,
yet not much as change. Thenew owners have kept things much as they
were while installing a new CEO atbiondi Sante Wine Industry, veteran Gianpiero Bertolini,
(02:32):
and they've kept on winemaker Federico Roddi, who took the helm of production
in twenty seventeen to oversee the estate'sunique heritage and continuation of the original mission
to make world class wines of exceptionalquality and small quantity. We are joined
today by Jimparo Bertolini to discuss thishistoric estate and the vision for the future.
(02:58):
Jemparo Bertolini has spent sixs Marquesi theFrescobaldi Group as marketing director, and
he took over as global marketing andsales director for the four brands of this
group. He's had a long careerin the industry. He worked for Procter
and Gamble for many years working inthe consumer products goods, moved into wine,
and of course now he is CEOat BEYONDI Santi. Welcome, Welcome,
(03:21):
Thank you, Melanie, Thank youDavid for inviting me. Jempero,
We're so glad to have you onthe show. Tell us a little bit
about your personal background where you grewup. You live in Tuscany, but
you weren't actually born there, sowe'd love to hear that backstory a little
bit. Yes, I'm living intoscan I feel Toscan. But I was
born in South America, specifically inEcuador, I would say almost by chance,
(03:43):
because my family was there in thatperiod. My father used to work
in the hospitality business, so Iwas traveling. I mean, they were
traveling quite a lot, and thatwas something very important for me because the
open mind kind of my father andmy mother really helped me to understand the
things from a different point of view. Despite I grew up most of my
(04:08):
life in Tuscany, and that's whyI'm feeling Tuscan originally. But this mentality
of my parents that they moved seventeendifferent cases houses in their lives, so
can you imagine. So that's goodand bad. But I would say I
got this nice view of the world, which is a little bit different if
(04:28):
you live just in one place allyour life. So this is where I'm
from, and since I was seven, I'm living in Tuscany basically, and
I grew up here, I studiedhere, and then when I wore I
started working, I start traveling alsoand working abroad, and I'm back in
(04:49):
this fantastic world which is the wineand Tuscan is an incredible place to live
and to work in wine Wow,you have hospitality in your DNA, Jimparo,
but you have degrees in international marketing. You attended the International Marketing program
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, andyou had a fairly significant career working for
(05:11):
Procter and Gamble for many years first, which as we know, is a
very tough corporate consumer products, goodgoods company and excellent training. So what
did you learn from that part ofyour life to bring to Marcesi de Frescobaldi
and how did that connection work toget you into the wine industry with Marchesi
(05:35):
de Frescobaldi. Well, the PNGexperience has been absolutely functional for me to
develop my career because, more thananything else, is a great school and
spending almost ten years there was anincredible experience learning a lot about how to
(05:56):
manage people, to manage resources.It's not only about my marketing, it's
about management generally speaking. And thatobviously was what I brought and what I
have inherited from that experience, andI brought in my newer experience first off
Friscobaldi and after beyond this ane sothat that was really important for me because
(06:20):
when I got into Frescobaldi, Ididn't have any wine experience. I was
just a consumer, passionate consumer,but not really a wine consumer a wine
manager. So I got the experiencefrom the estate from the company, and
that was matched by with my managementapproach which was inherited by PNG. That
(06:43):
was a good a good thing,I would say, But believe me,
I had to listen a lot atthe beginning, because I mean, wine
is different from consumers in general terms, and you have to really understand all
the nuances for each of the differentkind of wines we were selling. And
(07:03):
I had to really to listen forseveral years before really learning how to manage
things properly. You know, Davidand Jempero. That's so true because with
consumer product goods, everything's pretty muchthe same. You tweak product, you
launch a new product. But withwine, you're talking about a product that
starts with nature, and as weall know, nature can be temperamental.
(07:28):
You don't know vintage to vintage whatwill happen. But what's interesting, what
I always learned coming from a marketingbackground, is that you're the expert,
and you lend your expertise to thepeople who are experts in what they're doing.
So your value to what you broughtwas incredible because you didn't need to
know wine. You need to knowthe business end of it, and then
you learn the wine. Just toapply your knowledge to Frescobaldi and now Byonde
(07:54):
Sante exactly that was exactly the goodbench kitting at the beginning, then to
the commercial and that was very wellmatched with their wine experience, and this
honesty was a very good combination factor. You know, it's very interesting to
me how he goes from such alarge company like Frescobaldi to then running BEYONDI
Santi, which historically is a veryfairly small estate. Right, So,
(08:18):
Jimperra, let's talk about BEYONDI Santi. You took over the reins in was
it twenty twenty, No, itwas twenty eighteen. At the end of
eighteen it became filmed at the history. So let's talk a little bit about
the history of the estate from itsfounding and the BEYONDI Santi families, who
really are pioneers in the production ofBrunello. As we mentioned in the intro,
(08:39):
we'd love to get a little bitof the backstory about the family and
the estate and up until the timethat you took over. Yeah, this
is an incredible unique history in Italy. I always get very passionate when I'm
talking about this, so you haveto stop me, Stop me, please,
because I could talk for two hours. But it's an incredible history that,
(09:00):
as you mentioned with Ferruccio, beyondthis, Anti actually started twenty years
before him, when Clemente Anti inventedthe name Brunello, which comes from the
color of the red wine. BrunoItalian means means dark, so Brunello is
a little darker. But the realwine, Brunello wine was produced by by
(09:24):
Ferruccio. And it's very important tounderstand that that the Italian wine making in
that period, because it was allabout quantity and nothing about quality, and
Ferruccio instead he decided to do somethingvery qualitative when here with a very distinctive
(09:45):
characteristic, which was longevity, whichis really what is even today distinguished very
much beyond this Anti from all overthe other producer. And it took a
very difficult way because it decided todo so with just one b idel sancho
with the gross as you mentioned atthe beginning, and this was very very
unique because in that period to growand to to write the Sanjos Grosser Montacio
(10:11):
was not very easy. Sanjos isa difficult but itels. But anyway,
he decided to go in this directionand that was a great thing because the
wines that are I mean, westill have all the reserve produced since the
very beginning, so we can reallyprove that the history is there and the
(10:31):
longevity is there. That believing Ihave a chance to taste very old vintages
and this is really really cool.So the first real member was Ferrucco,
but I always like to mention acouple of others. One is Ferruccio song,
which is incredible on this Tankredi hasbeen an incredible and incredible wine maker,
(10:52):
an incredible consultant because it was consultingin many a state in Italy,
not only working for the Grippo,and it did a couple of very important
things. First one was in thesixties when the Talian government decided to define
to create the new appellation of Brunellodi Montaccino. He decided to ask tan
(11:18):
Credibion des Anti to write the rulesto define the quality of Brunello di Montaccino,
and these rules are still followed today. All the producer today more than
two hundred producer in Montacino following thisrule. So we can say that the
family was functional to create the quality, the level of quality that we wanted
(11:41):
to achieve in the area. Butalso it was the as I mentioned,
a great winemaker, and it didthe famous vintage ninety fifty five reserve,
which was considered by Wine Spectator oneof the twelve most important wine in the
last century. That was the onlyItalian wine in this special ranking. And
(12:07):
to believe me, I had thechance to taste it recently and that was
absolutely amazing. Still it's so young, so fresh, after so many years.
There was something very special in thatone. And then Tan Credy.
Then Tan Credy's son, Franco isI would say, another incredible member of
(12:30):
this dynasty. And Franco started innineteen seventy one. His last vintach was
twenty twelve, which we have releasedfour years ago. And Franco was a
different personality from the father. Wasmore austere person, but it was called
(12:50):
the Gentleman of Brunello. Very elegantperson, very respectful. It's an incredible
has been an incredible person. Wasalso a very good technician to the end
that it was the one that selectedthe famous clone BBS eleven, which means
Brunello beyond this Anti eleven. Thatwas the first clone of Sanchos grosssoever who
(13:16):
carried who was authorized to carry thename of the family in Italy. Because
it was such an qualitative studies thatlasted seven years the state with the University
of Florence, that the talent governmentaccepted to give the name BBS eleven Brunello
beyond this Anti the name of thefamily. And today the wines that we
(13:37):
are still producing, majority of thevinyard planted with the BBS eleven. And
then it did also something again veryfunctional to increase the value of the appellation,
and it was nothing technical, butit was more a sort of lobbing
for the appellation. He organized anincredible event at the estate in nineteen ninety
(14:01):
four inviting fifteen of the most importantjournalists from all over the world and showing
the quality of a very good Sanjoveseand more specifically organized a vertical testing covering
one hundred years from eighty eighty eightto nineteen eighty eight. And all this
(14:24):
was organized because in that period forBEYONDI Santi and the traditional producer of Brunellos,
was very very difficult to sell winewith this elegant profile, low heltcol,
nice structure, but not so bigwines like the super task and were
in that moment. So given thissituation, Franco decided to help the appellation
(14:50):
and show what a good Brunello couldreally make. And he was the only
one that could prove that, becausenobody else could really have a vertical of
a one hundred years with wine whichwere still good, still good to the
end that the eighteen ninety one secondVintach was rated by one of the journalists
(15:11):
one hundred points. That happened onehundred and he had three years after the
production of that both so that wassomething very very important and since then that
was a turning point for the brunellopilationbecause the people realized how important was Montaccino,
(15:31):
how good could be the wines ifobviously grown with certain rules, and
if you remember the vintage in ninetyseven ninety nine, where vintage is fantastic
in Montaccino, that was really amoment where we came back as a pillation
among the fine wines of the world. So frank Coo was really functional to
(15:54):
really create the value of this landthat today is the most expensive value in
Italy together with few spots of Barolos, so in almost one million director if
you want to buy a vineyard inMontaccino. So it's quite relevant. And
that value mostly was created by thefamily. So that's really the role of
(16:17):
the family through the years. Sothat's why it's so important this family for
the for Tascan and for the Polation, but even for Italy because this wine
was was ran by the Queen Elizabeththe second, just to tell you how
big they were. Also in theirvision, your actor friend Sinatra used to
bring a case of brunello in everyshow, so it was the family also
(16:41):
understood the importance of being present inthe right places. That definitely increased the
value of beyond this antique and theBrunello de Montacino position, it's incredible to
me the story of that family andreally what they did to create this wine
and this region. Well they weremaster marketers. I mean, let's just
face it. One hundred, onehundred year vertical tasting is you know,
(17:06):
we attended one in October of twentytwenty three. That was a vertical of
nineteen eighty three to twenty twenty,and we felt elite in that room in
New York and we did taste theBrunello to Mantucino Reserve in nineteen ninety nine
Lostorica, so we felt very privileged. So I can only imagine one hundred
(17:27):
years that's just amazing. But that'sbrilliant marketing too. Absolutely, absolutely,
they were very brilliant. That's anotheris another way of looking at the family,
because they were very little visionary alsoand the way they were communicating with
their wines. But it comes tomy mind that it was probably a struggle
for a long time as well,because Mantulcino was not a wealthy area in
(17:52):
Tuscany for a long time, andit didn't become that until really much later
in the history of making wine there. That's absolutely true. That's absolutely true,
because in the sixties in the seventiesit was not easy for the area.
So the real let's say grow inthe market start happening in the eighties,
(18:15):
still limited because then there was thebig fashion of different kind of wines
which were not done. And thennow they are back. And I believe
that now we are very much inthe right direction, because the world is
going in the direction of freshness,elegance, low alcohol, not super big
wines, and the Montaccino, thebnela montaccino produced in a traditional way in
(18:41):
big cask. This is really whatwe are today, So we are really
there now, and that's really thebest representation of San Giaovesi too, because
santia Vesi, in my mind ait's not a big, extracted, heavy
wine. It's a very delicate,beautifully balanced wine when it's made well.
So that turn to making bigger extractionwines that really kind of happened in the
(19:06):
nineties in Mantulcino. I like thefact that that's been reversed now to a
certain extent, and it's going backto that more classic style, which was
what Beyondi Santi really wanted to dowith the great ye John Perrol for many
decades. Obviously, as we've talkedabout, the Beyondi Sante family was an
entity that truly saw that its missionwas the keeper of the traditional way of
(19:27):
making wine, as we just said. But times change and the family ultimately
decided it was time to hand overthe reins of the estate to EPI.
How did this come about and whydo you think they felt it was time
to sell. That's a good question, That's a good quess. It was
the Jacopo's decision. Jacopas you mentioned, is the son of Franco. He
(19:49):
decided probably to invest his life inanother property which was his own property since
the nineties in the south of Toscany, and then he decided to sell.
And I don't know whether there areother reasons behind that. Honesty, I
was not that at the time,as you know, but definitely I believe
(20:10):
that Api, and I would saymore the owner, mister the School,
is the right person to run thisbusiness in the future in a way that
respects what we have inherited, becausethis is really the key point. What
we are doing now the state whenwe took over, is really to respect
(20:33):
what we have inherited and try tobring this state in the future in a
way which is very current with thepast. So we are not here to
do something different than that. Weare doing evolution and not revolution, especially
in the style of the wines,which is a style we mentioned. We
(20:55):
believe that this is what we haveto do. And so Api and Christopher
the School, they really understand winebusiness and they really understand that we need
investment for the very long term.And this is what we are doing now.
When we have inherited this and Itook over in twenty eighteen, we
(21:15):
set up a ten years plan toinvest mostly in the production in the vineyard,
first in the cellar, with thepurpose of really understanding what we have
more and more and then maybe weshould start doing some changes. But because
we need to change something to keepthe same style, because the climate is
(21:37):
changing, so we cannot do thesame thing, otherwise the wine wouldn't be
the same. So this is whatwe are philosophically doing now at this stage.
Well, what's interesting, it's fairlycommon. We're seeing a lot of
families sell to larger companies to ensurethe legacy and future of the estate.
(22:02):
I'm curious, are any family membersstill involved. No, they are not
anymore. The last member was TankrediBeyondi Santi. Tankredy is the son of
Yakopu. So I offered Truncated andCredy to stay with us for the future.
Body decided to stay with the fatherand the other property and then he
(22:22):
left in twenty twenty. Yeah,so now we are running independently from the
family, you know, coming froma winemaking family myself. My family owned
the winery in New York for many, many years and made some wonderful wines.
I kind of understand that day today operations and what it takes to
run a winery. You come froma very large winery Frescobaldi, That and
(22:48):
Beyond the Santi seems to operate onopposite ends of the marketing spectrum. Right,
So, Frescobaldi very large, multipleestates, innovative wine making that helps
drive sales of millions of bottles ofwine. Beyond the Santi a single estate,
small perduction traditional wine making values.How have you had to adjust your
vision as a CEO of marketing winein taking on this role at Beyond the
Santi. Again, I have tolisten a lot before and I spent months
(23:14):
to understand what the what was beyondthe Anti in depth, And the biggest
difference I found is that through Scobaldi, I had to manage so many different
things. So I was more,let's say, on the surface of everything.
Here I go very deep in everysingle thing. So the approach is
(23:36):
completely different. It's very small,but believe we still it still involves a
lot of time because we need togo very deep in every single detail from
the from the vineyard in the celler, in the marketing, in the communication,
everything, everything which was not possiblein the other companies. The company
was totally different and at the beginningwas very difficult honesty because there was another
(24:02):
factor which was negatively influencing the beginningof this history, which was French people
coming to Montalcino. So everyone wasvery skeptical about what it could happen to
this historical state. So I hadto spend the first three years really to
(24:26):
welcoming people at the state to showwhat we were doing in the cell in
the vignyear. And that was reallyimportant because they finally understood that there is
a serious project that starts from theroot, to start from the Soviet,
from the vignier, from from wherewe get our treasury, which is the
fruit. And now they changed completeopinion, and so they understood. Obviously
(24:52):
they were waiting for the result nowbecause the first wine that we produced was
just released this year and it wasvery well accepted. But still we need
to show and to prove what weare able to do. But it's much
better now. It was very difficultat the again, well First of all,
the mark of a good CEO isto listen, and like fine wine,
(25:15):
it takes time to plant the seedsof advancement and change, which you
were clearly expressed for our listeners.We talked about size. What's the size
of the vineyards? How old arethey today? We have a thirty three
actors of vinya. When I arrivedat Great Pool, I had to buy
(25:36):
six sectors because it was needed tohave a replanting project for part of the
vineyards. So to keep power productionstable at least, I had to buy
some new vinya, which actually ittook six months to me to find because
I had to select more than twentydifferent offers to find the right soil,
(25:59):
the exposure, the right altitude thatreflects the style of beyond this anti that
was we were lucky. At theend we found a very good vineo and
this is where we are today.So we are devoting a lot of effort
in these thirty three actors. Soone of the important things that you did
is you retain the winemaker Federico Rodiin twenty seventeen. Why do you feel
(26:25):
this was important? And tell usa bit about Federico in his own vision
for the wines. Well, FedericoI like to call him the Taliban of
Sanjovisi. Federico is a is anincredible passionate, a very skilled technician that
has spent more than twenty years inTascany with sanjo Visi, and that to
(26:47):
me is absolutely important because one thingyou have to know that the old team
that was there was retained. Wespend time to prove them to be good
and they are there. They're allgood, that they're all there, and
this is very important because we keptall the now the in the company,
in the state and Federico it wasjust arrived in twenty seventeen, but it
(27:10):
has a very long experience in thein sanevis and its vision is really too
again to produce wine that reflect withcurrents what the family has been doing.
We do a lot of testing toreally understand what we are doing and comparing
this with the past, because thephilosophy is to bring in the bottle what
(27:36):
is the best expression of our soil. But respect in the style of the
house. That's to me is thefirst thing, and Federico is really keen
to keep doing this. It's it'svery deep and everything it does. It
started very nice studies in the soilwith the clones. We have a very
(27:56):
old vineyard which is from the ninetythirty and we started in twenty seventeen,
since the beginning with the University ofFlorence, another study to select the clones
that we found there. We foundmore than fifty different mother plans in that
very old vineyard. And now Federicois very deeply studying these clones and replanting
(28:23):
them, replanting them, not allof them, part of them and see
how they react and what they delivered. So it's the right person for this
estate that would say you shouldn't listento her. You know, when we
had dinner the BEYONDI Santi Vertical dinnerthat you talked about Melanie earlier, it
(28:45):
was with pert Rico, and wesaw that passion in him for this estate
and these wines and Jamparo. Oneof his projects, as you've discussed but
we haven't really touched on it much, is that he's modernized in the vineyards
at il Grapo and using massile selection, which is essentially taking certain clones to
(29:07):
create a house vine. Let's discussthe historical significance of Ilgrepa vinyards. You
say your oldest one dates back tothe nineteen thirties at this point, and
why this process of massile selection isso important to the integrity of Beyond the
Sante's future. Well, let's startfrom one point that in Tuscany it's very
very rare to find very old vineyardsbecause unfortunately in the seventies there were funds
(29:33):
to abrupt everything and to replant allthe vinyard, so that was destroyed.
We are very lucky to have thisvery important vineyard which is from the nineteen
thirties, and this is our safeWe are really studying, I would say,
a new concept for beyond this ANTI, because beyond this ANTI has been
driven by the BBS eleven so farin the seventies. So just one clone.
(30:00):
And now given these historical plans thatwe found, the DAYA is to
have our own recipe which will bemade on more than one of that clones
for the future. So this isa concept which will change substantial in the
future. One we could prove thequality of the clone we are selecting.
(30:22):
So there is a very high significancein this because it's the history in Montacino.
I don't think there are older vignyathan them in Montalcino today, so
it's really a very important actor ofvignya which we are lucky to own there.
We know how precious land is inMontalcino. I just want to point
(30:42):
out that we were honored to beable to taste the Brunello, the Montalcino
Reserve twenty sixteen, twenty thirteen,the Reserve twenty twelve, Losturica, nineteen
ninety nine Losturica and the Brunello Reservenineteen eighty three Losturica, all wonderful vintages,
and you know that this is aclassic wine. It withstands the test
(31:04):
of time, and really it isa philosophy that is very unique in a
world today where everything is trying tobecome modernized and adapting to quote, consumer
tastes. Beyond the Sanday has stayedthe course, and that's really really important
to underscore. Jemparo, are thereother initiatives that you are going to be
(31:30):
working on in the future, Well, I mean, we will never stop
doing things here. We have alreadyimplemented many projects the state, as I
mentioned, mostly in production, butdefinitely one of the key things that we
are studying and we will be studyingmore and more is how to interact to
sorry to counteract the global warming.So we are really focusing effort to in
(31:56):
project that should tell us something inthis direction. Just to give you a
couple of examples, new vineyard,the one that we replanted, were replanted
with a structor which was designed byour technical team, and this structure allows
the fruit to be protected by theheat thanks to the shape of the of
(32:20):
the of the vine that are likea sort of umbrella. So this structor
which is made to last for atleast seventy eighty years. That's the first
important point is made in Cortin.Cortin is a very strong lead to last
forever. But also the fact thatyou can move all the wires and the
structure is flexible allows more protection ofthe fruit. So that's one of the
(32:43):
things we are studying now. It'san important project because it's quite expensive.
But also we are studying ways toprotect through net, for example, the
net to protect the vines. It'ssomething also very important for the for the
global warming, and then we wantto be obviously under present sustainable. So
(33:04):
that's a process that has initiated asinitiated from the soil, from the agriculture
way we are managing our our vineyard. And this is very important because the
world is going in that direction andwe need to basically, we need to
go back to what the workers we'redoing two hundred years ago. They were
(33:25):
absolutely sustainable. So our old conceptfor the future will be this direction,
a very green direction to respect thenatural. Sustainability is definitely a watchword these
days. However, you need tobe economically sustainable as well. Right,
that was a big buzzword when wewere at some conferences in Verona, that
(33:45):
it's about not only environmental sustainability,but economic sustainability. In a world where
it's widely reported younger people are turningaway from wine, they're going to,
you know, other types of beverages. How to bring them along so they
become acolytes of brunello and mantucino.And you know, a good, great
(34:07):
way, of course we've talked aboutis the rosso the mantucino. That's a
great gateway into discovering the beauty ofmantucino and the Sangiovesi grape and then ease
everybody into brunello and mantucino. Yeah, no, that's absolutely absolutely. There
also is very functional for this andhonestly, Melanie, we are putting a
(34:32):
lot of effort in producing a verygood russo because that's the door to our
experience and what I always like andFederico also likes, is to have exactly
the style of the house already inthe russo to ben and then you can
go to Brunello to understand more.But russo should be our driver for the
(34:55):
younger generation in the future because youngergeneration in THEE I'm not very much into
the brunello, so we need togo closer to them to let them understand
the brunello through the russo would bevery functional for them. And the Concertio
Brunello to Mantalcino, which is thegoverning body that oversees all the brunella producers,
(35:17):
is actually putting their money behind Rosoat this point as well, because
I believe they've just expanded the acreageand amount to making rosso exactly. That
was a decision taken a few daysago by the consortium, which is important.
Honestly, at the level of theappillation, I would have managed this
(35:38):
differently. I would not have expandedthe acres, but I would have probably
increased the number of bottle of rossoand reduce the number of bottle of brunello
and make a better selection and qualityon brunello, and then having morals for
getting more people into the policia withthe same total number of bottles, that
(36:02):
would have given a bigger power inthe market, more tension in the market,
that and more quality on netwok.So that that was my vision.
I always discussed this with a consortium, but obviously the people want to enlarge
to produce more bottle. My pointis not to produce more botto, but
is to produce better But that's that'smy vision. But anyway, it's a
(36:25):
it's an important move. We'll see, We'll see. That's my opinion.
You know, that's an interesting point, actually, Melanie. Yeah, well,
you know, I'm a big fanof quality over quantity. But economic
stability is widely discussed now as theindustry, global wine industry faces its challenges
(36:47):
in a changing environment. But youknow, this particular house of beyond the
Sunday has withstood the test of timefor centuries and it's here to stay.
And I think that this evolution,as you said, revolution, is the
way to continue preserving legacy while adaptingto change. I fully agree on that,
(37:15):
absolutely, and this is what wehave to do and to have to
express our incredible quality as appellation ina way that the people understand, which
means to have a style which isrecognizable because at the end of the story,
we do many things to bring onebottle to consumer and the consumer should
(37:36):
say, yes, this is Brunello. And in the past it was a
little bit more difficult because there weredifferent vision style and there was not just
one way of defining the Brunello intermostyle. Today we are getting much better.
The quality is improving, which isabsolutely crucial, and this is what we
had to bring to the consumer.More currents in what we do every year,
(38:00):
consistency and persistency. Right, yes, correct. So let's take your
CEO off for a while, Jimparrow, and tell us about you. What
do you enjoy doing when you're notrunning companies? Well, I enjoyed doing
reading nice book I like biographies ofnice and interesting people. For for example,
(38:22):
now I'm reading a nice biography ofthe former owner of a big group
in Italy, which is because bookSoftka the owner of the classes righte band.
You know this guy, so itwas the richest man in Italy passed
away last year actually this year,and the story it's incredible. I like
to play golf, but that takesa lot of time, so I don't
play much, or skiing in winter. I used to go very often when
(38:46):
I was younger, and I keepdoing when I can. That's what I
do, and obviously enjoy with goodones with people. So obviously we love
Brunella and Mantucino. We've had along history with Brunelle on the Mantocino.
My former company ran all the Brentben Venudo Brunello events in the United States
for many years. And I alwayswhen I'm interviewed about Italian wines, people
(39:10):
always say what is your favorite?Well, you never want to say your
favorite because you want to never pickanything out like children. But I always
say that Brunello de Montocino was myfirst Italian kiss and therefore I have a
special relationship with it because it wasreally my first intro and really was was
the refinement of a great Italian wine. And always love it. But when
(39:31):
you're relaxing, is what's in yourglass? I like a couple of different
wines. If you go on thewhite wines I like very much Reaslings,
and if you go to the redwine, I like very much Pinot Noir
and Nebiolo's obviously with San Joves aswell Sanjovisi grosso from Montagio. L's to
(39:52):
be you know, Sanjoves in Italyis so big and we need to really
be more specific on this. Theseare the kind of idea which I like
the most in an or Nebiolo andSangio Vesi, a man after my own
heart, or as Kevin'sraeli used togo san Gio Vese. We used to
work with him to do a lotof master classes on Brunello de Montccino and
he's a huge fan, the teacherKevin's Raeli and he goes Sandrio Vesi.
(40:15):
But you're right, there are manystyles of san Gio Vesi. We're talking
about Sangiovesi Grosso. And again it'svery unique that you have a named clone.
I mean, that is really reallyspecial and underscore rare. Yeah.
Absolutely, it was the first timein the seventies. Never happened before because
in Italy had to follow specific prosidoto get that. I mean too many,
(40:37):
I mean, how many wineries havetheir own designer clone. I don't
know any other. Maybe they arenow some, but honestly I'm not aware
of that. It's very so interesting, but that's really really unique. You're
so fortunate to be at the helmof such a storied wine estate. Wow,
(40:59):
beyondy Santi meets so many hundred pointwines, so many amazing milestones that
have really shaped the region. We'rereally looking forward to seeing what's going to
happen next and where you're going totake the company. We definitely want to
take the company to the next level, which is what it was this Anti
(41:20):
in the last century. So wewant to be among the most important wines
in the world in a very smallarena of wines that the people mentioned.
When you think about super qualitative wineand in Italy today maybe there are three
or four which are in a betterposition than as because they did very well
and there are great wines. Sowe need to recover that position because I
(41:44):
believe that the University of Beyond thisAnti it's something very special and this state
deserve that position. So this isreally our vision how to get there.
It's basically what were doing, Ibelieve because the progress that we have seen
in the last four years have beenwell beyond any other expectition, so I'm
(42:08):
very confident that we will be therein a few years hopefully. Well.
You seem to be doing something rightbecause I've noticed over the past few years
that I've been able to find BEYONDISanti. It's important more than I was
able to when I was younger,and so that's a good thing because I
love the wines. Great. That'sgreat, absolutely so, Jimparo Bertolini,
(42:30):
CEO Beyond y Santi. We areso honored that you've taken the time to
sit down with us at the ConnectedTable to talk about your story and the
story of this historic estate. Wereally appreciate it. Thank you very much.
It was my pleasure every time Ican share this history, it's really
a pleasure. Thank you for that. Thank you, y Well. We
look forward to going back to Tuscanysoon and to visiting, and of course
(42:53):
we encourage all of our listeners totry these beautiful wines and to consider visiting
Tuscany and go to Montocino. It'sa gorgeous area. You will come back
and you will be an ambassador ofMontulcino as we are. In the meantime,
We encourage everybody to explore taste,Try expand your horizons a palate,
(43:15):
and stay insatiably curious. Thank you,
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