August 9, 2023 • 44 mins
Loredan Gasparini in the Asolo/Montello Hills outside of Venice is unique for producing a Venegazzù cru red wine in this region better known for quality Prosecco. The winery was named for Count Piero Loredan Gasparini, a descendant of Leonardo Loredan, Doge of Venice. Current owner since 1973, Giancarlo Palla with his sons continue the tradition of producing cru red wines with longer aging. Lorenzo Palla elaborates on the winery history, Montello Rosso DOCG and Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG.
The Connected Table is broadcast live Wednesdays at 2PM ET.
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).
The Connected Table Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-connected-table-live--1277037/support.
The Connected Table is broadcast live Wednesdays at 2PM ET.
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).
The Connected Table Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-connected-table-live--1277037/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The topics and opinions expressed in thefollowing show are solely those of the hosts
and their guests and not those ofW FORCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates.
We make no recommendations or endorsements radioshow, program services, or products
mentioned on air or on our web. No liability, explicit or implied shall
be extended to W FORCY Radio.It's employees are affiliates. Any questions or
comments should be directed to those showhosts. Thank you for choosing W FORCY
(00:21):
Radio. Welcome to the Connected TableLive. We are your host Melanie Young
(00:45):
and David Ransom. You're insatiably curiousculinary couple. We enjoy bringing you the
dynamic people who are front and centerand behind the scenes in wine, food,
spirits and hospitality around the world.We travel a lot, and it
really gives us a lot of opportunitiesto meet some pretty fascinating people and help
bring them to you so you canlearn about their wines and visit them hopefully,
(01:07):
right, David, Absolutely, Melanie, and today we're going back to
one of our favorite places, aplace that we've been to a couple of
times, most recently in June twentytwenty three. Yeah, we're excited to
bring one of the producers who's who'sreally kind of one of the historical producers
in the region. Let me setit up. We are taking you to
the region of docg Oslo Asolo,not Oslo in Norway. Oslo, which
(01:34):
is about an hour from Venice.I mean, it's like a world apart.
Is actually an area where the Venetiannobles of their time would go and
build these palatial castellos, and youcan still see them as you travel through
the countryside. It's a quite abeautiful area and the main village is the
city is Osloe. And one ofthe reasons it was so popular is because
(01:57):
it's really the first set of hillas you move north out of Venice that
you get to, so it wascooler in the summertime when there was no
electricity or air conditioning back then.And like many regions in Italy, there
are different areas that are known forcertain types of wine. Oslo is known
for its Ozsolo prosecco superiiority, andwe learned during this recent visit. Thank
(02:22):
you studio crew in the Consortio OzsoloProsecco. We actually went to a winery
that also is the site of oneof the only red wine clue areas,
which was extremely unusual during this tripwhen we were tasting a lot of prosecco.
Right. Yeah, And just toclarify, the Oslo Prosecco is one
of the three DOCG Prosecco Superiori producingareas in the Veneto. Now, there
(02:46):
may be a lot of confusion herein the United States about all that,
and we're going to work hard todecipher it, not only in this interview
but in our blog to connected table. Joining us is Lorenzo Paula, who
was a family owner of Lauraden Gasperini. It's a very historic estate which we're
(03:07):
going to go into in the areaof Montello, which is located in diocg
Oslo, and it is here wherethey have this special clue red wine.
We learned that Montello is actually aUnesco Biasphere reserve. It was named that
in twenty sixteen. It has avery temperate climate and this very unique soil
it's kind of read from it's fromcreative from the confluence of water draining from
(03:30):
the Alps. Because we're talking aboutnorthern Italy, south of the Alps,
mixing with alluvial soils of the PiaveRiver which are to the north. We
found this visit quite different from theother producers, right, each of them
were unique, but this one,because of those red wines, kind of
surprised us. So we're going totalk about the history of Lauraden Gasperini and
(03:54):
also the history of the Paulo familythat who has owned this estate's nineteen seventy
three. So Lorenzo Paula, welcometo the Connected Table. Thank you,
thank you for inviting me, andI'm really happy to possibility to present my
area and my family. We enjoyedmeeting you when we were there. I
(04:15):
want to underscore that one of thegreat things about the trips we take is
that we get to meet the foundersand owners and family members and bring them
to our listeners. We always liketo start with location. We kind of
semi set it up, but let'sdig deeper into the history of Lord and
Gasparoni and its unique location in thediocg of Oslo. Yes, we are
(04:35):
located in a small village called Vinegatsu, and Venegatsu as a really really long
history in the wine and making wine. Because also the name probably in an
old Italian means a place full ofvina, vinna gazu, place full of
(04:56):
vinya. But for sure since thirteenthcentury, we have a book in in
our museum that tell us that therewas the first production and the of red
wine in the RM and it isa production that is connected with the history
(05:24):
and the demand of the wine thatwas in the Mnisian Republic, because at
that time was a really high requestof wine in the in the in the
city of Venice, and so inthe mainland of Venice they started to plant
a lot of vinear. How farback are we talking, sorry, how
(05:46):
far back are we talking? BecauseVenice is a long history. So you're
saying back then, yes, froma thirteenth century, fifteenth century, that
the best period for the Republic ofVenice, and that our winery was created
by a family called Spinada. Butafter a couple of centuries, this Spinada
(06:12):
family give all the property to anotherfamily was the Gasparini family, and the
Gasparini they get one of the Gasparinilady get married with the Loredan family,
and so now the wineries Loredan,Gasparini, that are two family name that
had property of the winery during theeighteenth century and nineteenth century and my family
(06:39):
arriving in nineteen seventy three because myfather started to produce wine in the sixties,
but in the seventy three that greatpossibility and was able to buy this
this estate, and so for uswas we were really proud of this and
we tried to keep all the traditionand dick experience that there was in in
(07:02):
in our estate, but also makingsomething new. So during the seventy the
seventies, my father started to producethe diazzolo proseco, the prosecco. Yeah,
and and so now we are producerof azzola proseco and also our red
(07:23):
wine that are our historic wine.Father is John Carlo Palla, and he
was making wine. Was he alwaysmaking wine or did he have another industry?
No, it was his family wascoming from an industry from children were
and my my grandfather was one ofthe first producer of children were in Italy.
(07:46):
But my father was not so interestedin the in the the family business,
and so it was really interested inall the the working with the nature.
So started to plant street to cultivatemany different variety and especially the vine
(08:07):
at the end, you know,David. One of the things we learned
on our Oslo city tour, asa lot of the families in this area
gained success in the manufacture of fabricand silk and athletic wear, and we
learned athletic shoes, and a lotof the wineries, you know, their
(08:30):
their funding was fueled from those successfulenterprises which really started as trade, almost
little miniature trade, like there wouldbe one business that would make the shoelaces
and one that would make the heels, and they were all trades and all
really is what created the business successof the entire region of the Veneto.
And then from that families like you'restarted making wine and often not for bottling,
(08:54):
but for just the local citizens toenjoy, and then started bottling.
What point did your family churn yourwinery, Lord and Gasparini into a state
bottle wine facility now quite quite soonin the seventies, because also that the
(09:15):
wineries start to bottle wine in thefifties. It was really one of the
first winery the start to bottle qualitywine and in Italy, and so my
father, my father, yes didit also with the prosecco, that it
(09:37):
was something new but it continued alsowith the red wine and the traditional of
the winery in the red wine.You know, Lorenzo, Let's talk about
prosecco for a little bit, andspecifically prosecco from Ossla, because as I
mentioned earlier in the show, it'sone of the three d OCG prosecco superior
(09:58):
producing regions. There's a lot ofDC proseco produced as well, but this
is one of the three top tierversions of prosecco. So talk about Asslo
prosecco and then how it differs inyour mind from which is one of the
other three. And Connel, Yes, Azzolo is the smallest appellation in the
ario prosecco and Proseco DC is thebiggest. The biggest production is the prosecco
(10:26):
that gives us the possibility to bepresent all around the world with the good
volume of proseco. But when wetalk about the quality, yes, for
sure that the Valconelianovaldo and the Alzoloor the area where we could find the
best and best procecuco and Azzolo asa really different character because it is an
(10:52):
area where the proseco is very mineral, very rich in the mouth, and
so you have possibility also to producea proseco not sweet without using a lot
of sugar, and so prosecco witha good body that is able to survive
also without the help of the sugar, and so usually brute version or also
(11:18):
extra brute version with few amounts ofsugar, because the soil is is is
the red soil yet in the inour part of the or the Azzol appellation,
and so give us a prosecco veryvery rich, very with a good
body. And so this is themost important character of the appellation. You
(11:43):
know you said when we were tastingwith you at the winery, you said
to our group, we need docprosecco so that we can better understand DCG
prosecco. Can you just talk tous about that a little bit? Yes,
yes, because the important amount ofthe process cordio see that we have
in the region give us the possibilityto arrive and to let to let not
(12:07):
that the name of the procescle aroundthe world. And because the area now
that is very very very huge myself, is an area that we co could
compare with the Bordeaux, the Bordeauxarea, the Bordeaux region, or the
Champagne region. But it's an areawhere the production of prosecco is is a
(12:33):
flat part of the region, sothat the prosecco could produce more than up
in the hills. So this isimportant in my opinion, because it is
the way that the appellation could presentthe product or procescle around the world.
And but yes, if we talkabout the quality, we have to move
(12:56):
in my opinion in the hills,and the hills are the historic part where
the proseco started and so you couldfind all the historic producer of the area,
and especially in the Corneliano lub andthat was one of the first area
that was was able to do toproduce this variety. Two questions. Connelian
(13:22):
Valbiani has a lot of high elevation. It's like one of the interesting things.
I'm curious. Part one, howelevation compares and di ocg Azzolo.
And also let's talk soil differences,because we reference this red soil, which
my knowledge is that red soil meansthere's a lot of iron in it and
minerals. How does it compare tothe shapes the style of Azala procle to
(13:46):
the other areas. Yes, asis a little higher than than the azzolo,
and so the possibility and to createproseco it all bit more elegant other
noals especially and others. So isan area also with really white soil.
(14:11):
So that then the most important difference, in my opinion, is that if
we could consider the Connelliano Valdo Biadaand probably the best the prosecco as a
as an aromatic expression. The azzoleprobably as the very good expression in the
(14:33):
mouth, so you feel very richtaste and very mineral body comparing to the
the Valdoba, and that is moreelegant maybe other nose. That's a good
explanation because I think maybe we bothnoticed it. I mean, it's all
the same grape glira, right,yeah, what are the other grapes that
(14:58):
can be used, And it's alocal grape, local grape that could be
verdis opere bianca and also a littlebit of you know, because there are
also a small quantity of pinot orchardonne. Also pinpeo is a dominant and
(15:20):
very distinct apple like flavor, andyou do get and of course you get
different ranges of prosecco from extra bruteto extra dry, which is a whole
other thing. Yeah, yeah,and and recently there's a Proctor's prose is
only is only in the appellation ofthe dioc appellation, right, and that
(15:46):
the Diog didn't allow at the momentthe production of rosse because it's something a
little bit more new, so it'snot something traditional, so that theg more
traditional production and the Dioc is alittle bit more modern. Now, you
(16:07):
know, we kind of like,I kind of like the few that I've
tried of the rose prosecco, bythe way, so let's keeping them on
prosecco before we move into rurets talkabout the range of prosecco styles that Lord
and Gasparini produces and explained how they'redifferent. Yes, but my father started
to produce just one version of proseco, So for forty years we did just
(16:33):
one version or proseco that a bruteversion. That was also quite unusual at
the beginning, because in Italy therewas especially demand of an extra dry that
means more sweet, more sweet prosecoin the past years. So but my
father since the beginning to the prosecofrom Azzolo. For sure, it is
(16:57):
a proseco with the good body andso doesn't need a lot of sugar.
So I started with a brute versions. I would like to do only this
version. But when I arrive atthe winery in the nineties, I added
the impression that we were really reallyable making a lot of selection in the
(17:18):
red variety, keeping a lot ofextinction between young old vineyard, the yayest,
the lowest, and being prosecco.We were used to put all together
and say why we do this?And we could not start to do the
same way we do with red variety. And so I start to select a
(17:41):
lot of different vineer and I discoveredthat a lot of different new world,
and so I start to produce asingle vineyer or prosecco with bottle fermented instead
of fermented and tank o Sharman method. And I also was really interested in
(18:04):
find our own East, and soI did a lot of spontaneous fermentation.
So I didn't add any sugar anyEaster he was I was looking for,
yes, indigenous East. So atthe end of this spontaneous fermentation in the
(18:25):
bottom of the tank, I wasable to find a couple of local East
and so we we still keep thisEast and we ferment now all our proseco
in the with this local natural East, indigenous East. And so this is
one of the important characters I thinkon my my proseco, because I think
(18:51):
I completed the expression of this prosecowith also with the use of this East.
I want to talk about one ofthe coves that you that you presented
to as, which is the Couveindigen extribute. This was a twenty twenty
one You've got. You use indigenousists, but you also let it spontaneous ferment,
and you told us that the fermentationcan take up to a year for
(19:15):
this one. Yeah, yes,this is one of the one that helped
me to to create the selection ofthe of the of the East. And
so it's just a natural spontaneous fermentation. I only try to keep the temperature
control, and so I moved thetemperature from the really law to up to
(19:38):
twelve thirteen degree and in this wayI tried to keep the fermentation very very
long, and so in this waythat the bubble became very very creamy,
very delicate, and in expression changea lot the way that that you feel
(20:00):
that this kind of prosecco. WhatI liked about this particular in the gin
extra brute and I do I ampartial to the extra brutes. Is you
mentioned creamy and in my tasting notes, I taught the Bibles were very,
very fine and elegant, and therewas like this delightful creamiest versus crunchiness in
some proseccos. I like the creamyversus the crunchy, and it was just
(20:25):
lovely and it was kind of asurprise, it really was. You.
Also, one of your best sellersis a prosecco superiority, and it had
some beautiful bubbles. I'd like youto clarify for our listening audience. Yeah,
what defines superiority, because often itmeans more alcohol, higher alcohol level.
(20:49):
In this what does it mean?Yes, in the in the prosecco,
when you find that they will mentionthe war superiora means that there's a
proseco from the really part of theregion, because it's typical of the could
be only used by the Cornelianovaldo bidand the Azzolo opellation. So it's always
(21:11):
proseco coming from the hills, sofrom the diocg that's very different because it
is it's a confusing term for alot of people in the United States,
which is why I asked it.And I remember this one, I wrote
that there was a little bit offloral fruit camerameal in this one. It
(21:32):
had some and again it's a lotof it's based on the terwa because it's
from a higher area, the sourcingof the grapes, right, yeah,
and you use native use this wellnessfermentation. Yes, yes, all my
proseco are made now with spontaneous ciindigenous system. And so in this way
(21:52):
I think we could ever more intensity, more more an expression, the more
intense adan os. And and thisis I think the better way to express
the azzole. The azzolo pro seco, in my opinion, isn't a more
(22:15):
expensive way to produce the wine ormore challenges. Yes, it's more expensive,
but also is quite difficult because Ihave to to to have a lot
of attention in picking the grape andbe able that all the grape, all
(22:36):
the single single raising a single grapeare perfect without any imperfection any This is
I don't know how to say inEnglish, but as to be really beautiful,
beautiful grape, because the spontaneous fermentationas to start in a good way,
(23:00):
and so if you have something insidethat is not perfect, you could
have a strange fermentation. Strange flavor, and so this is a very very
expensive form because take a lot oftime and people working on the selection.
So usually I'm able to produce upto five thousand bottles of maximum or this
(23:25):
prosecco. It's really really smaller production. Yeah, you know, Melanie,
you think you look at the numbersof how much prosecco is made in the
vs. Seven hundred million bottles lastcount. What I love about Oslo prosecco
is just what Lorenzo is doing.There's twenty four million bottles made of prosecco
(23:47):
in Oslo, so it's just adrop in the bucket of the total of
prosecco production. And there's a lotof family producers like Lorenzo who are making
very small amounts of proseccos. Thequality of it is off the charts.
This is what I love about Oslapercco and the indigene. I hit hear
three hundred and seventy two, butit's a very small production. We're kind
(24:08):
of lucky that we were able totaste it. You know, whenever you
hear the word spontaneous, you alreadyknow it's going to be you know,
there's more risk and management because spontaneouskind of says that it was really really
quite special this visit. Let's putto the red wines because as we noted,
this is unique Benegazu. Now,the count Count Lauren and gas Bruni
(24:30):
was very into bringing red varieties overto plant right. Yes, in the
region. In the pasta there wherelocal variety. But in the eighteenth century
this variety disappear and they started toplant especially Merlo at the beginning and after
(24:52):
also Cabernet Bernon, Cabernet Franca atthe end. In the in the forties
arrivals the mail back. Because theCount Loredan studied and worked a little bit
in Bordeaux, we understood it wasvery similar character in the in our area,
(25:17):
with similar with Bordeaux, and soit ought to recreate Bordeau style in
our region. It was the firstBordeau blend that was produced in Italy in
the fifties and this is a GovernorMerlow for us now is are quite a
(25:37):
local variety because it's more than anhundred the year that they are in the
area and is the most important varietyof our everyday consumption on that you can
find everywhere. You know, Melanieif you think super Tuscans also Porto blends,
they came along in the late sixties. That was the first first instance
(26:00):
of those. This was the nineteenfifties up in the Veneto. So that's
that's a very historical wine. Forreally it is are you the only producer
doing this or the other producers doingfor their plans? No, there are
in the probably it was the firstin the in in our area, but
in during the after the Second Warthat the province of Treviso vi Chainsa and
(26:27):
also yes especially Trevisovi chains About alsopart of a little bit are Really that
was the first area where the carbonand the lost start to to be produced
in Italy. And so it's reallyan historic part of Italy. For for
carbon and melon then a gas isa clue what is explain what the name
(26:53):
means. But why is let's talkabout the specialist of the specific area and
what sets it apart. Yes,is an area that where the council or
a dance started to produce the borderblend. And for the reason of this
historic, this historic production, wewas able to to have to to create
(27:21):
this uh, this group. Butit is also is there that is different.
This is why it was. Wewere able also to demonstrate that it
is in a small place, wassomething different comparing to the other parts,
because the montello is on the notto say in English, but it's across
(27:48):
an earthquake fail and so that isanal that was created by the pushing of
two different area of the of theour heart, our war, and so
these things change a lot the situationof the soil of Negatsu, and so
(28:12):
in the in the really deep partof the soil, you find a lot
of different substance from sand to stones. And this is the reason why Venegatsu
is so so different from other partsand was created this kind of crew.
You don't think about a fault inthe area, a fault fo yeah,
(28:36):
and you show the area as wevisited. We took a tour, you
know. Can can regular people govisit more than Gusta Berni, Yes,
yeah, sure. And we havea lot of people that visit our winery
every every year. So we arereally happy when people could visit us and
(28:56):
we could tell our history and andtaste our wines. So your website says
you and your brother and your fatherwork it's a new projects. What are
you working on? But we areworking in in more selections, so I'm
really interested in making a very veryspecific, unique selection selection. So selection
(29:22):
of a single vineer of Merlot isone of the probably most important selections that
I'm working on. Because in thehistory of the our winery probably there is
also a small parcel that was oneof the first parcel of Merlo that was
(29:45):
planted in Italy. So in thissmall parcel, I try to select a
new, new new create a newselection and and so this is will be
a new one in the in thenext thing, the next year in future.
(30:07):
We tasted one of your plans CapitalStato also yes, which is Cabernet
dominant Cabernet capt Frank Merlot. Yeah, is a vineer that was planted in
nineteen forty six by the Count Loredan. Is a vineer where you could find
that is a field field blend becausethere is the Caverneton, Cabernet, Frank,
(30:33):
Merlo and Malbec planted all together,and so we still used to pick
all together and in a c totrying to find the right period for the
picking and to find the right balancebetween this variety. And this is a
vineer that is really important for usbecause in this vineer survive really all variety
(31:00):
of cabernet malone. So this iswhy is so unique this one. It's
so it's an older clone of bothand merlo Yeah, I mean six.
You know, field planting or fieldplanting really was the norm back in the
day. So it's really it's reallyrecently, more recently than than that that
people started planting vineyards of cabernet andvineyards of merlou and vineyards they used to
(31:26):
just plant them all together, reallyspecifically. There's a lot of that in
Portugal. It's all it's all justcomingled together in the vineyards. Yes,
yes, the old tradition was,yes, was was this and probably this
variety, not for sure this varietyare I from Bordeaux, but the but
(31:48):
this variety in Bordeaux and now neverexists, and so we are really proud
to keep surviving this variety and tocreate a selection from from this venue.
That's interesting, we're big. Youknow you mentioned similar to border when you
mean are you talking at the temperatethe climate, because I don't see the
(32:12):
where the soils are similar and thelocations are difference. So how is the
terwa similar? Yes, we havea most part of Bardo also are very
good concentration of iron red soil andalso part of a component of clay and
(32:37):
and so, and also the climateand maybe board a little more Atlantic,
but here we are a little bitmore in the north, so there are
a lot of possibility to create.Yes, similar one It's interesting is that
kept thinking the Atlantic, and ifit's merely we haven't been the border enough,
(33:01):
we need to go to border literallyto really check out the start.
I want to get back to theYeah, we do do that too.
So we also tasted and I don'tknow if they're in the available the United
States, but some interesting grappas thatevery couple of the journalism nuts over there.
Yeah, now Grandpa is I thinkthat the best of my father because
(33:29):
in in ninety in ninety three hewas also able to buy a most small
distillery. And so since more thansince forty years now we are thirty years,
we are producing Grandpa from our skins. So we could decide the right
(33:54):
selection that we could distiller very veryfresh skins. So we don't put skins
in for storage, but we distillright after the fermentation, and so we
have a possibility to create very elegantGrandpa and very is one of the patient
(34:19):
and my father is working in thelast the last years. Are those available
in the United States. Yes,we just started in some parts of the
States and there are, yes,a little bit of Grandpa. They were
quite good, and I don't thinkI was the only Grappa we probably tasted,
and I was alo and I rememberI think we tasted a couple of
(34:43):
others we did. Yeah, Iremember that. I remember this visit was
very unique for the tasting room wherewe wanted. You had all these old
bottles from port lining them, yes, lining the side. It was like
it was like that the Hall ofFame of wine that you must have been
tasting to do research. Yes,a lot of research we need. We
(35:07):
need to taste a lot of winefrom a different area to be able to
understand also better our our style,our our production. Of course absolutely no.
Remind me. Do you have asymbol that symbolizes lord and Gasparini?
Ah? Yes, yes, becausethe lore Dan family was one of the
(35:30):
most important family in the in thehistory of Venice, and they was a
noble family. So we still whatis the sign of the family with the
health that was typical of the Dodge. The Dodge was like a president of
republic and the Loredan family and forthree times the Dodge in Venice, so
(35:52):
really really powerful family. I seemto remember that the entrance to the winery
there was something stinct about it.We're looking at the photo, but there
was I remember taking a lot ofpictures at the beginning to see this area.
So what do you find most enjoyableand most challenging? And the work
(36:15):
you do is a is a wordthat where you you or or you are
always in contact with the nature.So I really, I really love this
kind of job because we work everyday with the nature and we try to
(36:35):
understand what is changing day by day. And so this is fantastic in my
opinion. Is that the best partof my work. And after you have
the divinifications or you have to beable to express the vinea or the great
(36:58):
the vintage that you have in yourhand and to be able to keep in
the bottle that the right expression ofthis of the vintage. And that's always
changing, right, and it's alwayschanging, something always new, and you
could remember you have experienced from thepast, but everything change and something is
(37:22):
everything new every every time. Areyou finding that the grape growing and when
making in the Veneto and specifically whereyou are is becoming more challenging with things
like global warming and temperature fluctuation thatwe haven't seen ever before, and the
volatility of the climate. Yes,yes, I think we are naia where
(37:46):
we are quite lucky because it wasin the past was a little bit cooler
for to be a producer of acar burnet and melon. But now with
the global warming, I think wecould be a better producer of a carbone
(38:07):
a lot that has a more longerhypeness, and so we need so that
we we could be able to writevery well then, especially the cabernet that
(38:27):
maybe in the in the prosecco wehave to be able to keep all the
freshness that we could be the problemof the future, and so also could
be maybe interesting to try to makeexperiments with the blending small part of variety
(38:52):
with the acidity, so also lockof variety there are there is an example
that the Voska is a variety withreally II acidity and maybe in the future
could be very useful because we needthe more acidity more freshness, and so
(39:13):
maybe we have to work on thefreshness and to be careful to to find
the rhine blending for for keeping thisthe right balance of the prosecle. I
think that's going to pay a challengefor everyone as the world heats up.
Yeah, I have a question foryou. So I was on your Instagram
(39:35):
site and you do the promotion withVW But these cool buses. David used
to have one of those pasts Idid. I had a nineteen seventy seven
West failure for many years. Wellwhat's that? Yes, yes, because
the local distributor of Vosswagen. Andyes, we we are friends and we
(39:55):
work, Yes, we work.We try to promote the new production was
fogging in our one. Those arecute. We want one to tour around
Europe. Put in a good wordfor us. That's what we envisioned the
Connected Table Europe road trip to be. We'll make it happen. Yeah,
(40:17):
next time we come over. Yeah. Well, we want to underscore that.
Laura and Gasparini wise are available throughoutthe United States, right, and
we encourage our listeners to check themout and try them. They're really tripping.
And I think the Ozolo prosecco reallyis a unique style. Uh,
(40:37):
you know, we always say topeople, there's a lot of prosecco.
Yeah, made is David said,twenty four million bottles well in Azzolo alone,
sixty five million throughout right. Ohsorry seven yeah, I think the
sixty million was Joe Giusto or somethingwe also interviewed. But it's a lot,
(41:00):
and there's different styles. As wesaid, from Extra dry, which
tends to go sweeter, to thespectrum the extra brute. You have choices
to make in the type of proseccoand the style, and we encourage you
to keep trying. Don't just settleon one brand that you pick off your
(41:22):
supermarket shelf all the time because it'scheap and easy. Go and explore,
because you'll really find some amazing styleswill enhance your meal and be a pleasurable
to your palent I don't think wein the United States do that enough.
Yeah, yeah, now I produceI export also to the United States only
(41:44):
the brute version, and but inthe market, for sure you could find
also the many prosecos or extra dry, and for example, the version worked
really well with the Asian cuisine orwith the spicy food. So it's interesting
(42:07):
also to change a different variety.It's style of prosecco depending of the what
you want to just to eat topair. We agree, and I think
more it just it's all about educationand willingness and also access because many people
(42:28):
buy their prosecco off the supermarket shelfand there's like six brands. Yeah,
yeah, six brands out of youknow, millions. So you know,
we always like to say to ourfans and listeners, go and befriend a
retailer who has a really good wineshop and get a relationship going and asks
to bring in or help you trybring in different styles. If you don't
(42:52):
ask, you don't get yes.And also prosecco is not expensive usually is
a good opportunity to try and toexperiment. Yeah, absolutely, Yeah,
Well, Lorenzo, we've really enjoyedhaving you join us from Italy today on
(43:13):
the Connected Table Live. It's beena pleasure to see you again on the
screen and we do appreciate your hospitalityat your winery. Thank you, thank
you you for our coming and Ihope to have you again maybe next year
or when you are are you inItaly, Well, we would look forward,
we would look forward to that.Yeah, when we're driving around that
(43:34):
new v W bus you're going toput in a good work for us.
You've been listening to another edition ofThe Connected Table Live where we're bringing you
to Italy, specifically Ozsolo, whichis near Venice. It's a very easy
day or overnight. We actually recommendspending a couple of days in the area
Ozolo is. There's some great boutiquehotels in the areas were really great boutica.
(43:55):
This Ozzolo itself is a very charmingcity, filled with history art.
A lot of artists went there topaint very famous writers, incredible and the
wineries are easy to visit and wellworth it. And there's some stunning architecture
as well. Right, yes,and not far from Venice, so it
(44:20):
could be really interesting to spend theday, yes, around the region.
Absolutely so, thank you again,Lorenzo, Pala, Lauren and Gasparini.
You've been listening to the Connected TableLive. As always, we want you
to stay insatiably curious. Thank you.
The topics and opinions expressed in thefollowing show are solely those of the hosts
and their guests and not those ofW FORCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates.
We make no recommendations or endorsements radioshow, program services, or products
mentioned on air or on our web. No liability, explicit or implied shall
be extended to W FORCY Radio.It's employees are affiliates. Any questions or
comments should be directed to those showhosts. Thank you for choosing W FORCY
(00:21):
Radio. Welcome to the Connected TableLive. We are your host Melanie Young
(00:45):
and David Ransom. You're insatiably curiousculinary couple. We enjoy bringing you the
dynamic people who are front and centerand behind the scenes in wine, food,
spirits and hospitality around the world.We travel a lot, and it
really gives us a lot of opportunitiesto meet some pretty fascinating people and help
bring them to you so you canlearn about their wines and visit them hopefully,
(01:07):
right, David, Absolutely, Melanie, and today we're going back to
one of our favorite places, aplace that we've been to a couple of
times, most recently in June twentytwenty three. Yeah, we're excited to
bring one of the producers who's who'sreally kind of one of the historical producers
in the region. Let me setit up. We are taking you to
the region of docg Oslo Asolo,not Oslo in Norway. Oslo, which
(01:34):
is about an hour from Venice.I mean, it's like a world apart.
Is actually an area where the Venetiannobles of their time would go and
build these palatial castellos, and youcan still see them as you travel through
the countryside. It's a quite abeautiful area and the main village is the
city is Osloe. And one ofthe reasons it was so popular is because
(01:57):
it's really the first set of hillas you move north out of Venice that
you get to, so it wascooler in the summertime when there was no
electricity or air conditioning back then.And like many regions in Italy, there
are different areas that are known forcertain types of wine. Oslo is known
for its Ozsolo prosecco superiiority, andwe learned during this recent visit. Thank
(02:22):
you studio crew in the Consortio OzsoloProsecco. We actually went to a winery
that also is the site of oneof the only red wine clue areas,
which was extremely unusual during this tripwhen we were tasting a lot of prosecco.
Right. Yeah, And just toclarify, the Oslo Prosecco is one
of the three DOCG Prosecco Superiori producingareas in the Veneto. Now, there
(02:46):
may be a lot of confusion herein the United States about all that,
and we're going to work hard todecipher it, not only in this interview
but in our blog to connected table. Joining us is Lorenzo Paula, who
was a family owner of Lauraden Gasperini. It's a very historic estate which we're
(03:07):
going to go into in the areaof Montello, which is located in diocg
Oslo, and it is here wherethey have this special clue red wine.
We learned that Montello is actually aUnesco Biasphere reserve. It was named that
in twenty sixteen. It has avery temperate climate and this very unique soil
it's kind of read from it's fromcreative from the confluence of water draining from
(03:30):
the Alps. Because we're talking aboutnorthern Italy, south of the Alps,
mixing with alluvial soils of the PiaveRiver which are to the north. We
found this visit quite different from theother producers, right, each of them
were unique, but this one,because of those red wines, kind of
surprised us. So we're going totalk about the history of Lauraden Gasperini and
(03:54):
also the history of the Paulo familythat who has owned this estate's nineteen seventy
three. So Lorenzo Paula, welcometo the Connected Table. Thank you,
thank you for inviting me, andI'm really happy to possibility to present my
area and my family. We enjoyedmeeting you when we were there. I
(04:15):
want to underscore that one of thegreat things about the trips we take is
that we get to meet the foundersand owners and family members and bring them
to our listeners. We always liketo start with location. We kind of
semi set it up, but let'sdig deeper into the history of Lord and
Gasparoni and its unique location in thediocg of Oslo. Yes, we are
(04:35):
located in a small village called Vinegatsu, and Venegatsu as a really really long
history in the wine and making wine. Because also the name probably in an
old Italian means a place full ofvina, vinna gazu, place full of
(04:56):
vinya. But for sure since thirteenthcentury, we have a book in in
our museum that tell us that therewas the first production and the of red
wine in the RM and it isa production that is connected with the history
(05:24):
and the demand of the wine thatwas in the Mnisian Republic, because at
that time was a really high requestof wine in the in the in the
city of Venice, and so inthe mainland of Venice they started to plant
a lot of vinear. How farback are we talking, sorry, how
(05:46):
far back are we talking? BecauseVenice is a long history. So you're
saying back then, yes, froma thirteenth century, fifteenth century, that
the best period for the Republic ofVenice, and that our winery was created
by a family called Spinada. Butafter a couple of centuries, this Spinada
(06:12):
family give all the property to anotherfamily was the Gasparini family, and the
Gasparini they get one of the Gasparinilady get married with the Loredan family,
and so now the wineries Loredan,Gasparini, that are two family name that
had property of the winery during theeighteenth century and nineteenth century and my family
(06:39):
arriving in nineteen seventy three because myfather started to produce wine in the sixties,
but in the seventy three that greatpossibility and was able to buy this
this estate, and so for uswas we were really proud of this and
we tried to keep all the traditionand dick experience that there was in in
(07:02):
in our estate, but also makingsomething new. So during the seventy the
seventies, my father started to producethe diazzolo proseco, the prosecco. Yeah,
and and so now we are producerof azzola proseco and also our red
(07:23):
wine that are our historic wine.Father is John Carlo Palla, and he
was making wine. Was he alwaysmaking wine or did he have another industry?
No, it was his family wascoming from an industry from children were
and my my grandfather was one ofthe first producer of children were in Italy.
(07:46):
But my father was not so interestedin the in the the family business,
and so it was really interested inall the the working with the nature.
So started to plant street to cultivatemany different variety and especially the vine
(08:07):
at the end, you know,David. One of the things we learned
on our Oslo city tour, asa lot of the families in this area
gained success in the manufacture of fabricand silk and athletic wear, and we
learned athletic shoes, and a lotof the wineries, you know, their
(08:30):
their funding was fueled from those successfulenterprises which really started as trade, almost
little miniature trade, like there wouldbe one business that would make the shoelaces
and one that would make the heels, and they were all trades and all
really is what created the business successof the entire region of the Veneto.
And then from that families like you'restarted making wine and often not for bottling,
(08:54):
but for just the local citizens toenjoy, and then started bottling.
What point did your family churn yourwinery, Lord and Gasparini into a state
bottle wine facility now quite quite soonin the seventies, because also that the
(09:15):
wineries start to bottle wine in thefifties. It was really one of the
first winery the start to bottle qualitywine and in Italy, and so my
father, my father, yes didit also with the prosecco, that it
(09:37):
was something new but it continued alsowith the red wine and the traditional of
the winery in the red wine.You know, Lorenzo, Let's talk about
prosecco for a little bit, andspecifically prosecco from Ossla, because as I
mentioned earlier in the show, it'sone of the three d OCG prosecco superior
(09:58):
producing regions. There's a lot ofDC proseco produced as well, but this
is one of the three top tierversions of prosecco. So talk about Asslo
prosecco and then how it differs inyour mind from which is one of the
other three. And Connel, Yes, Azzolo is the smallest appellation in the
ario prosecco and Proseco DC is thebiggest. The biggest production is the prosecco
(10:26):
that gives us the possibility to bepresent all around the world with the good
volume of proseco. But when wetalk about the quality, yes, for
sure that the Valconelianovaldo and the Alzoloor the area where we could find the
best and best procecuco and Azzolo asa really different character because it is an
(10:52):
area where the proseco is very mineral, very rich in the mouth, and
so you have possibility also to producea proseco not sweet without using a lot
of sugar, and so prosecco witha good body that is able to survive
also without the help of the sugar, and so usually brute version or also
(11:18):
extra brute version with few amounts ofsugar, because the soil is is is
the red soil yet in the inour part of the or the Azzol appellation,
and so give us a prosecco veryvery rich, very with a good
body. And so this is themost important character of the appellation. You
(11:43):
know you said when we were tastingwith you at the winery, you said
to our group, we need docprosecco so that we can better understand DCG
prosecco. Can you just talk tous about that a little bit? Yes,
yes, because the important amount ofthe process cordio see that we have
in the region give us the possibilityto arrive and to let to let not
(12:07):
that the name of the procescle aroundthe world. And because the area now
that is very very very huge myself, is an area that we co could
compare with the Bordeaux, the Bordeauxarea, the Bordeaux region, or the
Champagne region. But it's an areawhere the production of prosecco is is a
(12:33):
flat part of the region, sothat the prosecco could produce more than up
in the hills. So this isimportant in my opinion, because it is
the way that the appellation could presentthe product or procescle around the world.
And but yes, if we talkabout the quality, we have to move
(12:56):
in my opinion in the hills,and the hills are the historic part where
the proseco started and so you couldfind all the historic producer of the area,
and especially in the Corneliano lub andthat was one of the first area
that was was able to do toproduce this variety. Two questions. Connelian
(13:22):
Valbiani has a lot of high elevation. It's like one of the interesting things.
I'm curious. Part one, howelevation compares and di ocg Azzolo.
And also let's talk soil differences,because we reference this red soil, which
my knowledge is that red soil meansthere's a lot of iron in it and
minerals. How does it compare tothe shapes the style of Azala procle to
(13:46):
the other areas. Yes, asis a little higher than than the azzolo,
and so the possibility and to createproseco it all bit more elegant other
noals especially and others. So isan area also with really white soil.
(14:11):
So that then the most important difference, in my opinion, is that if
we could consider the Connelliano Valdo Biadaand probably the best the prosecco as a
as an aromatic expression. The azzoleprobably as the very good expression in the
(14:33):
mouth, so you feel very richtaste and very mineral body comparing to the
the Valdoba, and that is moreelegant maybe other nose. That's a good
explanation because I think maybe we bothnoticed it. I mean, it's all
the same grape glira, right,yeah, what are the other grapes that
(14:58):
can be used, And it's alocal grape, local grape that could be
verdis opere bianca and also a littlebit of you know, because there are
also a small quantity of pinot orchardonne. Also pinpeo is a dominant and
(15:20):
very distinct apple like flavor, andyou do get and of course you get
different ranges of prosecco from extra bruteto extra dry, which is a whole
other thing. Yeah, yeah,and and recently there's a Proctor's prose is
only is only in the appellation ofthe dioc appellation, right, and that
(15:46):
the Diog didn't allow at the momentthe production of rosse because it's something a
little bit more new, so it'snot something traditional, so that theg more
traditional production and the Dioc is alittle bit more modern. Now, you
(16:07):
know, we kind of like,I kind of like the few that I've
tried of the rose prosecco, bythe way, so let's keeping them on
prosecco before we move into rurets talkabout the range of prosecco styles that Lord
and Gasparini produces and explained how they'redifferent. Yes, but my father started
to produce just one version of proseco, So for forty years we did just
(16:33):
one version or proseco that a bruteversion. That was also quite unusual at
the beginning, because in Italy therewas especially demand of an extra dry that
means more sweet, more sweet prosecoin the past years. So but my
father since the beginning to the prosecofrom Azzolo. For sure, it is
(16:57):
a proseco with the good body andso doesn't need a lot of sugar.
So I started with a brute versions. I would like to do only this
version. But when I arrive atthe winery in the nineties, I added
the impression that we were really reallyable making a lot of selection in the
(17:18):
red variety, keeping a lot ofextinction between young old vineyard, the yayest,
the lowest, and being prosecco.We were used to put all together
and say why we do this?And we could not start to do the
same way we do with red variety. And so I start to select a
(17:41):
lot of different vineer and I discoveredthat a lot of different new world,
and so I start to produce asingle vineyer or prosecco with bottle fermented instead
of fermented and tank o Sharman method. And I also was really interested in
(18:04):
find our own East, and soI did a lot of spontaneous fermentation.
So I didn't add any sugar anyEaster he was I was looking for,
yes, indigenous East. So atthe end of this spontaneous fermentation in the
(18:25):
bottom of the tank, I wasable to find a couple of local East
and so we we still keep thisEast and we ferment now all our proseco
in the with this local natural East, indigenous East. And so this is
one of the important characters I thinkon my my proseco, because I think
(18:51):
I completed the expression of this prosecowith also with the use of this East.
I want to talk about one ofthe coves that you that you presented
to as, which is the Couveindigen extribute. This was a twenty twenty
one You've got. You use indigenousists, but you also let it spontaneous ferment,
and you told us that the fermentationcan take up to a year for
(19:15):
this one. Yeah, yes,this is one of the one that helped
me to to create the selection ofthe of the of the East. And
so it's just a natural spontaneous fermentation. I only try to keep the temperature
control, and so I moved thetemperature from the really law to up to
(19:38):
twelve thirteen degree and in this wayI tried to keep the fermentation very very
long, and so in this waythat the bubble became very very creamy,
very delicate, and in expression changea lot the way that that you feel
(20:00):
that this kind of prosecco. WhatI liked about this particular in the gin
extra brute and I do I ampartial to the extra brutes. Is you
mentioned creamy and in my tasting notes, I taught the Bibles were very,
very fine and elegant, and therewas like this delightful creamiest versus crunchiness in
some proseccos. I like the creamyversus the crunchy, and it was just
(20:25):
lovely and it was kind of asurprise, it really was. You.
Also, one of your best sellersis a prosecco superiority, and it had
some beautiful bubbles. I'd like youto clarify for our listening audience. Yeah,
what defines superiority, because often itmeans more alcohol, higher alcohol level.
(20:49):
In this what does it mean?Yes, in the in the prosecco,
when you find that they will mentionthe war superiora means that there's a
proseco from the really part of theregion, because it's typical of the could
be only used by the Cornelianovaldo bidand the Azzolo opellation. So it's always
(21:11):
proseco coming from the hills, sofrom the diocg that's very different because it
is it's a confusing term for alot of people in the United States,
which is why I asked it.And I remember this one, I wrote
that there was a little bit offloral fruit camerameal in this one. It
(21:32):
had some and again it's a lotof it's based on the terwa because it's
from a higher area, the sourcingof the grapes, right, yeah,
and you use native use this wellnessfermentation. Yes, yes, all my
proseco are made now with spontaneous ciindigenous system. And so in this way
(21:52):
I think we could ever more intensity, more more an expression, the more
intense adan os. And and thisis I think the better way to express
the azzole. The azzolo pro seco, in my opinion, isn't a more
(22:15):
expensive way to produce the wine ormore challenges. Yes, it's more expensive,
but also is quite difficult because Ihave to to to have a lot
of attention in picking the grape andbe able that all the grape, all
(22:36):
the single single raising a single grapeare perfect without any imperfection any This is
I don't know how to say inEnglish, but as to be really beautiful,
beautiful grape, because the spontaneous fermentationas to start in a good way,
(23:00):
and so if you have something insidethat is not perfect, you could
have a strange fermentation. Strange flavor, and so this is a very very
expensive form because take a lot oftime and people working on the selection.
So usually I'm able to produce upto five thousand bottles of maximum or this
(23:25):
prosecco. It's really really smaller production. Yeah, you know, Melanie,
you think you look at the numbersof how much prosecco is made in the
vs. Seven hundred million bottles lastcount. What I love about Oslo prosecco
is just what Lorenzo is doing.There's twenty four million bottles made of prosecco
(23:47):
in Oslo, so it's just adrop in the bucket of the total of
prosecco production. And there's a lotof family producers like Lorenzo who are making
very small amounts of proseccos. Thequality of it is off the charts.
This is what I love about Oslapercco and the indigene. I hit hear
three hundred and seventy two, butit's a very small production. We're kind
(24:08):
of lucky that we were able totaste it. You know, whenever you
hear the word spontaneous, you alreadyknow it's going to be you know,
there's more risk and management because spontaneouskind of says that it was really really
quite special this visit. Let's putto the red wines because as we noted,
this is unique Benegazu. Now,the count Count Lauren and gas Bruni
(24:30):
was very into bringing red varieties overto plant right. Yes, in the
region. In the pasta there wherelocal variety. But in the eighteenth century
this variety disappear and they started toplant especially Merlo at the beginning and after
(24:52):
also Cabernet Bernon, Cabernet Franca atthe end. In the in the forties
arrivals the mail back. Because theCount Loredan studied and worked a little bit
in Bordeaux, we understood it wasvery similar character in the in our area,
(25:17):
with similar with Bordeaux, and soit ought to recreate Bordeau style in
our region. It was the firstBordeau blend that was produced in Italy in
the fifties and this is a GovernorMerlow for us now is are quite a
(25:37):
local variety because it's more than anhundred the year that they are in the
area and is the most important varietyof our everyday consumption on that you can
find everywhere. You know, Melanieif you think super Tuscans also Porto blends,
they came along in the late sixties. That was the first first instance
(26:00):
of those. This was the nineteenfifties up in the Veneto. So that's
that's a very historical wine. Forreally it is are you the only producer
doing this or the other producers doingfor their plans? No, there are
in the probably it was the firstin the in in our area, but
in during the after the Second Warthat the province of Treviso vi Chainsa and
(26:27):
also yes especially Trevisovi chains About alsopart of a little bit are Really that
was the first area where the carbonand the lost start to to be produced
in Italy. And so it's reallyan historic part of Italy. For for
carbon and melon then a gas isa clue what is explain what the name
(26:53):
means. But why is let's talkabout the specialist of the specific area and
what sets it apart. Yes,is an area that where the council or
a dance started to produce the borderblend. And for the reason of this
historic, this historic production, wewas able to to have to to create
(27:21):
this uh, this group. Butit is also is there that is different.
This is why it was. Wewere able also to demonstrate that it
is in a small place, wassomething different comparing to the other parts,
because the montello is on the notto say in English, but it's across
(27:48):
an earthquake fail and so that isanal that was created by the pushing of
two different area of the of theour heart, our war, and so
these things change a lot the situationof the soil of Negatsu, and so
(28:12):
in the in the really deep partof the soil, you find a lot
of different substance from sand to stones. And this is the reason why Venegatsu
is so so different from other partsand was created this kind of crew.
You don't think about a fault inthe area, a fault fo yeah,
(28:36):
and you show the area as wevisited. We took a tour, you
know. Can can regular people govisit more than Gusta Berni, Yes,
yeah, sure. And we havea lot of people that visit our winery
every every year. So we arereally happy when people could visit us and
(28:56):
we could tell our history and andtaste our wines. So your website says
you and your brother and your fatherwork it's a new projects. What are
you working on? But we areworking in in more selections, so I'm
really interested in making a very veryspecific, unique selection selection. So selection
(29:22):
of a single vineer of Merlot isone of the probably most important selections that
I'm working on. Because in thehistory of the our winery probably there is
also a small parcel that was oneof the first parcel of Merlo that was
(29:45):
planted in Italy. So in thissmall parcel, I try to select a
new, new new create a newselection and and so this is will be
a new one in the in thenext thing, the next year in future.
(30:07):
We tasted one of your plans CapitalStato also yes, which is Cabernet
dominant Cabernet capt Frank Merlot. Yeah, is a vineer that was planted in
nineteen forty six by the Count Loredan. Is a vineer where you could find
that is a field field blend becausethere is the Caverneton, Cabernet, Frank,
(30:33):
Merlo and Malbec planted all together,and so we still used to pick
all together and in a c totrying to find the right period for the
picking and to find the right balancebetween this variety. And this is a
vineer that is really important for usbecause in this vineer survive really all variety
(31:00):
of cabernet malone. So this iswhy is so unique this one. It's
so it's an older clone of bothand merlo Yeah, I mean six.
You know, field planting or fieldplanting really was the norm back in the
day. So it's really it's reallyrecently, more recently than than that that
people started planting vineyards of cabernet andvineyards of merlou and vineyards they used to
(31:26):
just plant them all together, reallyspecifically. There's a lot of that in
Portugal. It's all it's all justcomingled together in the vineyards. Yes,
yes, the old tradition was,yes, was was this and probably this
variety, not for sure this varietyare I from Bordeaux, but the but
(31:48):
this variety in Bordeaux and now neverexists, and so we are really proud
to keep surviving this variety and tocreate a selection from from this venue.
That's interesting, we're big. Youknow you mentioned similar to border when you
mean are you talking at the temperatethe climate, because I don't see the
(32:12):
where the soils are similar and thelocations are difference. So how is the
terwa similar? Yes, we havea most part of Bardo also are very
good concentration of iron red soil andalso part of a component of clay and
(32:37):
and so, and also the climateand maybe board a little more Atlantic,
but here we are a little bitmore in the north, so there are
a lot of possibility to create.Yes, similar one It's interesting is that
kept thinking the Atlantic, and ifit's merely we haven't been the border enough,
(33:01):
we need to go to border literallyto really check out the start.
I want to get back to theYeah, we do do that too.
So we also tasted and I don'tknow if they're in the available the United
States, but some interesting grappas thatevery couple of the journalism nuts over there.
Yeah, now Grandpa is I thinkthat the best of my father because
(33:29):
in in ninety in ninety three hewas also able to buy a most small
distillery. And so since more thansince forty years now we are thirty years,
we are producing Grandpa from our skins. So we could decide the right
(33:54):
selection that we could distiller very veryfresh skins. So we don't put skins
in for storage, but we distillright after the fermentation, and so we
have a possibility to create very elegantGrandpa and very is one of the patient
(34:19):
and my father is working in thelast the last years. Are those available
in the United States. Yes,we just started in some parts of the
States and there are, yes,a little bit of Grandpa. They were
quite good, and I don't thinkI was the only Grappa we probably tasted,
and I was alo and I rememberI think we tasted a couple of
(34:43):
others we did. Yeah, Iremember that. I remember this visit was
very unique for the tasting room wherewe wanted. You had all these old
bottles from port lining them, yes, lining the side. It was like
it was like that the Hall ofFame of wine that you must have been
tasting to do research. Yes,a lot of research we need. We
(35:07):
need to taste a lot of winefrom a different area to be able to
understand also better our our style,our our production. Of course absolutely no.
Remind me. Do you have asymbol that symbolizes lord and Gasparini?
Ah? Yes, yes, becausethe lore Dan family was one of the
(35:30):
most important family in the in thehistory of Venice, and they was a
noble family. So we still whatis the sign of the family with the
health that was typical of the Dodge. The Dodge was like a president of
republic and the Loredan family and forthree times the Dodge in Venice, so
(35:52):
really really powerful family. I seemto remember that the entrance to the winery
there was something stinct about it.We're looking at the photo, but there
was I remember taking a lot ofpictures at the beginning to see this area.
So what do you find most enjoyableand most challenging? And the work
(36:15):
you do is a is a wordthat where you you or or you are
always in contact with the nature.So I really, I really love this
kind of job because we work everyday with the nature and we try to
(36:35):
understand what is changing day by day. And so this is fantastic in my
opinion. Is that the best partof my work. And after you have
the divinifications or you have to beable to express the vinea or the great
(36:58):
the vintage that you have in yourhand and to be able to keep in
the bottle that the right expression ofthis of the vintage. And that's always
changing, right, and it's alwayschanging, something always new, and you
could remember you have experienced from thepast, but everything change and something is
(37:22):
everything new every every time. Areyou finding that the grape growing and when
making in the Veneto and specifically whereyou are is becoming more challenging with things
like global warming and temperature fluctuation thatwe haven't seen ever before, and the
volatility of the climate. Yes,yes, I think we are naia where
(37:46):
we are quite lucky because it wasin the past was a little bit cooler
for to be a producer of acar burnet and melon. But now with
the global warming, I think wecould be a better producer of a carbone
(38:07):
a lot that has a more longerhypeness, and so we need so that
we we could be able to writevery well then, especially the cabernet that
(38:27):
maybe in the in the prosecco wehave to be able to keep all the
freshness that we could be the problemof the future, and so also could
be maybe interesting to try to makeexperiments with the blending small part of variety
(38:52):
with the acidity, so also lockof variety there are there is an example
that the Voska is a variety withreally II acidity and maybe in the future
could be very useful because we needthe more acidity more freshness, and so
(39:13):
maybe we have to work on thefreshness and to be careful to to find
the rhine blending for for keeping thisthe right balance of the prosecle. I
think that's going to pay a challengefor everyone as the world heats up.
Yeah, I have a question foryou. So I was on your Instagram
(39:35):
site and you do the promotion withVW But these cool buses. David used
to have one of those pasts Idid. I had a nineteen seventy seven
West failure for many years. Wellwhat's that? Yes, yes, because
the local distributor of Vosswagen. Andyes, we we are friends and we
(39:55):
work, Yes, we work.We try to promote the new production was
fogging in our one. Those arecute. We want one to tour around
Europe. Put in a good wordfor us. That's what we envisioned the
Connected Table Europe road trip to be. We'll make it happen. Yeah,
(40:17):
next time we come over. Yeah. Well, we want to underscore that.
Laura and Gasparini wise are available throughoutthe United States, right, and
we encourage our listeners to check themout and try them. They're really tripping.
And I think the Ozolo prosecco reallyis a unique style. Uh,
(40:37):
you know, we always say topeople, there's a lot of prosecco.
Yeah, made is David said,twenty four million bottles well in Azzolo alone,
sixty five million throughout right. Ohsorry seven yeah, I think the
sixty million was Joe Giusto or somethingwe also interviewed. But it's a lot,
(41:00):
and there's different styles. As wesaid, from Extra dry, which
tends to go sweeter, to thespectrum the extra brute. You have choices
to make in the type of proseccoand the style, and we encourage you
to keep trying. Don't just settleon one brand that you pick off your
(41:22):
supermarket shelf all the time because it'scheap and easy. Go and explore,
because you'll really find some amazing styleswill enhance your meal and be a pleasurable
to your palent I don't think wein the United States do that enough.
Yeah, yeah, now I produceI export also to the United States only
(41:44):
the brute version, and but inthe market, for sure you could find
also the many prosecos or extra dry, and for example, the version worked
really well with the Asian cuisine orwith the spicy food. So it's interesting
(42:07):
also to change a different variety.It's style of prosecco depending of the what
you want to just to eat topair. We agree, and I think
more it just it's all about educationand willingness and also access because many people
(42:28):
buy their prosecco off the supermarket shelfand there's like six brands. Yeah,
yeah, six brands out of youknow, millions. So you know,
we always like to say to ourfans and listeners, go and befriend a
retailer who has a really good wineshop and get a relationship going and asks
to bring in or help you trybring in different styles. If you don't
(42:52):
ask, you don't get yes.And also prosecco is not expensive usually is
a good opportunity to try and toexperiment. Yeah, absolutely, Yeah,
Well, Lorenzo, we've really enjoyedhaving you join us from Italy today on
(43:13):
the Connected Table Live. It's beena pleasure to see you again on the
screen and we do appreciate your hospitalityat your winery. Thank you, thank
you you for our coming and Ihope to have you again maybe next year
or when you are are you inItaly, Well, we would look forward,
we would look forward to that.Yeah, when we're driving around that
(43:34):
new v W bus you're going toput in a good work for us.
You've been listening to another edition ofThe Connected Table Live where we're bringing you
to Italy, specifically Ozsolo, whichis near Venice. It's a very easy
day or overnight. We actually recommendspending a couple of days in the area
Ozolo is. There's some great boutiquehotels in the areas were really great boutica.
(43:55):
This Ozzolo itself is a very charmingcity, filled with history art.
A lot of artists went there topaint very famous writers, incredible and the
wineries are easy to visit and wellworth it. And there's some stunning architecture
as well. Right, yes,and not far from Venice, so it
(44:20):
could be really interesting to spend theday, yes, around the region.
Absolutely so, thank you again,Lorenzo, Pala, Lauren and Gasparini.
You've been listening to the Connected TableLive. As always, we want you
to stay insatiably curious. Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com