April 16, 2025 • 46 mins
Maestà della Formica (Majesty of the Ant) is named for a mountain pass in the Apuan Alpes near the winery which is an hour and a half from Lucca in the northwest corner of Tuscany. Founded in 2013 by Andrea Elmi and Marco Raffaelli, Maestà della Formica has 3.2 ha. of biodynamically farmed vineyards. Small parcels of grapes- international and indigenous- are mixed together to create unique field blends, a distinguishing feature of this region's wines where 70% of vintners farm biodynamically.
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The Connected Table is broadcast live Wednesdays at 2PM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
The Connected Table Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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(00:22):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to the Connected Table Live. We're your hosts, Melanie
Young and David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple. We
enjoy traveling the world to bring you the amazing people
who work front and center and behind the scenes in wine, food,
spirits and hospit bataladay. We love sharing their stories and
(01:02):
the places we go, people we meet, the wines of foods,
we taste with you because we want you to expand
your horizons and your palette. And we love supporting our industry, right.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
David, We sure do, Melanie, And you know, I think
at this point we should probably just call this the
Connected Table in Italy.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Because yeah, because we're in Italy quite a bit. We
were recently in van Italy. We're recording this in April,
and we were attending for the first time the world's
largest Italian wine fair, van Italy. But prior to that,
we had this amazing trip through a part of the
(01:38):
Tuscan coastline we hadn't been to. We've been to the
southern Tuscan coast, but we went up to the northern
Tuscan coast. It was actually a program that we attended
called Vinnie de la Costa. That program actually was wines
of both coasts. There were wines in the Marquee as well.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Bruso based in Luca, which is on the west coast
of Tuscany. And you know that Luca is basically due
west of Florence, which people know about and many people
have been to that listen to our show, but not
a lot of people get over to Luca. And it's
really just a gem of a city in Tuscany. It's
a beautiful walled city with the original walls still around it,
and it's just a beautiful little city. But there's also
(02:17):
great wine made there and that's why we were.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
There, and really interesting wines. You know, Tuscandi is such
a large area and each region is unique. So our
guest today is representing this area just about north, about
an hour or so northwest of Luca, there's the Apuan Alps,
(02:39):
there's the coast, there's beautiful hills. We drove up in
there and we learned that the wine stars. There's a
lot of biodynamic farming, a lot of biodiversity, and I
think that this sweet feel that this producer really embodies
a lot of it. Joining us is Andrea Elmi. He
(03:00):
is a founder of my Sta Della for Mika that
means Majesty of the ant. We had a wonderful dinner
with Andrea during our trip and tasted several of his wines,
which arranged from reasonings to kind of like red Field blends,
which we'd also learned was very common here. So to
(03:20):
kind of enlighten us about the region and also share
his story, we welcome Andrea Elmi.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Welcome, Hello, Hello Melanie.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Hello, well Andrea. We had a wonderful time with you
a couple of times actually while we were there, because
we also saw you at van Italy. But when we
were at Vinie de la Costa, we had dinner together
at a Michelin Star restaurant and restauranti UMBI too taste
it through your wines, which we found just to be
lovely wines, and so we'd love to hear a little
(03:51):
bit more about your story. Tell us about you, your background,
where you grew up. Are you from the region or
did you move there to make wine?
Speaker 4 (04:00):
He moved there to make wine.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
I grew up Vivia age in Versia. That is one
hour adult of distance backar so it's not so, it's
quite closer to Garfiana. A little age of my family
come from Sienna, another.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
City in Tuesday.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
I studied in a high school classical study studies, and
after I studied at like an ologist at the University
of Business City. I started my career somewhere in Carty area,
Castinober then and after in Capabia, Marina, before to arrive
(04:45):
in Garfaniana for my own project.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Why did you decide to establish with Marco one of
your wine school students my study Dela for ma in
the location it is and tell us about it.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
Stardi de la Fornica is located in the northern past
part of two Scany and we are in Garfiana that
is a valley between the two high.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Mountain that run along the.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Sea coast, that are upon Alps, the closer to the
sea and after the appenings Camelia, the run for two
Scany and after until the soot of Italy. And it's
a different are and two Scany because we have this
(05:45):
hired mont like the northern famous Albi in Terentino, but
we are very closer to the sea with the climate
the influence from from the coast.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
What is the closest seaside city Just to get some context,
I'm sorry, what is this? What is the city closest
to the sea.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
It roses to the sea.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
He's a via Angel that is in the front of
apon Alps, between app On Alps and the sea. Luca
is behind the Apls and within the apon Alps.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
And you know, it's interesting about.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
The close city to Garfagnan.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
What's interesting about this area, Andrea and David is you've
got these beautiful mountains and this is a very short
derived from Luca. You're in the mountains and you can
see in the distance snowcap and yet the sea is
maybe less than an hour or so away, So it's
a it's an incredible location in terms of diversity and biodiversity,
(06:54):
and nearby we learned the Masakrara quarries, known for the
famous marble that Michelangelo used to create David. This is
a very famous area for stone and farming, and of
course people like the vacation on the coast as well.
We had the great pleasure of going to be a
reggio for a seaside dinner one night. How high up
(07:18):
are you at my stat tel Formica and give us
a sense of the terwa and the growing conditions.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
Okay, we are said that are not so old the
Montani they had origin about sixty five million.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Or here I go from a bigger week for a
few days.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
So it's a very confusion and explosive acids of the
mountain from the soil there are famous for the marple
and but they are for the major party whom the
album composed by Sandston kind of rock.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
We have a lot.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
Very interesting in this area for me is that you
can find a lot of different war and micher client
because you can go in a few kilometers by zero
meters two until two thousand meters is the major ite
(08:32):
of the of the mid day, so in you know,
clearly two thousand meters are too much for the varying cultivation.
But surely you can find a lot of our different
micro climate differ.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
To a different in our vineyards.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
Of reasoning the itthere one that is that one thousand
and fifteen meters of this level.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
We have interesting co existing of the two.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Particular and geological different formation of the area.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
One is the is the.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
Up one one that the plaque that that that is
made of rue of sandstorm. And the other one is
the Liburian one that comes in a few places with
some stripe from the north from Liburia.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
That is the vision at the.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
North of of two scanny that is of sea origin
in which you can find a.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Shell and is wide kind of of So so we
think that it's an interesting.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Area because it's a new area in which you can
for the for the quality wine in which you are
free to fry and cultivate some new varieties. But it's
also an area in which the wines and always be
impressed all the family of the people in the pasta
(10:20):
and his own own vineyard.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
That cultivated for his own consumption. And so.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Together with the story particular story of the people in
the area that is very isolated but is across the
value important important the pasta for by important commercial road
like for example for the salt.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
And so we found there and in the old vineyards.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
A lot of Italian and French variety in the very
old the bonds.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
One of the things that's interesting, I think you are
outside a DOC correct, you're not within a DOOC. Your
wines are all I GT correct.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Yes we are, but at the moment.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
So one of the great things about that is, you know,
the beauty of the doc and the doocg is it
creates very strict guidelines for the quality and consistency of
the wines within that area. On the flip side, IGT
wines allow for creative expression. And one of the things
that struck us with your wines, Andrea at my Sta
(11:38):
della Formica is the creative expression. We tasted several wines
at restaurant Umbto, and we started with Reasling, which we
really had not had in Italy much and these are
fairly a full Reasling's high altitude Reaslings. We also had
(12:02):
you work with Gamet, you work with Sira, Chilla, Jello
and some very local varieties. So there's a you even
have Bla francas. You have a wide range of wines
that grape varieties that you work with, to and and
and are there any that dominate your wines. We'll start
with the whites because what we noticed, what we call
(12:22):
it is field blend.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
You have a lot of small percentages of grapes to
create your different wines. Let's start with your white wines
because we were struck by the reaslings that we tasted.
Is that your dominant white or do you make other
wines in addition to reasling? To talk about why reasling here?
Because we love raasling, thank you, and.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
Easily we hold in our winery in order trying to
cultivate the variety. Searching in altitude and water usually is
searchingly in Euroco where the most famous residents are produced
in Germany, or in France.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
Or also in Italy.
Speaker 5 (13:07):
Usually the residing is cutivated on the northern Alps, in
Alto or in Piedmont.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
So all the because of the reasoning, needs to stay.
Speaker 5 (13:20):
A long time on the plants, to go on with
the maturation more as possible to give the better results.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
So if you cutivate in a very hotel. You arrive
at the sugar maturation in August.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
The batter reasoning as not the aromatic compounds that make
it is a great variety greed. And we found that
it is a piece of land two one thousand million,
fifty minutes above the cigand there was water that was
important when you plant and new veenyards in that sorrow
(13:58):
key because clearly the water goes down and so.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
The plan you their young plants risk not to have enough.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
Water to We planted the Viniara in two thousand and fourteen,
the first piece of about three thousand, five hundred plants
for a quiet arfactor, and the second the planting has
been in twenty twenty two for another one two thousand meters.
(14:37):
So it's not so easy to found the new land
that convinced the people that has the land to sell
or run to you in order that you could group again.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
It's rugged, it's rugged area and just a minor listeners.
You started this winery in twenty thirteen, so it's still
relatively young winery in your first I think your first
release was twenty eighteen, correct, yes.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Yes, yes, yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
The grow is very slow for to principal reasons one
is that the odd season is really short. The auto
climate arrive definitely in June until there are the plants
grow very very slow. With the first day of June,
(15:32):
I started to accealerate is and grow more, grows lower.
But you consider that the alpha too alpha. The alpha
August during the night we can arrived at twelve ten
twelve degree, and so the time Mary is really short
(15:57):
and so the plants need more time. The other more
important reism is the soil. When you're working in so
rocky stone and soil, the plants to grow. I needed
to water, to have water in each times of the season.
(16:22):
When the soil is so rocky, the water goes down
and the roots need a lot of time to arrive
when the water stay because I have the rock had
to cross and so to have the full production from
a vineer that is elevated with this kind of soil
(16:45):
that you could need fifteen years or twenty years.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
We also farm farm biodynamically, which we learned about a
majority of the producers in this area do how is that?
Why is that important for you?
Speaker 4 (17:02):
The dynamic.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
You have to found in Luca Home a lot of
years ago. I think that is the Italian area where
is the more dynamic winery.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
The other the other area here.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
Has been some important figure character like some very but
really that has been a direct student of analytics pisky
that very often went in the past in Lucca and
helps the look a producer to arrive use a so
(17:49):
large diffusion of dynamic. A yeah, we think that you
have the seventy first ent of the production is the
dynamic here for us when you go to work in
a saw a different area where there was encouraging when
(18:10):
I have the reasoning vineyards, there is not any other
kind of agriculture, only grass for for the whole the
people care they are the gold during the summer period
in order that they would hit the directly the fresh grass.
(18:33):
And so when you start to work with commercial cultivation
in a so preserved the area, we have to be
very delicate.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Coming there. And so you think that you have the
better result.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
Because if I wanted that that the ritually gives me
the best why the best products, the best result I
have not to.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
This storm too much.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
And is.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Kind of agriculture that as the major respect for the
soil and for their that you find there.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
You know, Melanie.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Andrea mentioned Saveria Petrilli, who is one of the I
think he's He was the winemaker who really kind of
originally brought biodynamic winemaking to the region. He was the
winemaker at Valgiano, which is maybe the best known winery
in the region, for a number of years, almost thirty years,
I was doing his own projects. However, what he's helped
(19:51):
create as a as an independent consortium of of really
passionate winemakers who want to make sure that they're taking
care of the land the way it ought to be,
taking care and not just creating formulaic wines like so
much of Tuscany.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Does you know, I agree with you, David. And what
was interesting is we taste it through the different wines
and we were so privileged to be able to do this.
Is there really was, as I said, creative expression because
the blends are all very unique. This is an area
we're looking at the map now, just to give our
listeners some perspective. Maestadella Formiga is literally budding the Parco
(20:28):
natural Regionale de la alpi Apuane. It's a natural Unesco
park GEO park that they think you developed a wine
to go with it, and then on the other side
of this large area, you'll find Forta Demarmi, which is
a very siici place to go hang out at the beach.
(20:49):
I have done it, and so it's it's really like
the wild West in many ways, but it's the wild
Northwest and really quite beautiful when you drive up into it.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
So one of the biggest surprises for us, other than
the fact that you're growing wonderful riestling in the hills,
is also the fact that maybe the biggest price for
me was that you're growing gamey. I never would have
thought of gamey as being a grape that you would
grow in Tuscany, especially in northern Tuscany. So tell us
about how that project came about. And what you call
(21:27):
the wine Gammo and it's a lovely red wine made
from the gamet grape.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Hello.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
When we started with the raising cut division, that was
our idea.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
But after we started to keep and.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Cultivated all vineyards that were in the area that all
the people cultivated anti.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Loud, but when they.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
Became told are not able to go in the all vineyards,
we found really a lot of variety. At the moment,
we don't know all the variety that we have in
the Winiards look at it. It's not so strange generally
because in Lucal area in particular at first for the
(22:22):
Bourbone rule and domination in the past that carry he
had a lot of French material. But for example in
Monte Carlo d o c Peris, caavenets Or and Merlot
from is born and in my area Gardana is very
(22:44):
it seems to be very isolated and loose area, but
was in the past cross about important conmercial leve route.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
In particular that was really appor area.
Speaker 5 (23:01):
Here the people anted the half south of nineteenth century
it only chestnut, nothing nothing more.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
And very often.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
In the family the men cultivated the land to have
the directly food or wine and the women go to work,
and very often they went to France to make wet
north I think the right.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
For the rich French family.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
There was a government or center in a touring in
Piedmonte where the women from Theino all the Italianino went
and from the airway would send in the different area
on a French family when they came back or their
(24:02):
husband go to visit. Then they.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
Go to visit.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
This woman carry with them some plants for their on
vinyars to. For this reason we found the plants of
probably one hundred years old, also some pitmon variety like
bold or not. In my vineyards Gara, there is a
(24:34):
lot of Barbera, and you find all the two variety.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
And probably a lot also of a local variety.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
That the University of Visa is studying now, in which
they found something not interesting for when making for the
too much low level of y or too high as
something interesting variety for Champagne our two very interesting variety.
(25:09):
But that is there at the nine nine four cents,
the similar.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
To one and sira, and so.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
For for the reason that I told you before from
the contact always been from the Gara and Luca Aria
and France.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Your plans change because I'm we're looking at just on
your website, which is my Sizella Formica, and the Gamo
we tried was a blend of uh Oven, my notes, Sarrah,
Gamet Bruce Brusco, which added color. But you also some
(25:55):
of your plants may have nebiolor Sandio vese merlow So
and just change.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
As a something changed in the different win touch at
the first three years used that saguation in some past
edition of Gammo.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
But now this is all used for drunk gants, partly
right and former law. And in the video that you
normally there is a.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
Little bit of merlaw in Gamo, but in the integer
twenty three that you tasted with me at the dinner
and La Costa there was at Gammo. Because the twenty
three has been a terrible vintag in Italy for a
permanent hospot that destroyed all our law. We were not
(26:42):
able to harvest only one ray of merlow in twenty three.
Augustine is always present, Chili jowl and ciaro always present,
and in twenty three we had a little bit of
capal meso.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Interesting. You know, we've attended it in Inly a seminar
on vintage blending different vintages, which is a way to
address By vintage blending you could offset problems such as
losing a crop due to paranospra or other things. So
here you're doing it with you know, blending, so if
(27:21):
one specific harbast is not good, you can adjust and
create blends accordingly using other varieties. It's very interesting. We
also tasted a wine at our dinner called Saga Ponte.
I have in my notes. It was a Cabernet Sauvignan
with Blo Frankish. Talk to us about that wine.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
This is Sagrivanti.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
It's our top red wine that we produce in a
very low quantity only see six hundred bottle for retouch Lucky. Yes, yes,
there's a small quantity, but it's a wine that we
a very strong character that I like to match. We
(28:03):
found a block Frankish variety in all vineyards in the
area of Mulatzana. Because of the years, it's not related.
The story of the wetnars is less romantic. Here is
the plant vendor of the area that sell block Rankish
(28:25):
to all the people of that village. Probably he found
a stock for a few money of that strange grape variety.
And the Italian people don't choose a particular kind of
great asual usually ask for a red or white and
(28:46):
take it. Or that the vendor gave the end. And
we are at five hundred meters above legn It is
about twenty twenty five years, and the other grapes of
sacripante come from another vineyards in the village occur to
(29:12):
the village of Galican of the camp channel.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
Sorry, that is the two are the best and more
vocated for variety.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
The vineyards that we are we have at the moment
is a dry area respect the other one.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
We are seven hundred meters of we are of the
old old vineyards. That i a is the hide, but
it is also.
Speaker 5 (29:45):
The ott because there is a has a different climate,
a different soil with more stone, and there reflect the
sun of the hour. In fact, the here Sila and
undred minutes about celeby. We can reach a good motivation
with cabinet that is a variety that is not so
(30:08):
immediately you don't think that good would be a very
good result in a so called area because arrived the
moturation very late on the season and there is a
blow rang cabinet and some mixed wine from a mixed
(30:33):
red variety in each results.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
So they may be all very very old.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
It's really interesting. It's it's like a palette, like painting
a palette, but it's in a.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
Battle easy work there because sometimes you have to forgot
all the what, all the things that you started. You cannot,
for example, search the best motivation for each grapes.
Speaker 4 (31:01):
When you have a vineyards with.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
One thousand plants of fifty different varieties, sometimes you have
to harvest together different variety with different level of maturation,
but you have also to keep a common style of
the different vintage. You can I think that we have
(31:25):
to make a why that is a son of the vintager,
as the character of the intacher, but as we need
also to have a style that you search to respect,
respect each different vintage and sometimes to have the same style.
If an ear you have to use, you have to
(31:47):
use the twenty foercent of Merlo and the ten percent
of probably the next year will be completely different, and
to have the same result, we have to use the
twenty percent of the ten cent of Merlow. And very
often is also more difficult because very often the blend
(32:09):
were made vineyards, because very often a different variety fermented together.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
Which is one of the things that we found, Melanie,
is that a lot of the vineyards are co planted
as they stay, so they're they're because they're historic vineyards,
and so they're actually not creating blends after fermentation. They're
creating them before fermentation. Although you are you are doing
your own blends.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Yes, we do. Vineyards.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
We make the first a lot of the first blend
of the grapes and when we arrive at the end
of the hermitation. In the cellar, we have for example,
four gum of fifteen different wine in each of these
wines with them, and probably two or to three different
grapes from two or three different vineyards. Consider that we
(33:01):
have nine different pieces of ina at the moment in
five different village, and so we have a lot of difference.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
Are full of different You.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
Know, Andrew, we know all of your vines or your children.
But is there a certain grape varietal that you most
enjoy working with for whatever reason? And tell us why.
Speaker 5 (33:30):
Probably most funny for us is reasoning because it's the
heart of the of the of the winery. Because it
lives in the more difficult place. It has the stronger
worker to do to arrive at the end of the season,
(33:53):
and the climates. It's hard when it rained, and rain
very strong. When there is green, there is a lot
of win Everything is bigger at one thousand meters. And
also because we think that at the end in the
(34:13):
future we will be so now is the more important
wine that he produces, But I think that is the
wine that the measure will help us to make our winery.
You know, all around the world we see that each
(34:37):
intag is better than the previous one, more changing the
wine more than the different climate of the two. This
means that the potential could increase the quality of the wine.
We are curious to see is aging potential.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
So we taste by year.
Speaker 5 (35:07):
We like to already now not the future of this wine,
but I think that there is the wine that we
add a surely the best future that we have. It's
funny because in the reasoning that we work, so we
bothreat is a variety that for us in two scanny
has been sure the new things for us to.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Primary and fifteen percent of the grapes in this wine
are lightly affected by botriots and then their whole cluster.
Speaker 5 (35:42):
Yes, and surely is the wine that we produce that
surely we are not bored to produce it.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
That's always a happy accident when you can get petritus
into the wine.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Well, there is some beautiful honey notes in this wine.
The honey notes in it's only like fifteen hundred bottles
were produced. You also do some batonage with this wine.
It's very unique for a reasling and lucky for our
United States listeners, it is available in the United States
(36:16):
your importer is David Bowler Wine. We're on the website
now Bowler wine dot com and there's information on the
wines currently available in the United States, including Gamo.
Speaker 6 (36:30):
I'm sorry, and so I have another important that I
don't remember in any email in loucabat was a wine
craft in or are you?
Speaker 4 (36:41):
Oh? Good?
Speaker 2 (36:42):
So these are wines that are available in the United States,
because sometimes we do go to Italy and taste wines
that are not available in the United States. So I
think that's really really important. Here's something interesting. We did
not have the privilege of visiting your winery. We had dinner,
as we said, Vito, but you also have a farm,
stay at a restaurant. Is there is there an opportunity
(37:06):
to visit your winery if people are traveling to this original.
Speaker 5 (37:08):
Is a surely an opportunity. There are a good restaurant,
you know the area Garfia. It's an It's very interesting
for the local product.
Speaker 4 (37:18):
Because behind so.
Speaker 5 (37:23):
It's related there you remain a lot of different product
from we having gardaniana, for example, we have around about
fifteen different variety of beings that grow only garfaiana and cheese,
not a salami for sure cheese and it's surely an
(37:47):
interesting it's a different kind of too, scannies, not like
if you go Indianty. Well, everything is like a park,
is like Geordina garden. This is surely wild kind of
(38:09):
in which you found Forrest Moontaine revert.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Well, I don't want to. I want to touch on
these beans because they are very famous. So garf and
Jana beans are legendary and if you do go to Houka,
you definitely want to get a big ball of these beans.
There's also a wonderful spring soup garment garmagia and some
(38:37):
special pastas that we tried with. The food was hearty,
but there were also a lot of vegetables which we
loved and very good food. What is the signature pasta
of this area. I believe it's called Tortelli Lucsi, right,
Tortelli Lucsi.
Speaker 5 (38:56):
And to yes, surely, and each a different ilage of
Luca wants to have the original recip of Tortelli lucas
range or recip for verage of people is the only one.
Speaker 4 (39:10):
If you go in.
Speaker 5 (39:11):
Camora and look at the same and each village we
produced a Tortella Lukees with some different and each one
want to have a vision.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
What we learned during our visit to Luca, which is
about four days, is it's one It's very walkable. It
is surrounded by walls and you can just everybody takes
these wonderful walks to get their exercise inside the walls
of the Centrastorico. There are many many restaurants that somebody
(39:43):
probably said too many. There's so much to try. And
one of the highlights for us, besides walking and just
exploring a very cosmotolt and beautiful, walkable, manageable village, is
we went to a museum, the Puccini Musicum. It was
the Puccini Museum because Puccini was born and raised in
(40:05):
the building where the museum is, and wherever you go,
you feel Puccini, you feel opera, you feel music. It's
a very musical city, a cultural city. A lot of
expatriates we found living.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
There, and right outside the city some great wines.
Speaker 4 (40:18):
Are being made.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Yes, and really literally less than an hour away, you're
in this mountainous area with incredible views. We visited several
It was incredible. What do you want our listeners to
know about this area if they're planning, because you know,
Americans in particular love to go to Italy. Why would
what would you tell them? Why should they come here?
Speaker 4 (40:42):
Luca. It's interesting because it's.
Speaker 5 (40:45):
An area and you can find very different You can
find all that you want. If you want go on
the sea, you can go on the sea coast, and
for the army in your age, you can stay on
the kill front of the sea and seems to be
(41:05):
in province. You can stay in Lucca areas a city,
but it's a little city.
Speaker 4 (41:12):
Also, it's it's very quiet and when you pass, when.
Speaker 5 (41:19):
You take a walled during the night, it seems to
be sometimes saying medieval, medieval time. And if you don't
like staying in the city, you can specy your day
in some beautiful whillas.
Speaker 4 (41:36):
Around the city.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
And if you like the mountain, if you can go
in Garana for simple trinking, but also for sporting, crafting, rocks,
climb and everywhere you find history. Because we are in
two Scaniso. Sometimes you cross a little village in where
(42:02):
it seems to be nothing and you found our church
of that could have build in five hundred the period.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
It's incredible history. We flew in from we flew into
Florence and took a drive down, so it's very easy
to get to you from Florence Pisa.
Speaker 5 (42:27):
Yes, exclusive Florence is a forty forty five means by
car or train from Luca Sienna.
Speaker 4 (42:37):
It's Alph.
Speaker 5 (42:40):
Dolph very convenient, twenty twenty minutes, so you would be
at Pisa.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
So, Andrea, we have one last question for you before
we wrap up. We didn't ask us, and we really should.
Why did you name your winery mast Della for Mecca
Majesty of the ants.
Speaker 5 (43:04):
Mysta or a majesty are the name that people in
Garfagnon gave to the little church that in Italy are
very pregate prevented along the along the street along the
Usually really they are called my Stina a little majesty.
(43:25):
It's you need and when they are in the moontime
pass so they are hight there attend my Stina, they
become my star.
Speaker 4 (43:37):
My style is bigger than my Stella and usually the
past time pass and take the name. Don't know that
one was the past of of the ants.
Speaker 5 (43:52):
Take the name of the Majesty of the ants. And
the stone that you found on a reasoning label was
on the.
Speaker 4 (44:03):
Church.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
So basically it's a nearby mountain pass and if you
look at the photos we're in, the mountains are beautiful passes,
a lot of snow. It's high altitude, a lot of snow.
It's a rugged area that produces some very beautiful wines.
So we really enjoyed a meeting with you in person,
Andrea el Me and tasting your wines. And we encourage
(44:27):
all of our listeners to check out Maista della Formica.
That's m A E s t A della d e
l l A for Amica f O R M I
c A dot com. That's Majesty of the ant And
as we said, uh, you have a couple of importers,
but we'll give a nod out to Bowler Wine, which
has some very good information about your winery on its website.
(44:49):
It's been a real pleasure talking to you. We'll have
to meet up again in Italy soon and we really
want to go back to this region and do some
more exploring. It's quite beautiful and it was a first
time for both of us to go to this specific
area of northwest Tuscany toward the coast, and can't wait
to go back.
Speaker 5 (45:09):
Okay, hey, I'm really happy to meet you in the
Luca and I hope that you will come back on
the next year and so we surely will go to
visit the directly in my area.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Absolutely, and we wish to thank the organizers a Vini
de la Costa who arranged our visit and did a
wonderful program and our forens at Gousis Communicacione. They did
a great job. It was a wonderful experience. And when
we're really happy to share with all of you our
listeners you've been listening to The Connected Table Live with
(45:44):
Melanie Young and David Ransom. We love sharing our travels
with you and exploring the world, and we hope that
you take our suggestions and go out there and expand
your palette and horizons because we want you to always
stay insatiably curious, follow us at the Connected Table and
always reach out and let us know what you think
(46:06):
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(00:22):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to the Connected Table Live. We're your hosts, Melanie
Young and David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple. We
enjoy traveling the world to bring you the amazing people
who work front and center and behind the scenes in wine, food,
spirits and hospit bataladay. We love sharing their stories and
(01:02):
the places we go, people we meet, the wines of foods,
we taste with you because we want you to expand
your horizons and your palette. And we love supporting our industry, right.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
David, We sure do, Melanie, And you know, I think
at this point we should probably just call this the
Connected Table in Italy.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Because yeah, because we're in Italy quite a bit. We
were recently in van Italy. We're recording this in April,
and we were attending for the first time the world's
largest Italian wine fair, van Italy. But prior to that,
we had this amazing trip through a part of the
(01:38):
Tuscan coastline we hadn't been to. We've been to the
southern Tuscan coast, but we went up to the northern
Tuscan coast. It was actually a program that we attended
called Vinnie de la Costa. That program actually was wines
of both coasts. There were wines in the Marquee as well.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Bruso based in Luca, which is on the west coast
of Tuscany. And you know that Luca is basically due
west of Florence, which people know about and many people
have been to that listen to our show, but not
a lot of people get over to Luca. And it's
really just a gem of a city in Tuscany. It's
a beautiful walled city with the original walls still around it,
and it's just a beautiful little city. But there's also
(02:17):
great wine made there and that's why we were.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
There, and really interesting wines. You know, Tuscandi is such
a large area and each region is unique. So our
guest today is representing this area just about north, about
an hour or so northwest of Luca, there's the Apuan Alps,
(02:39):
there's the coast, there's beautiful hills. We drove up in
there and we learned that the wine stars. There's a
lot of biodynamic farming, a lot of biodiversity, and I
think that this sweet feel that this producer really embodies
a lot of it. Joining us is Andrea Elmi. He
(03:00):
is a founder of my Sta Della for Mika that
means Majesty of the ant. We had a wonderful dinner
with Andrea during our trip and tasted several of his wines,
which arranged from reasonings to kind of like red Field blends,
which we'd also learned was very common here. So to
(03:20):
kind of enlighten us about the region and also share
his story, we welcome Andrea Elmi.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Welcome, Hello, Hello Melanie.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Hello, well Andrea. We had a wonderful time with you
a couple of times actually while we were there, because
we also saw you at van Italy. But when we
were at Vinie de la Costa, we had dinner together
at a Michelin Star restaurant and restauranti UMBI too taste
it through your wines, which we found just to be
lovely wines, and so we'd love to hear a little
(03:51):
bit more about your story. Tell us about you, your background,
where you grew up. Are you from the region or
did you move there to make wine?
Speaker 4 (04:00):
He moved there to make wine.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
I grew up Vivia age in Versia. That is one
hour adult of distance backar so it's not so, it's
quite closer to Garfiana. A little age of my family
come from Sienna, another.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
City in Tuesday.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
I studied in a high school classical study studies, and
after I studied at like an ologist at the University
of Business City. I started my career somewhere in Carty area,
Castinober then and after in Capabia, Marina, before to arrive
(04:45):
in Garfaniana for my own project.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Why did you decide to establish with Marco one of
your wine school students my study Dela for ma in
the location it is and tell us about it.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
Stardi de la Fornica is located in the northern past
part of two Scany and we are in Garfiana that
is a valley between the two high.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Mountain that run along the.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Sea coast, that are upon Alps, the closer to the
sea and after the appenings Camelia, the run for two
Scany and after until the soot of Italy. And it's
a different are and two Scany because we have this
(05:45):
hired mont like the northern famous Albi in Terentino, but
we are very closer to the sea with the climate
the influence from from the coast.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
What is the closest seaside city Just to get some context,
I'm sorry, what is this? What is the city closest
to the sea.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
It roses to the sea.
Speaker 5 (06:10):
He's a via Angel that is in the front of
apon Alps, between app On Alps and the sea. Luca
is behind the Apls and within the apon Alps.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
And you know, it's interesting about.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
The close city to Garfagnan.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
What's interesting about this area, Andrea and David is you've
got these beautiful mountains and this is a very short
derived from Luca. You're in the mountains and you can
see in the distance snowcap and yet the sea is
maybe less than an hour or so away, So it's
a it's an incredible location in terms of diversity and biodiversity,
(06:54):
and nearby we learned the Masakrara quarries, known for the
famous marble that Michelangelo used to create David. This is
a very famous area for stone and farming, and of
course people like the vacation on the coast as well.
We had the great pleasure of going to be a
reggio for a seaside dinner one night. How high up
(07:18):
are you at my stat tel Formica and give us
a sense of the terwa and the growing conditions.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
Okay, we are said that are not so old the
Montani they had origin about sixty five million.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Or here I go from a bigger week for a
few days.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
So it's a very confusion and explosive acids of the
mountain from the soil there are famous for the marple
and but they are for the major party whom the
album composed by Sandston kind of rock.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
We have a lot.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
Very interesting in this area for me is that you
can find a lot of different war and micher client
because you can go in a few kilometers by zero
meters two until two thousand meters is the major ite
(08:32):
of the of the mid day, so in you know,
clearly two thousand meters are too much for the varying cultivation.
But surely you can find a lot of our different
micro climate differ.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
To a different in our vineyards.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
Of reasoning the itthere one that is that one thousand
and fifteen meters of this level.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
We have interesting co existing of the two.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Particular and geological different formation of the area.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
One is the is the.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
Up one one that the plaque that that that is
made of rue of sandstorm. And the other one is
the Liburian one that comes in a few places with
some stripe from the north from Liburia.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
That is the vision at the.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
North of of two scanny that is of sea origin
in which you can find a.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Shell and is wide kind of of So so we
think that it's an interesting.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Area because it's a new area in which you can
for the for the quality wine in which you are
free to fry and cultivate some new varieties. But it's
also an area in which the wines and always be
impressed all the family of the people in the pasta
(10:20):
and his own own vineyard.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
That cultivated for his own consumption. And so.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
Together with the story particular story of the people in
the area that is very isolated but is across the
value important important the pasta for by important commercial road
like for example for the salt.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
And so we found there and in the old vineyards.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
A lot of Italian and French variety in the very
old the bonds.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
One of the things that's interesting, I think you are
outside a DOC correct, you're not within a DOOC. Your
wines are all I GT correct.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Yes we are, but at the moment.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
So one of the great things about that is, you know,
the beauty of the doc and the doocg is it
creates very strict guidelines for the quality and consistency of
the wines within that area. On the flip side, IGT
wines allow for creative expression. And one of the things
that struck us with your wines, Andrea at my Sta
(11:38):
della Formica is the creative expression. We tasted several wines
at restaurant Umbto, and we started with Reasling, which we
really had not had in Italy much and these are
fairly a full Reasling's high altitude Reaslings. We also had
(12:02):
you work with Gamet, you work with Sira, Chilla, Jello
and some very local varieties. So there's a you even
have Bla francas. You have a wide range of wines
that grape varieties that you work with, to and and
and are there any that dominate your wines. We'll start
with the whites because what we noticed, what we call
(12:22):
it is field blend.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
You have a lot of small percentages of grapes to
create your different wines. Let's start with your white wines
because we were struck by the reaslings that we tasted.
Is that your dominant white or do you make other
wines in addition to reasling? To talk about why reasling here?
Because we love raasling, thank you, and.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
Easily we hold in our winery in order trying to
cultivate the variety. Searching in altitude and water usually is
searchingly in Euroco where the most famous residents are produced
in Germany, or in France.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
Or also in Italy.
Speaker 5 (13:07):
Usually the residing is cutivated on the northern Alps, in
Alto or in Piedmont.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
So all the because of the reasoning, needs to stay.
Speaker 5 (13:20):
A long time on the plants, to go on with
the maturation more as possible to give the better results.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
So if you cutivate in a very hotel. You arrive
at the sugar maturation in August.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
The batter reasoning as not the aromatic compounds that make
it is a great variety greed. And we found that
it is a piece of land two one thousand million,
fifty minutes above the cigand there was water that was
important when you plant and new veenyards in that sorrow
(13:58):
key because clearly the water goes down and so.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
The plan you their young plants risk not to have enough.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
Water to We planted the Viniara in two thousand and fourteen,
the first piece of about three thousand, five hundred plants
for a quiet arfactor, and the second the planting has
been in twenty twenty two for another one two thousand meters.
(14:37):
So it's not so easy to found the new land
that convinced the people that has the land to sell
or run to you in order that you could group again.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
It's rugged, it's rugged area and just a minor listeners.
You started this winery in twenty thirteen, so it's still
relatively young winery in your first I think your first
release was twenty eighteen, correct, yes.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Yes, yes, yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
The grow is very slow for to principal reasons one
is that the odd season is really short. The auto
climate arrive definitely in June until there are the plants
grow very very slow. With the first day of June,
(15:32):
I started to accealerate is and grow more, grows lower.
But you consider that the alpha too alpha. The alpha
August during the night we can arrived at twelve ten
twelve degree, and so the time Mary is really short
(15:57):
and so the plants need more time. The other more
important reism is the soil. When you're working in so
rocky stone and soil, the plants to grow. I needed
to water, to have water in each times of the season.
(16:22):
When the soil is so rocky, the water goes down
and the roots need a lot of time to arrive
when the water stay because I have the rock had
to cross and so to have the full production from
a vineer that is elevated with this kind of soil
(16:45):
that you could need fifteen years or twenty years.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
We also farm farm biodynamically, which we learned about a
majority of the producers in this area do how is that?
Why is that important for you?
Speaker 4 (17:02):
The dynamic.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
You have to found in Luca Home a lot of
years ago. I think that is the Italian area where
is the more dynamic winery.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
The other the other area here.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
Has been some important figure character like some very but
really that has been a direct student of analytics pisky
that very often went in the past in Lucca and
helps the look a producer to arrive use a so
(17:49):
large diffusion of dynamic. A yeah, we think that you
have the seventy first ent of the production is the
dynamic here for us when you go to work in
a saw a different area where there was encouraging when
(18:10):
I have the reasoning vineyards, there is not any other
kind of agriculture, only grass for for the whole the
people care they are the gold during the summer period
in order that they would hit the directly the fresh grass.
(18:33):
And so when you start to work with commercial cultivation
in a so preserved the area, we have to be
very delicate.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Coming there. And so you think that you have the
better result.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
Because if I wanted that that the ritually gives me
the best why the best products, the best result I
have not to.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
This storm too much.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
And is.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
Kind of agriculture that as the major respect for the
soil and for their that you find there.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
You know, Melanie.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Andrea mentioned Saveria Petrilli, who is one of the I
think he's He was the winemaker who really kind of
originally brought biodynamic winemaking to the region. He was the
winemaker at Valgiano, which is maybe the best known winery
in the region, for a number of years, almost thirty years,
I was doing his own projects. However, what he's helped
(19:51):
create as a as an independent consortium of of really
passionate winemakers who want to make sure that they're taking
care of the land the way it ought to be,
taking care and not just creating formulaic wines like so
much of Tuscany.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Does you know, I agree with you, David. And what
was interesting is we taste it through the different wines
and we were so privileged to be able to do this.
Is there really was, as I said, creative expression because
the blends are all very unique. This is an area
we're looking at the map now, just to give our
listeners some perspective. Maestadella Formiga is literally budding the Parco
(20:28):
natural Regionale de la alpi Apuane. It's a natural Unesco
park GEO park that they think you developed a wine
to go with it, and then on the other side
of this large area, you'll find Forta Demarmi, which is
a very siici place to go hang out at the beach.
(20:49):
I have done it, and so it's it's really like
the wild West in many ways, but it's the wild
Northwest and really quite beautiful when you drive up into it.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
So one of the biggest surprises for us, other than
the fact that you're growing wonderful riestling in the hills,
is also the fact that maybe the biggest price for
me was that you're growing gamey. I never would have
thought of gamey as being a grape that you would
grow in Tuscany, especially in northern Tuscany. So tell us
about how that project came about. And what you call
(21:27):
the wine Gammo and it's a lovely red wine made
from the gamet grape.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Hello.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
When we started with the raising cut division, that was
our idea.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
But after we started to keep and.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Cultivated all vineyards that were in the area that all
the people cultivated anti.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Loud, but when they.
Speaker 5 (21:57):
Became told are not able to go in the all vineyards,
we found really a lot of variety. At the moment,
we don't know all the variety that we have in
the Winiards look at it. It's not so strange generally
because in Lucal area in particular at first for the
(22:22):
Bourbone rule and domination in the past that carry he
had a lot of French material. But for example in
Monte Carlo d o c Peris, caavenets Or and Merlot
from is born and in my area Gardana is very
(22:44):
it seems to be very isolated and loose area, but
was in the past cross about important conmercial leve route.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
In particular that was really appor area.
Speaker 5 (23:01):
Here the people anted the half south of nineteenth century
it only chestnut, nothing nothing more.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
And very often.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
In the family the men cultivated the land to have
the directly food or wine and the women go to work,
and very often they went to France to make wet
north I think the right.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
For the rich French family.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
There was a government or center in a touring in
Piedmonte where the women from Theino all the Italianino went
and from the airway would send in the different area
on a French family when they came back or their
(24:02):
husband go to visit. Then they.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
Go to visit.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
This woman carry with them some plants for their on
vinyars to. For this reason we found the plants of
probably one hundred years old, also some pitmon variety like
bold or not. In my vineyards Gara, there is a
(24:34):
lot of Barbera, and you find all the two variety.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
And probably a lot also of a local variety.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
That the University of Visa is studying now, in which
they found something not interesting for when making for the
too much low level of y or too high as
something interesting variety for Champagne our two very interesting variety.
(25:09):
But that is there at the nine nine four cents,
the similar.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
To one and sira, and so.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
For for the reason that I told you before from
the contact always been from the Gara and Luca Aria
and France.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Your plans change because I'm we're looking at just on
your website, which is my Sizella Formica, and the Gamo
we tried was a blend of uh Oven, my notes, Sarrah,
Gamet Bruce Brusco, which added color. But you also some
(25:55):
of your plants may have nebiolor Sandio vese merlow So
and just change.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
As a something changed in the different win touch at
the first three years used that saguation in some past
edition of Gammo.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
But now this is all used for drunk gants, partly
right and former law. And in the video that you
normally there is a.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
Little bit of merlaw in Gamo, but in the integer
twenty three that you tasted with me at the dinner
and La Costa there was at Gammo. Because the twenty
three has been a terrible vintag in Italy for a
permanent hospot that destroyed all our law. We were not
(26:42):
able to harvest only one ray of merlow in twenty three.
Augustine is always present, Chili jowl and ciaro always present,
and in twenty three we had a little bit of
capal meso.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Interesting. You know, we've attended it in Inly a seminar
on vintage blending different vintages, which is a way to
address By vintage blending you could offset problems such as
losing a crop due to paranospra or other things. So
here you're doing it with you know, blending, so if
(27:21):
one specific harbast is not good, you can adjust and
create blends accordingly using other varieties. It's very interesting. We
also tasted a wine at our dinner called Saga Ponte.
I have in my notes. It was a Cabernet Sauvignan
with Blo Frankish. Talk to us about that wine.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
This is Sagrivanti.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
It's our top red wine that we produce in a
very low quantity only see six hundred bottle for retouch Lucky. Yes, yes,
there's a small quantity, but it's a wine that we
a very strong character that I like to match. We
(28:03):
found a block Frankish variety in all vineyards in the
area of Mulatzana. Because of the years, it's not related.
The story of the wetnars is less romantic. Here is
the plant vendor of the area that sell block Rankish
(28:25):
to all the people of that village. Probably he found
a stock for a few money of that strange grape variety.
And the Italian people don't choose a particular kind of
great asual usually ask for a red or white and
(28:46):
take it. Or that the vendor gave the end. And
we are at five hundred meters above legn It is
about twenty twenty five years, and the other grapes of
sacripante come from another vineyards in the village occur to
(29:12):
the village of Galican of the camp channel.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
Sorry, that is the two are the best and more
vocated for variety.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
The vineyards that we are we have at the moment
is a dry area respect the other one.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
We are seven hundred meters of we are of the
old old vineyards. That i a is the hide, but
it is also.
Speaker 5 (29:45):
The ott because there is a has a different climate,
a different soil with more stone, and there reflect the
sun of the hour. In fact, the here Sila and
undred minutes about celeby. We can reach a good motivation
with cabinet that is a variety that is not so
(30:08):
immediately you don't think that good would be a very
good result in a so called area because arrived the
moturation very late on the season and there is a
blow rang cabinet and some mixed wine from a mixed
(30:33):
red variety in each results.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
So they may be all very very old.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
It's really interesting. It's it's like a palette, like painting
a palette, but it's in a.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
Battle easy work there because sometimes you have to forgot
all the what, all the things that you started. You cannot,
for example, search the best motivation for each grapes.
Speaker 4 (31:01):
When you have a vineyards with.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
One thousand plants of fifty different varieties, sometimes you have
to harvest together different variety with different level of maturation,
but you have also to keep a common style of
the different vintage. You can I think that we have
(31:25):
to make a why that is a son of the vintager,
as the character of the intacher, but as we need
also to have a style that you search to respect,
respect each different vintage and sometimes to have the same style.
If an ear you have to use, you have to
(31:47):
use the twenty foercent of Merlo and the ten percent
of probably the next year will be completely different, and
to have the same result, we have to use the
twenty percent of the ten cent of Merlow. And very
often is also more difficult because very often the blend
(32:09):
were made vineyards, because very often a different variety fermented together.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
Which is one of the things that we found, Melanie,
is that a lot of the vineyards are co planted
as they stay, so they're they're because they're historic vineyards,
and so they're actually not creating blends after fermentation. They're
creating them before fermentation. Although you are you are doing
your own blends.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Yes, we do. Vineyards.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
We make the first a lot of the first blend
of the grapes and when we arrive at the end
of the hermitation. In the cellar, we have for example,
four gum of fifteen different wine in each of these
wines with them, and probably two or to three different
grapes from two or three different vineyards. Consider that we
(33:01):
have nine different pieces of ina at the moment in
five different village, and so we have a lot of difference.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
Are full of different You.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
Know, Andrew, we know all of your vines or your children.
But is there a certain grape varietal that you most
enjoy working with for whatever reason? And tell us why.
Speaker 5 (33:30):
Probably most funny for us is reasoning because it's the
heart of the of the of the winery. Because it
lives in the more difficult place. It has the stronger
worker to do to arrive at the end of the season,
(33:53):
and the climates. It's hard when it rained, and rain
very strong. When there is green, there is a lot
of win Everything is bigger at one thousand meters. And
also because we think that at the end in the
(34:13):
future we will be so now is the more important
wine that he produces, But I think that is the
wine that the measure will help us to make our winery.
You know, all around the world we see that each
(34:37):
intag is better than the previous one, more changing the
wine more than the different climate of the two. This
means that the potential could increase the quality of the wine.
We are curious to see is aging potential.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
So we taste by year.
Speaker 5 (35:07):
We like to already now not the future of this wine,
but I think that there is the wine that we
add a surely the best future that we have. It's
funny because in the reasoning that we work, so we
bothreat is a variety that for us in two scanny
has been sure the new things for us to.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Primary and fifteen percent of the grapes in this wine
are lightly affected by botriots and then their whole cluster.
Speaker 5 (35:42):
Yes, and surely is the wine that we produce that
surely we are not bored to produce it.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
That's always a happy accident when you can get petritus
into the wine.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Well, there is some beautiful honey notes in this wine.
The honey notes in it's only like fifteen hundred bottles
were produced. You also do some batonage with this wine.
It's very unique for a reasling and lucky for our
United States listeners, it is available in the United States
(36:16):
your importer is David Bowler Wine. We're on the website
now Bowler wine dot com and there's information on the
wines currently available in the United States, including Gamo.
Speaker 6 (36:30):
I'm sorry, and so I have another important that I
don't remember in any email in loucabat was a wine
craft in or are you?
Speaker 4 (36:41):
Oh? Good?
Speaker 2 (36:42):
So these are wines that are available in the United States,
because sometimes we do go to Italy and taste wines
that are not available in the United States. So I
think that's really really important. Here's something interesting. We did
not have the privilege of visiting your winery. We had dinner,
as we said, Vito, but you also have a farm,
stay at a restaurant. Is there is there an opportunity
(37:06):
to visit your winery if people are traveling to this original.
Speaker 5 (37:08):
Is a surely an opportunity. There are a good restaurant,
you know the area Garfia. It's an It's very interesting
for the local product.
Speaker 4 (37:18):
Because behind so.
Speaker 5 (37:23):
It's related there you remain a lot of different product
from we having gardaniana, for example, we have around about
fifteen different variety of beings that grow only garfaiana and cheese,
not a salami for sure cheese and it's surely an
(37:47):
interesting it's a different kind of too, scannies, not like
if you go Indianty. Well, everything is like a park,
is like Geordina garden. This is surely wild kind of
(38:09):
in which you found Forrest Moontaine revert.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Well, I don't want to. I want to touch on
these beans because they are very famous. So garf and
Jana beans are legendary and if you do go to Houka,
you definitely want to get a big ball of these beans.
There's also a wonderful spring soup garment garmagia and some
(38:37):
special pastas that we tried with. The food was hearty,
but there were also a lot of vegetables which we
loved and very good food. What is the signature pasta
of this area. I believe it's called Tortelli Lucsi, right,
Tortelli Lucsi.
Speaker 5 (38:56):
And to yes, surely, and each a different ilage of
Luca wants to have the original recip of Tortelli lucas
range or recip for verage of people is the only one.
Speaker 4 (39:10):
If you go in.
Speaker 5 (39:11):
Camora and look at the same and each village we
produced a Tortella Lukees with some different and each one
want to have a vision.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
What we learned during our visit to Luca, which is
about four days, is it's one It's very walkable. It
is surrounded by walls and you can just everybody takes
these wonderful walks to get their exercise inside the walls
of the Centrastorico. There are many many restaurants that somebody
(39:43):
probably said too many. There's so much to try. And
one of the highlights for us, besides walking and just
exploring a very cosmotolt and beautiful, walkable, manageable village, is
we went to a museum, the Puccini Musicum. It was
the Puccini Museum because Puccini was born and raised in
(40:05):
the building where the museum is, and wherever you go,
you feel Puccini, you feel opera, you feel music. It's
a very musical city, a cultural city. A lot of
expatriates we found living.
Speaker 3 (40:15):
There, and right outside the city some great wines.
Speaker 4 (40:18):
Are being made.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Yes, and really literally less than an hour away, you're
in this mountainous area with incredible views. We visited several
It was incredible. What do you want our listeners to
know about this area if they're planning, because you know,
Americans in particular love to go to Italy. Why would
what would you tell them? Why should they come here?
Speaker 4 (40:42):
Luca. It's interesting because it's.
Speaker 5 (40:45):
An area and you can find very different You can
find all that you want. If you want go on
the sea, you can go on the sea coast, and
for the army in your age, you can stay on
the kill front of the sea and seems to be
(41:05):
in province. You can stay in Lucca areas a city,
but it's a little city.
Speaker 4 (41:12):
Also, it's it's very quiet and when you pass, when.
Speaker 5 (41:19):
You take a walled during the night, it seems to
be sometimes saying medieval, medieval time. And if you don't
like staying in the city, you can specy your day
in some beautiful whillas.
Speaker 4 (41:36):
Around the city.
Speaker 5 (41:37):
And if you like the mountain, if you can go
in Garana for simple trinking, but also for sporting, crafting, rocks,
climb and everywhere you find history. Because we are in
two Scaniso. Sometimes you cross a little village in where
(42:02):
it seems to be nothing and you found our church
of that could have build in five hundred the period.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
It's incredible history. We flew in from we flew into
Florence and took a drive down, so it's very easy
to get to you from Florence Pisa.
Speaker 5 (42:27):
Yes, exclusive Florence is a forty forty five means by
car or train from Luca Sienna.
Speaker 4 (42:37):
It's Alph.
Speaker 5 (42:40):
Dolph very convenient, twenty twenty minutes, so you would be
at Pisa.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
So, Andrea, we have one last question for you before
we wrap up. We didn't ask us, and we really should.
Why did you name your winery mast Della for Mecca
Majesty of the ants.
Speaker 5 (43:04):
Mysta or a majesty are the name that people in
Garfagnon gave to the little church that in Italy are
very pregate prevented along the along the street along the
Usually really they are called my Stina a little majesty.
(43:25):
It's you need and when they are in the moontime
pass so they are hight there attend my Stina, they
become my star.
Speaker 4 (43:37):
My style is bigger than my Stella and usually the
past time pass and take the name. Don't know that
one was the past of of the ants.
Speaker 5 (43:52):
Take the name of the Majesty of the ants. And
the stone that you found on a reasoning label was
on the.
Speaker 4 (44:03):
Church.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
So basically it's a nearby mountain pass and if you
look at the photos we're in, the mountains are beautiful passes,
a lot of snow. It's high altitude, a lot of snow.
It's a rugged area that produces some very beautiful wines.
So we really enjoyed a meeting with you in person,
Andrea el Me and tasting your wines. And we encourage
(44:27):
all of our listeners to check out Maista della Formica.
That's m A E s t A della d e
l l A for Amica f O R M I
c A dot com. That's Majesty of the ant And
as we said, uh, you have a couple of importers,
but we'll give a nod out to Bowler Wine, which
has some very good information about your winery on its website.
(44:49):
It's been a real pleasure talking to you. We'll have
to meet up again in Italy soon and we really
want to go back to this region and do some
more exploring. It's quite beautiful and it was a first
time for both of us to go to this specific
area of northwest Tuscany toward the coast, and can't wait
to go back.
Speaker 5 (45:09):
Okay, hey, I'm really happy to meet you in the
Luca and I hope that you will come back on
the next year and so we surely will go to
visit the directly in my area.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Absolutely, and we wish to thank the organizers a Vini
de la Costa who arranged our visit and did a
wonderful program and our forens at Gousis Communicacione. They did
a great job. It was a wonderful experience. And when
we're really happy to share with all of you our
listeners you've been listening to The Connected Table Live with
(45:44):
Melanie Young and David Ransom. We love sharing our travels
with you and exploring the world, and we hope that
you take our suggestions and go out there and expand
your palette and horizons because we want you to always
stay insatiably curious, follow us at the Connected Table and
always reach out and let us know what you think
(46:06):
about our show, which you can hear on more than
sixty five podcast channels around the world. Thank you,
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