484: Erin Scala Looks Deep Into Lake Garda

03/28/21 • 48 min

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Erin Scala explores the long history and many recent changes in the area around Lake Garda and in the Bardolino wine zone, in the northeastern Italy.

Erin speaks with a number of different winemakers and specialists to clarify the situation around the evolution of winemaking in the Bardolino zone, from Roman times to the present day. She addresses the shift in the area in recent years towards rosé production, and explores both why this has occurred as well as the historical precedents for it. She enunciates how the wineries in the area vary in their choice of technique, and describes the different styles of the resulting wines. Erin examines both the shifting cultural and climatic settings for the wine production of this area. She explains how this Lake area - now well within Italy - was once at the border with Austria, as well as the recent effects of climate change there. She discusses the typical foods of the place, as well as the microclimate created by its defining feature: the lake. Erin also looks ahead to what wine styles may become more prevalent in the zone in the future.

If you have not kept up with the rapid changes for wine within the Bardolino zone in recent years, this episode is a complete and crucial overview of the situation on the ground.

This episode features commentary from:

Gabriele Rausse, Gabrielle Rausse Winery

Luca Valetti, Cantina Valetti

Roberta Bricolo, Gorgo

Francesco Piona, Cavalchina

Marco Ruffato, Le Ginestra

Matilde Poggi, Le Fraghe

Daniele Domenico Delaini, Villa Calicantus

Andreas Berger, Weingut Thurnhof

Fabio Zenato, Le Morette

Franco Christoforetti, Villa Bella

Giulio Cosentino, Albino Piona

Angelo Peretti, author of the book "Il Bardolino"

Katherine Cole, journalist and author of the book "Rosé All Day: The Essential Guide to Your New Favorite Wine"

Special Thanks To:

Irene Graziotto

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Erin Scala explores the long history and many recent changes in the area around Lake Garda and in the Bardolino wine zone, in the northeastern Italy.

If you have not kept up with the rapid changes for wine within the Bardolino zone in recent years, this episode is a complete and crucial overview of the situation on the ground.

This episode features commentary from:

Gabriele Rausse, Gabrielle Rausse Winery

Luca Valetti, Cantina Valetti

Roberta Bricolo, Gorgo

Francesco Piona, Cavalchina

Marco Ruffato, Le Ginestra

Matilde Poggi, Le Fraghe

Daniele Domenico Delaini, Villa Calicantus

Andreas Berger, Weingut Thurnhof

Fabio Zenato, Le Morette

Franco Christoforetti, Villa Bella

Giulio Cosentino, Albino Piona

Angelo Peretti, author of the book "Il Bardolino"

Katherine Cole, journalist and author of the book "Rosé All Day: The Essential Guide to Your New Favorite Wine"

Special Thanks To:

Irene Graziotto

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Previous Episode

483: Listen to Françoise Vannier and Never Look At Burgundy the Same Way Again

Françoise Vannier is a geologist who has studied and mapped the vineyards of Burgundy for multiple decades. She is based in France.

Françoise discusses how she began her study of the vineyards of the Côte d'Or, and the surprising results that emerged from her research. She touches on both broad themes and specific, individual instances in her analysis of the rock types and rock weathering in the Côte. For example, she explains how the Côte de Nuits differs from the Côte de Beaune in broad terms, and then gives examples from specific vineyards and villages that illustrate those divergences. She emphasizes the importance of the both the parallel and vertical faults that exist in the Cote d'Or, and explains how the vertical faults are often where combes have developed, which are breaks in the slope (like valleys). Françoise highlights the importance of these combes to understanding the rock distribution of the Côte d'Or. This then plays into her contention that village names are not as helpful as one might think for understanding the vineyards of the area, as it is the combes that are the actual markers of where the rock distribution changes in the Côte d'Or.

Françoise also emphasizes the difficulty and complexity of the topic of Côte d'Or geology, enunciating a number of nuances to the different rock types, and how they weather. She also points out that multiple rock types may be found within a single vineyard, as faults do not fall only at the borders of vineyards. Furthermore, the rock types do not nicely match up with the hierarchy of perceived quality of the vineyards, as the same type of rock may be found under both a villages vineyard and a Grand Cru. These realizations prompted Françoise to examine the historical, cultural, or climatic reasons why certain vineyards are in more esteem than others today, and she shares in this interview her thoughts on those subjects.

Françoise speaks about numerous areas of the Côte d'Or in some depth, including areas within the boundaries of Marsannay, Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-Saint-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Pommard, and Meursault. She dispels common myths about the topic of Burgundy geology, and she gives examples of specific crus to illustrate many of her points. She also provides an examination of how human activity, in the form of quarries, house building, and clos (walled vineyard) construction has altered the Côte d'Or. Lastly, Françoise describes how the Côte d'Or differs from other areas of France which also feature calcium carbonate deposits, such as Champagne and St. Émilion.

Anyone who wishes to understand Burgundy better will benefit from listening to this episode multiple times.

This episode also features commentary from:

Brenna Quigley, geologist and vineyard consultant

Christophe Roumier, Domaine Georges Roumier

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Next Episode

485: Robert Vifian and Stories from the Tan Dinh Wine Cellar

Robert Vifian is the chef and co-owner of Tan Dinh Restaurant, located in Paris, France.

Robert was born in Vietnam in 1948, and lived in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) as a child, experiencing the effects of the Tet Offensive firsthand. He and his family are French, and he moved to Paris, eventually joining his parents there. Robert's mother founded Tan Dinh Restaurant in 1968, and later Robert joined her in the kitchen there. Robert then took over as Chef of that restaurant in 1978. As the 1970s moved in the 1980s, the restaurant became popular with artists, actors, and other cultural types, and became both a chic spot to dine and a destination for wine aficionados.

Robert became interested in both cuisine and wine, and was soon searching out rare bottles, organizing private tastings, teaching in a wine school, and visiting cellars in Burgundy and Bordeaux. He visited producers such as Domaine Coche-Dury each year for many years, and developed a lot of familiarity with the wines of Domaine Comtes Lafon, Domaine Georges Roumier, and Domaine Hubert Lignier, tasting every vintage of each for several decades. He shares his reflections and thoughts about this producers in the interview. He also discusses Henri Jayer and Anne-Claude Leflaive, and their wines.

Robert also developed a lot of familiarity with Right Bank Bordeaux, specifically Pomerol. And Robert had close friendships with oenologists like Jean-Claude Berrouet and Michel Rolland, as well as wine critics like Robert Parker, Jr., and those friendships lended support to his experiences of Bordeaux. He recalls those relationships in the interview, and shares his views on each person. He also discusses aspects of what he learned about Pomerol over the years.

Robert had a friendship and a working relationship with the late Steven Spurrier during the time that Spurrier lived in Paris. Robert recalls the friendship and his different experiences with Spurrier in this interview. He also discusses the California wines that he learned about as a result of his acquaintance with Spurrier, dating back to The Judgement of Paris tasting in 1976.

This interview follows the Paris wine scene from the 1970s until the present, and encompasses thoughts on both benchmark wine regions of France and key producers from those places, across the same decades.

This episode also features commentary from:

Steven Spurrier, formerly a Consulting Editor for "Decanter" Magazine

Becky Wasserman-Hone, Becky Wasserman & Co.

Christian Moueix, Etablissements Jean-Pierre Moueix

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.