▷S1E3 Presidents, and Friends: Teresa Bruno & Ilaria Petitto

Raised in the purest air, where waterfalls cascade down the forested hills of Campania, Teresa Bruno and Ilaria Petitto became friends by chance. Now Teresa is the president of the consorzio for the Southern Italian wine region of Irpinia, and Ilaria is the vice-president. The two winemakers introduce the historic local grapes of Irpinia: Greco di Tufo, Fiano di Avellino, and Aglianico (including Taurasi). They explain their work for the consorzio and impart their best advice for discovering new wines.

Learn more about Irpinia: https://consorziovinidirpinia.it/

Discover the wines Teresa makes with her brother Roberto: https://aziendaagricolapetilia.it/en/

Discover Ilaria’s wines: www.donnachiara.com/

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  The best way to really discover and understand the wines from a region is to visit the region, to see the place, to meet the people, to eat the food, to drink the wine, because this is the complete experience. And then when you go back to your place, you can find the wine and have the memories. Bravo! Mi piac! Welcome to Modo di Bere, the podcast for local drinks and local sayings. I'm your host, Rose Thomas Bannister. Today I am very happy to be making an in -person interview with Teresa Bruno and Ilaria Petito, Two winemakers from Campania in southern Italy. They are not only winemakers, but leading advocates for their historic region of Irpina. Teresa is the president of the consortium in Irpina, and Ilaria is the vice president, and Teresa makes wine together with her brother Roberto at the Petilia Winery. Ilaria is the head of the Donna Chiara winery where her family has been making wine since the time of her mother's grandmother. And Laria, Teresa, for all the work that you do to promote the wider region, I wanna make sure our listeners get a chance to hear about each of your wineries. - Okay, so Donna Chiara was established by my mother. she's Cara, so her name and her name comes from her grandmother Cara, so that's why Donna Cara, that means Lady Cara, because of course my mother's grandmother was a lady that was living in the 18th century, so my mother when she retired from the school, she was a teacher, she decided because she retaged the property of the vineyards to start her own production. And she, for her, was really natural to give to the winery the name of her grandmother, because they were so close. And I, of course, didn't have the chance to meet her grandmother, but I grew up listening to my mother talking of this really strong and modern woman that for that time was really full of energy. She was managing the land, the property of the family during the two World War, when all the men were out and away from the land. And she teach to my mother the love for the countryside. And of course, in that period, you know, these were not just producing wine, but they were really a farm. They were having animals and doing different kind of production. And then only in the late 80s, 90s, my grandfather decided to convert the property to the vinification and so to growing grapes and to be honest, when I was young, for me, the area of Avellina was very boring. So I did not imagine to work with my mother in a family company. My idea of wine was something to enjoy, but not my work. So I left Avellina when I was 18 and I moved to Rome, I took my graduation in Laos, I became a lawyer, and I was so excited to discover the world. So my mother, she started to tell me, why you don't come back to Avellino to see what I'm doing with Donna Chiara? And I did, and it's difficult to explain because it was kind of magic, but I completely fell in love with the countryside of Avellino so the town Avellino was boring to me but the countryside is so exciting so beautiful and authentic and wild that I started to put all you know my effort myself in the winery at the beginning it was hard with my mother because we were having a completely different idea she Sì, è molto tradizionale, io ero molto moderna, ero piccola e ho iniziato a cambiare molte cose, ma ora penso che la mia madre è molto pronta e molto felice per quello che stiamo facendo. E quindi, quella è la storia. significa piccola patria, nuova patria, in realtà dal greco. In realtà per me e per mio fratello è stato veramente l 'inizio di un 'avventura perché la nostra azienda non è nata dai nostri genitori, ma è nata dalla volontà e della passione per la terra di mio fratello Roberti. In realtà... ha detto che l 'inizio di patria è un nuovo homeland, un small homeland and this is the name that my brother and I choose for our winery. I'm involved in the winery thanks to my brother because it was Roberto, my brother for what I have really you know a deep love that he was studying physics, nuclear physics at the university, but he decided to start this adventure with his own way -making production, and for me it was a natural to follow him in this adventure. So he put in the winery all the money that he was saving, and I did the same as well, all the money that were designated for my wedding, I decided to invest in this winery. And together we built every single stone of the winery. So we did everything by ourselves. We built the winery, we are taking care of the land, we do the production of the wine. And for us, this is something fun, it's a real passion. So it's not an heavy work for us because we really believe in what we do. It's, for us, beautiful when we go to our winery. We know every single stone from which vineyards it comes from and the tasting of our soil and also what every single wine that comes from every single vineyard's taste and so this is also what we want to be. Petilia is never the same every year is different because we put in the wines the things that nature gives that was every year and every year is different and also the training system of our vineyards is organic because we want to be sustainable, we respect the nature e questa è Petilia, è autentica, è Teresa e Roberto. Elaria, mi piaceremo che ti教essi sui grapi nobeli di Iropinia, ma prima volevo chiedere a Teresa per alcune lingue locali. già da tempi molto a dietro. Il detto che ti comunicherò adesso è questo, il vino buono si vende senza la frasca. like when the wine is good, it's sold easily without, you know, necessary to do something special like special marketing or event, but now that, I mean, we know that now it's not like this anymore, so with the concert to the hotel we are here in New York to promote our denomination and our wines. That's wonderful. Thank you. What is the fresca? Frausca is, you know, the vine's arms, like we told Le Foglie, il rametto della vita, means the accessories. You don't need any accessories to sell a good wine, you know? It's just the wine, the quality. So you're using the vines themselves as the image. Thank you so much. Ilaria, I am so excited to learn from you about Irpina. Could you start by telling us the story of the grapes they used to make wine there? Yes, so Irpina is making wine since a really long time because we have some of the ancient grapes of Italy, for instance the white, Di Tufo and Fiano Di Avelino, but also the Red Ayanico. Of course, when you go back to millennia ago, you cannot never be sure about the history. So there are different theory. There are a theory that said that this grape were brought to Campania from Greece during the Magna Gris period. Other theory that said that, for instance, Ayanico comes from Spain. But anyways, we can tell that we produce wines in Irpina only from indigenous varietal, so only local grapes. And I think this is something that really is the characteristic and the specialty of Irpina, because no international varietal, only local grape and some of the best white of Italy that can really aging for a long time and the Ayanico which is also a late varietal red that is harvested in November so when all over Italy the harvest are already finished since long time and which is considered you know the biggest red of southern Italy so amazing grape, very good and long -gaging wines, and we are so proud of what we do. I'm so interested in the local grapes, especially with this project. Can you talk to us a little bit more about the wines that are made from these grapes? So, with the grapes that the area has widely described, we get for the Irpinia three OGG denominations and doc denominations. For the OGG denominations, with Ok, so in Erpienia we have three denominations as DOCG, so the nomination of region controlled and guaranteed, and what is interesting is that the three denominations are very separate from each other. For instance, we have the Greco di Tufo denomination, which includes eight small municipalities around the village of Tufo, so the varietal is greco. The Tufo means from Tufo, the village that gives the denomination. Only two villages in Irpina come across the two of the three D .O .C .Js, so Montefalcion and Lapio, and they can produce both the denomination Fiano de Villino and Taurasi. Then, beside the Greco di Tufo denomination, we have Fiano Di Avelino, which is quite a big denomination because it includes over 26 villages, and then we have also the denomination of Taurasi. It's a kind of a donation that already keeps very separate the production of the grapes from where we have this denomination and then for the Ayanico, for the denomination of Taurasi. Taurasi is made with Ayanico grape, so after a period of aging in Uqq and following the strict regulation of the Ossige for Taurasi, we can release a Taurasi de Ossige, which is an aged Ayanico. Recently, the consortium also changed the regulation e aggiungere la nominazione fiano di Avellino in Greco di Tufo al Riserva, che significa che si può essere relizzato un anno dopo un anno di edificazione, perché vogliamo convengere il potenziale di edificazione del mondo. Teresa, parliamo di più dei vini che sono fatta di queste uve. Allora, partiamo sicuramente con i bianchi, perché in abbinamento si parte sempre con i bianchi. Ok, quindi ha iniziato con i bianchi bianchi, non perché l 'importanza dei tre denominazioni è diversa, ma solo perché, generalmente, quando abbiamo messo, abbiamo iniziato con i bianchi bianchi. E prima di Greco di Tufa, So what we found in a glass of greco -titufo, generally we found white and yellow flowers, but the kind of wild flowers and fruit, mainly citrus, this kind of fresh fruit that really brings some acidity to our greco, and also sapidity, because of course the Greco generally has this sulfurous note. And what is also very exciting is the long -lasting finish of the Greco di Tufo, because when you drink a glass of Greco, it's like you always want more. It's never enough, because it's something that really make you excited to drink the next glass. Thank you so much for that education. Maybe we can speak a little bit about the general flavors and characteristics of alianico, of fiano. Il fiano, il fiano di Abellino, il nostro fiano di Abellino, è il vitigno delicato. So The second white is our fiano di Avelino di OCG, which is one of the best white wine of Italy, we can tell. So, fiano is very complex and very elegant, full of different notes such as dried fruit and flowers, fresh fruit and fresh flower, It has a kind of big structure, so you can pair fiano even with kind of, you know, well -structured food. And is fiano really surprises us for the longevity, because it's among the few white that can really age for over 20 years. So this is really the specialty of fiano de Villino, e quindi è un uomo che ci rende davvero orgoglioso di questo. Sì, allora l 'Aianico lo descriveremo nella dio cg del Taurasi. Sì, l 'Aianico, lo descriviamo, sorry, in the denomination of Taurasi e quindi, seguendo la regolazione the Taurasi di Alianico is aged the minimum three years for the regular Taurasi and four years for the Taurasi Riserva. So after a long period of aging, you can already imagine what you get in the glass. You get an explosion of different flavors. For instance, the fruit, the red fruit from, you la cherry, la bambina bambina, che è il caratteristico di Ayaneko da Erpinia. E poi anche alcune tesse note da un ucco, ma sono molto balanciati. E anche l 'ultima finita, l 'acidità e la mineralità, tutto il caratteristico di questa grande cattiva cattiva, che può vivere sempre, che è il Taurasi. Bello, piaceremo parlare un po' di più sul terreno e sul terroirio dell 'Irpina. Piacerebbe imparare di più dal terreno. Sicuramente noi abbiamo dei Tussoli a macchia di lupardo, significa che non... So, riguardando il soile in Irpina, è interessante che questa è un 'altra specialità di Irpina che ogni zona, ogni nominazione ha un 'altra caratteristica da altri. Per esempio, l 'area di Greco di Tufa è caratterizzata da questo sulfus, perché In the past there were sulphur mines, so the soil is rich of this element that gives the minerality to our Greco di Tufo. Of sulphur. Yes, sulphur. Then the area of Fiano di Avelino is more clucky clay, so it's very rocky. The roots of the vines need to go really deep in the soil to look for nutrition, so these ills to give a body, full body and complexity to our fiamme rivellino. And then in the area of Ayanico we have more volcanic soil. So for instance in many vineyards we have ashes because of course the area is also interested by the several le erupzioni che aggiungiamo nella regione di campania. E quindi questo già la caratteristica di i nostri Taurasi e l 'Aianico. Quindi abbiamo un 'Aianico che è un fuoco. È una varietà tannica, ma ora il stile è cambiato molto. Quindi è più ben fatto, ben integrato e balanciato con l 'acidità e l 'acidità di l 'Aianico. Perfetto, grazie. Ok, così. I want to ask you more about your vision for the consortio and for the wines of Eropinia, but first I'm interested. You two seem to be such close friends. How long have you known each other? Per caso mi era stato consigliato di tenermi lontana, perché lei e Ilaria era così diversa da me. Io ho più sul mondo acricolo, lei è più fashion, è il mondo della moda, e invece poi la contaminazione ha fatto bene a me e forse anche un po' a lei. We know each other since about 10 years, and we became friends by chance. Teresa said that people told her to get far from me because we were so different. She was more in the country, you know, area, and she was thinking about me more in like a glamour, fashion addict person, but she said that in the end we became friends and the contamination among our two different styles and words helps each other to become, you know, better. I love this. I'm thinking of not really a saying but kind of a trope that we have in English. I wonder if you have something similar in Italian. There's a country mouse in a city. "Tutto è un topo di campagna e un topo di città" Ma non so qual è meglio. Ci sono la stessa cosa in Italia? No, non si dice, però te lo rubo. "I stole it, it's a nice way". Da noi in Italia essere una toppa non è una cosa troppo bella. "I I want to ask you both about your work as the president and vice president of the Erpinia Consorzio, but could we start at the beginning? What is an Italian wine consortio? Ok, So what is an Italian consortium? The Italian consortium is an association, which includes grapes, grower, producers of wine, and also just company that just bought the wine. And if they get a range of people that are associated, they become recognized by the Ministry of Agricultural and when a concerto become di tutela like the concerto tutela Vinidirpina, it becomes the arm of the ministry in the territory and has the control of the right application il processo di verificazione per i vini del D O C e del C G Y. E anche la promozione del denominazione, che è già importante. E quindi è una responsabilità molto importante. Dimitri più della tua visione per il consorzio e per i vini. La mia visione per il consorzio in realtà è la visione del mio territorio, perché il consorzio... Quindi la visione del consorzio per il futuro inizia dal territorio. Quindi ci crediamo davvero che il terreno, il territorio, il land come prima, i nostri vini, la denominazione, sono già nuove. Per esempio, il greco di Tufo, Fiano de Villino, ma è una kind that Erpinia, the area is not known. So now we have to build the brand of Erpinia because we really believe that this can be the strength of opening the doors to our wines, to the other wineries, because there are many wineries under the consortium that needs and deserve to I'm known. And so this is, you know, the vision and the target that we will have for the future. Is there any final word that you would like our listeners to know about your opinion about the wine? I think the best message is come to visit Irpina. This is what we tried, we tried to tell to the audience here in New York, the best way to really discover and understand the wines from a region is to visit the region, to see the place, to meet the people, to eat the food, to drink the wine, because this is the complete experience. And then when you go back to your place, you can find the wine and have the memories of your trip, which is something that consolidates your memory and the experience. So the message I want to give is come to Irpina. Irpina is in Campania. So I know Campania is also not known. So Campania is the region of famous touristic locations such as Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Sorrento. La regione si chiama Campania e l 'Irpina è di Avellino province, è in terra e è la qualità di regione di Campania. L 'area ha sicuramente detto tutto. Io direi che oltre a visitare l 'Irpina, l 'Irpina va respirata. Noi abbiamo un 'area particolare dei nostri boschi e abbiamo acque e cascate bellissime che rappresentano la vita della vera. Teresa ha detto che Ilaria era già dicendo tutto sul Paese, quindi cosa posso aggiungere, solo che anche abbiamo qualcosa molto speciale, che è questo aere, quindi puoi dire il povero reale il Paese, the pureness of Irpina, because we are surrounded by mountains, so we have this beautiful forest rich of these falls, waterfalls, so it's really like a paradise, like a pure place that you can breathe, you can taste through the food and the wine, so come to Irpina and enjoy. Teresa Ilaria, Thank you so much for talking with me, for all of your work in Irpina and Campania in Italy and to all of our listeners. Thank you so much wherever you go, whatever you drink, remember to enjoy your life and to never stop learning. Thank you. I 100 % agree with your message, never stop learning because we have to be curious to discover all these new things and new wines and the Irpina wines are for sure the best new wines which are not really new but that's you know people and the US people just consumers can discover. blogspot, Instagram, and TikTok for even more unique and encouraging drinks and language content. If you'd love for the show to continue and grow, support MotoDBerry on Patreon and unlock bonus episodes. Music for the show is composed by Arcilia Prosperi and performed by the band OU. You can purchase their recordings at oumusic .bandcap .com. que permanece dejándose llevar un otro, se engañando se déjase para ese mismo  

Music composed by Ersilia Prosperi for the band Ou: www.oumusic.bandcamp.com

Produced, recorded and edited by Rose Thomas Bannister

Audio assistance by Steve Silverstein