Today I present Adriano Liloni, a "Subversive Taste”!

I remember the first time I knew ... I had reported to his local Moniga, “The Subversive Taste”. Più che un locale, a showcase for the promotion of the territory. L’idea mi piaceva, and when this happens, make no mistake that sooner or later I have to check with my own eyes ...

The occasion happened early and were immediately sparks!  Peperino lui, peperina io, non poteva essere altrimenti. Dopo i vari combenevoli mi invitò la sera a cena nel suo ristorante, The Pegasus Gavardo (BS). Of course that was ... I had no idea of ​​the evening waiting for me! 😉

On my arrival I found waiting for Franco Liloni, the brother of Adrian and painter, sculptor, archaeologist and reporter Telecolor, a local television. We spent dinner chatting ... Cynthia Franco discovered a listener at times, sometimes talkative, and sometimes edgy.  All went well until the nephew of Hadrian, room attendant, I asked: “To start I bring the bubbles?"Mmmm that nerves!! I replied: “Ah bè… partiamo bene, I do not drink carbonated beverages!"A bit 'dazed looked at me and went. Five minutes later, all the people in the room was interrupted by an announcement of Hadrian: “We have a guest room in which disputes the term bubbles, is called Cynthia Tosini. I urge you to stand up and explain to everyone the reason of the complaint”. At that moment I would have strangled!!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I'm really shy ... Despite this I got up explaining that I did not like the term bubbles because I do not make good wine culture. Mi fermai li, but I decided that I would write a short piece,  and so I did ... The room slowly emptied while the three of us recounted our lives, i nostri sogni e i nostri progetti. Posso dirvi solo che bacchetto spesso a gran voce Adriano per le sue prese di posizione a volte eccessive nei termini. But who knows him knows that he is a man who believes in the land, the producers and the people who work well.

Adriano, said that now it's up to you to answer me…

• Adriano Liloni a Subversive Taste, you want to present to those who still do not know?

I am a passionate unmanageable; I created this association tout court, starting from my area, the Vallesabbia and the Garda.

• Adriano, Who are subversive of Taste?

They are a small group of villagers cheese producers, of honey and wine. It all started quietly with evening gatherings. Then, the 2 July 2006 in my moment of madness I rented the island of Garda and created the first event with a lot of boat.

• What is the purpose you aim to achieve?
  

The aim was to bring together local producers. Following infiltration reports have led to a domino effect that not even imagined ... As the presentation of the first volume of the Subversive in Milan at the program RAI Radio 2 Vergassola. The events continue, annually and are repeated in different locations.

• What are the main difficulties you encountered?

The difficulties we have been and still are. Not being connected to large movements and being absolutely self-, in galaxies communication culinary is not so easy. Despite this, the second volume of the Subversive Taste reached Paris, and for a lucky chance, won the Cookbook Awards for the photography industry, a major international prize.

• As you can see Italy for small to medium manufacturers at this time? And what do you think will make immediate competent Institutions?

The competent institutions? Which? Those state? Waiting for Godot… L’Italia non è paese da piccoli artigiani e piccoli imprenditori. Per quanto riguarda gli aiuti si preferiscono fare progetti faraonici per grandi aziende…

• Women are passionate about wine, but especially of his world, tell me how you live the wine?

How to live the wine and good food?  Secondo te?   😉

• Tell me about your local, The Pegasus. Com’è nato ?

E 'she born in December 1987. After various work experiences in the field, we landed me and my brother in this hidden local management after twelve bankruptcy was closing its doors… Such voluntary, little money and a lot of ideas. A dangerous mix that has lasted nearly a quarter of a century ... We have focused on a kitchen alternative to mountain and sea with recipes of our own creation. Years of uphill struggle and dedication and we are still here despite the great crisis in the sector. Historical customers who return, we are practically aged together ... Some of them have done here their ceremonies or even confirmation of baptism, I have seen them grow year after year. A loyalty that gratifies us and that gives us the strength to go on ...

Italy was made by great men and women, furrows of the earth, indelible presence in the story ... I think of my grandfather, my father and many other men tenacious ..., certain, proud, hard workers! Every time I happen to hear their stories is very exciting for me. So also relive the lives, is of great teaching ...

Today I want to tell the story of a man, the story of Ziu Antoneddu, known as the most  Antonio Argiolas. A man of earth and wine, a man who has realized a dream now known around the world ...

Antonio Argiolas

Recently, thanks to a short holiday in Sardinia, I got to meet Valentina Argiolas. Valentina attended the thirtieth edition of National Congress Onav, held in June in Nuoro. The theme: “The wine and women". By now the presence of women in this sector is decisive both among the passionate ones, both among women actively in the holdings thanks to strong organizational skills. During the conference there was also talk of the protagonist of viticulture in Sardinia: “Cannonau, the most widely grown grape in the world. In francese Grenache, in spagnolo GranaciaWhatever ...,  in Sardinia viticulture is one of the oldest ".

While a degustavamo Turriga of 2007, red by the appreciable structure of the genre that appeals to me, Valentina prompted by my curiosity, I told the story of the company founded by his great-grandfather Francis,  but pushed to the levels it has now reached,  from grandfather Antonio. A family business; children and grandchildren are involved in various roles with passion to follow up and continuity of this reality created by the tenacity of a man, or better, of a legend. Lui è Ziu Antoneddu…

He was born on 26 December 1906, saw the wars ... His father was a widower soon. With the three sisters was entrusted to the maternal grandmother. Since childhood he distinguished himself at school; mathematics was his passion, the job was his mission. He endeavored in a thousand companies experiencing commute between Cagliari and Genoa. He did everything ... He started with two hectares of vineyards. He was determined to purchase an additional plot of it each year. They became four, and then you, and then ten, and then to the current three hundred percent .... Thirty years after he met his wife Bonaria, in love and married her.

Good-humored him and helped him in all completed, not c'era time, There was only one job ... Anthony was an avid traveler, lei no. They took their honeymoon in Naples. He continued to travel, Good-natured rather wait at home. Andò in California, the Rio de Janeiro, and Svizzera, in Germania, in Portogallo, in Spagna, in Russia, in Ukraine… Antonio wanted to see the world. They had three children who later gave him seven grandchildren. The largest Valentina. All involved actively in the company. Antonio was proud, was a hundred years now. Era stanco ma felice…

Valentina in telling his memories often repeated to me:  “Cynthia, lui era un uomo d’altri tempi, a man of style and grace, a gentle man". Antonio or better Ziu Antoneddu, he saw the realization of his work, has grown children and grandchildren, saw them in the study and prepare for life so that now changed with the times, could give continuity to the work initiated by him.  Many satisfactions,  many awards ... many more projects.  Antonio Argiolas left us the 20 June 2009 all’età di 102 age. Lui è, and it will always be a legend ... and legends never die ...

The secret of living one hundred years, is the desire to live and to do ... I had always wanted to do…

Antonio Argiolas, Ziu Antoneddu

A few weeks ago visiting The Tzaven, agrimercato of the Campagna Amica Aosta tended to favor the short chain to the consumer closer to the producer direct, Yves incontrato ho Perraillon, craftsman Fontina. A chat and ... in less than no time I was in a Pasture 2200 meters! You will say: "Ma che far?"A Mangia Pane, burro e… Fontina!

And now I ask you: "Hands up who knows what is" behind "a form of Fontina?”  Okay I see that there, but ... do not you mess with us! Therefore, I am saying that giving birth before my guided tour I had not given due consideration to this typical Valle d'Aosta. Do you think it will take much 100 liters of milk to make a form of fontina!

(PDO: Protected Designation of Origin, which is attributed to foods whose characteristics depend on the region from which. Is ensured by a disciplinary.)

I recommend everyone to visit, because, as well as to spend a day in contact with nature, you will appreciate the uniqueness of a product obtained with great Italian job, commitment and passion! I could appreciate the work that led by Yves and his wife, I have conducted in phases and in places of work. Guardando Yves in un momento di vita, in the ritual gestures repeated over the years, I asked him admired: “How many times have you done these operations…?“

The visit to the pasture was the most exciting part of my career. Nature, silences, contact with a calf born only a day… Then,  watch the production of butter as his time as a child… I remember that in the country in Treviso watched my grandmother Jija in the fulfillment of the same operation, almost in contemplation, admired by the transformation of that cream into butter and then spread on bread gustavo, exactly as I did in pasture by Yves…

In these valleys at an altitude of 2000 meters animals are fed in pastures rich in a particular vegetation that gives the milk characteristics far more peculiar farming in the valley. Despite this, you can not distinguish between a label and a fontina Alpine valley floor, seen that the marking is the same, and is not allowed by the specification to add anything beyond the specification for the PDO. Only the aromas and flavors tasted allow us to differentiate. It is good? And for mio parere! The work involved in the breeding pasture is awarded to a product with specific characteristics, and why the consumer should not have the possibility of being able to read the label! Mah!

But who can tell you better than Yves ...

• Yves Perrailon, producer of Fontina Alpine. How did your passion?

Born from a passion passed down from generation to generation family. I have always been passionate about everything that is related to agriculture from the animals ..., from haymaking, cheese from milk…

• What is your typical day?

Well depends on the season ... In the winter you go to the bottom of the valley:

– Wake up at 5, milking, animal feeding, contribution of milk and dairy 16 second milking.

In period estivo you go to pasture:

– Wake up at 3 morning, milking, processing of milk for the production of Fontina. Following cleaning of the stable,  salting and turning the fontina cheeses produced in the days before. Then you go to the pasture to the 12 with the return of the animals. We have lunch at 15, and after the second milking proceed with the processing of the fontina and the pasture until at 22.

• The DOP is certified as a guarantee of the product according to a product specification for the PDO "FONTINA". What are the requirements for certification? 

There are many to the area of ​​production, seasoning,  portioning of melted cheese, feed the cows consists of grass and hay produced exclusively in Aosta Valley and more… The specification is available on the website of the Ministry of Agricultural Food and Forestry Policies. It is recognized by the "Consorzio Tutela Fontina" (CTF).

• In my visit to your company, I noticed that your employees are mostly foreigners. How is the working approach of the Italian dairy sector?

No staff is Italian, alas. Assume that we train foreign personnel on the job, I have to say with great results.

The cheese… the stroke of the milk to immortality.

Clifton Fadiman

This Earth needs our love and protection. As the saying Carlo Sgorlon, the earth is mother, the earth is the beginning and the end, e tutto il resto non è che una favola. Tornare a vivere in armonia con la natura, following its rhythms, in an environmentally, si può ancora. Si deve, because we are part of, betray her because it's like betraying ourselves.

L 'Tree of ice cream it is a concrete example. A company founded seven years ago committed to the sustainable development of culture, who made his distinctive promotion of small producers Brianza, without neglecting the excellence of our territory. The search for raw materials, appreciation of the concept of seasonality, il km 0, direct knowledge of the producers with a short chain, the rediscovery of lost flavors, the use of renewable sources for the energy needed in ice cream... Are the reasons that led me to their knowledge.

I got to meet them the first time at a rally in Milan in which they are presented with their “cart to solar panels”.  Ideato con la collaborazione di giovani ingegneri, cools their ice cream with sun rays. Monia and Alexander have developed their passion and creativity, giving continuity to the family tradition. First with the head office in Barlow, then in Seregno and finally in Cogliate. Monia told me about a dream that they will be realized in the short… the opening of a new office in New York.

It was time to go to find them. And then as I say,  pronti… via!

I went to them a warm afternoon on a Sunday a few weeks ago. La prima impressione al mio ingresso fu il ricordo di una bottega di campagna dall’atmosfera dei bei tempi. Here and pots of seedlings, books scattered, a corner dedicated to children to teach them the difference between an organic fruit and fruit treated. To bring them closer to nature with simple gestures, come quello di regalare in primavera delle bustine contenenti semi da piantare nelle vaschette biodegradabili del gelato.

Monia e Alessandro mi guidarono nella visita raccontandomi la loro storia e soprattutto la loro filosofia. Quando poi arrivammo a parlare degli ingredienti dei loro gelati,  si alzò letteralmente la mia famosa “antenna”.   One, perché andammo a toccare un argomento a me molto caro, le erbe benefiche e i frutti dimenticati.

Non mi credete? Read a little’ qui…

• Gelato alle andrbe aromatiche di Montevecchia.
• Gelato alla Salvia Ananas, una specie di Salvia dal profumo di ananas.
• Gelato all’Azzeruolo, un frutto dimenticato.
• Gelato al Frassino da manna, antica coltivazione dalle proprietà decongestionanti del fegato e dall’azione sedativa della tosse.
• Gelato alla Viola del pensiero, dalle proprietà benefiche per l’apparato renale.
• Gelato al Garofano cinese, utile per prevenire le vertigini, il nervosismo e le palpitazioni.
• Gelato alla Bocca di leone, utilizzata per fare i gargarismi nelle ulcerazioni della bocca.
• Gelato alla Spirulina, un’alga coltivata da un unico produttore in toscana, e che in Africa è chiamata l 'Alga della vita per le sue proprietà.

I gusti dei loro gelati rispecchiano la loro creatività. Una continua evoluzione dal dolce al salato, dai più classici ai più sorprendenti… Come per il gusto ai formaggi locali della tradizione di piccoli produttori, o a quello agli ortaggi di stagione, o alla panna acida e salmone inacidito con verdello di Siracusa (varietà di limoni).

Un gusto molto particolare è quello della “Spiga e Madia”. Questo gelato ha trovato ispirazione dal progetto sviluppato in Brianza di coltivare mais per ricavare farina integrale. Un gelato con un latte che deriva da un cereale antico ricco di folati, sostanze che prevengono il rischio d’infarto.

Non hanno dimenticato neanche chi, for intolleranze al lattosio, poteva gustarsi solo i gelati alla frutta. I gusti alle creme preparati con latte vegetale sono dedicati a loro. Per ora sono dolcificati con il fruttosio, ma tra poco lo saranno con la stevia.  Sapete che pianta è la Stevia?  Con l’amico Giustino Catalano recentemente ho pubblicato un pezzo che ne racconta delle belle!  Ne consiglio vivamente la lettura!

Ma ora voglio farvi conoscere meglio Monia e Alessandro. A loro la parola…

• Le nostre origini, tutto parte da li… Cosa vi ha spinto ad intraprendere l’attività di artigiani del gelato?

Siamo una seconda generazione di gelatieri, anche se abbiamo capito che era il lavoro che volevano veramente fare, dopo che ognuno di noi figli ha seguito percorsi universitari diversi. A un certo punto la passione ha chiamato, e abbiamo seguito il cuore che ci diceva di “fare gelati” secondo una filosofia molto precisa: materie prime biologiche di piccoli produttori che conosciamo e abbiamo visitato personalmente, frutta maturata sulla pianta dal sole e colta solo nel suo momento migliore, filiera corta, km0, prodotti equosolidali, tutto nel pieno rispetto della natura compresi i packaging che utilizziamo, rigorosamente biodegradabili. It’ nato così l’Tree of ice cream.

• Tradizione ed innovazione… Utilizzate ancora pratiche tramandate dall’esperienza familiare?

Sì moltissimo, è ancora molto attuale come le infusioni per alcuni gusti e la lavorazione delle uova. Poi fortunatamente la tecnologia “del freddo” ha fatto passi da gigante e ora ci aiuta molto di più rispetto a 30 years ago.

• A “bugiardino” goloso: posologia e modalità d’uso del… gelato?

Assumere in grande quantità tranquillamente ogni giorno! Se un gelato è fatto bene ha pochissimi grassi e “buoni”; i gusti alle creme hanno solo il 5-8% fat (panna e latte, niente grassi vegetali o peggio ancora grassi vegetali idrogenati che non vengono smaltiti dal nostro fisico come i grassi “buoni”, ma occludono le nostre arterie), mentre la frutta nulla. Gli zuccheri sono circa al 28%, veramente poco se pensiamo che una merendina industriale ha il 18% di grassi e il 49% di zuccheri.

• Da appassionata di vino se vi chiedo un gelato al… wine, che ne dite?

Diciamo che è buonissimo, ed è una bella esperienza che spesso proponiamo in gelateria. Uno dei nostri preferiti è la Ciliegia con il Moscato di Scanzo.

• La creatività non ha limite. Sogni e progetti nel cassetto?

Il nostro sogno è sempre quello di continuare a fare gelato con la contaminazione esistente tra noi che “trasformiamo” un ingrediente e chi questo ingrediente lo coltiva in modo responsabile, tra noi quindi e il mondo contadino/agricolo, perché siamo anelli della stessa catena. Ci piace vedere maturare la “nostra” frutta, condividere i problemi quotidiani di un raccolto che può andare bene o male a seconda della condizioni climatiche.  Lavoriamo così in Brianza e dal prossimo anno la nostra avventura continuerà anche a New York, una bella sfida.

• Gelati abbinati ai piatti. Me ne raccontate qualcuno?

Ce ne sono tantissimi… Gelato di Fatulì della Val Saviore con miele di melata e sorbetto ai fichi fioroni su crostone di pane di lievito madre. Gelato di fagiolini menta selvatica e aceto di mele, con tagliata di roast-beef al sale di Cervia. Gelato al peperone di Carmagnola con Robiola di Roccaverano. Gelato ai funghi porcini con riso mantecato…

• Vi rifornite da piccoli produttori. Qual è la vostra esperienza nella scelta e nell’approvvigionamento?

Innanzitutto la qualità non è paragonabile a quella di nessuna “grande distribuzione”.  E’ solo un po’ complicato in termini logistici.

• Organizzate Laboratori di gelato per i bambini. Quali argomenti trattate?

I Laboratori di gelato sono sempre una grande soddisfazione.  Attraverso i cinque sensi annusiamo le fragole (generalmente facciamo questo gusto), cercando di spiegare la differenza tra un aroma “finto” e uno “vero”. Parliamo di stagionalità (le fragola a dicembre è meglio lasciarle al supermercato!), parliamo di frutta non necessariamente perfetta, perchè a noi interessa che sia buona, rossa e matura…

• Gelato d’estate o… gelato tutto l’anno ?

Assolutamente tutto l’anno! I “veri” amanti del gelato lo gustano maggiormente d’inverno che d’estate!

Oh amabile sorbetto, nettare prezioso e delicato,
benedetto colui che t’ha inventato…
Due cose in questo mondo meritano il primo onore
il sorbetto gelato e il caldo amore…

Carlo Goldoni (Amore in caricatura 1761)

Winemaker means making wine, but in Italy this term is understood as the professional consultant oenologist. They do not come to terms, unless the same is not the face… I mean the wine! In many cases it happens, in some no! Quindi forse una ridimensionata a questo termine andrebbe data.

In a recent article about Sharp's Michelangelo ",,it,Rather I say more,,it,I enclose a passage from an article a few years ago I read the Blog of Luciano Pignataro,,it,but I do interpreting the literal and basic meaning of "who makes the wine",,it,I add with conviction that should integrate and complement to obtain original wines,,it,I start by 'idea,,it,the wine is a reflection of a "winery" system as a whole,,it,The property,,it,must be the product ambassador,,it,the image,,it,and heart,,it,The party wine,,it,and here enters the agronomist with the winemakers,,it,I see it as the art of shaping a brilliant result,,it,The oenology,,it,and here winemaker and cellar master must be one,,itthe flattening of the quality of the wines”, quote his own words, mah, say that… Perhaps, if you personally producessi wine, I wish I looked like, rather, without perhaps! Accommadations choosing a wine consultant on its very specific qualities, experiences, and thought. Anzi dico di più, I wish it was actively “longer present” in making wine, that is present in the series of operations that are not limited to counseling.

Allego un passaggio di un articolo di qualche anno fa letto sul Blog di Luciano Pignataro. I found it very interesting and current: “What do you believe that a wine consultant here in New Zealand? Virtually all: mountainous le pompously, pulisce la diraspatrice, washing the floor, enters the vat for Svinaře, download marc, in short, a winemaker in the true sense of the word! A few days later I read an article in a magazine of NZ wine that falls "bean" on the subject. Talk to Italy and tells how in recent years the cellars of great renown are the most famous thanks to the consultant winemaker rather than the wine and its characteristics ...”

Friends, At this point I would just ask the question to those who call themselves winemaker interpreting the literal meaning and basic who makes wine. The person in question is my dear friend Marco Bernava.

• Framework, Winemaker means making wine ... or not?

Cynthia is a pleasure and an honor to export my thoughts.

Io in primis mi definisco winemaker, ma lo faccio interpretandone il significato letterale e basico di “chi fa il vino”. In Italia (and not only), I think there are well-defined shapes and professionally especially in terms of training. Aggiungo con convinzione che dovrebbero integrarsi e complementarsi per ottenere vini originali. Parto dall’ idea che il vino è lo specchio di un sistema “azienda vitivinicola” nel suo complesso:

• La proprietà deve essere l’ambasciatore del prodotto, l’immagine, ed il cuore.
• La parte viticola, e qui entra in scena l’agronomo insieme ai vignaioli, la vedo come l’arte di plasmare un frutto geniale.
• La parte enologica, e qui enologo e cantiniere devono essere un tutt’uno, I see it as the personal computing power of the vineyard,,it,Overall then,,it,in which a cellar produces,,it,I would define as the sum of the elements that create an original product and which must be managed in part and in part simply read and interpreted,,it,At other times it seems to me that there is a willingness on the part of someone to do ",,it,the first woman,,it,"And this gets to break the positive mechanisms and leads to not broadcast the originality of the final product,,it,I think everyone involved in the production process should make her a co-author of a wine with a final goal common to all,,it,racing feel,,it,The consultant in many business realities is essential,,it,whether it agronomist or winemaker,,it.
• Nel complesso poi the local in cui una cantina produce, lo definirei come la somma degli elementi che creano un prodotto originale e che devono essere in parte gestiti ed in parte semplicemente letti ed interpretati.

A volte invece mi sembra che ci sia la volontà da parte di qualcuno di fare “la prima donna” e questo arriva a rompere i meccanismi positivi e porta a non trasmettere l’originalità del prodotto finale.

A mio avviso ogni persona coinvolta nel processo produttivo dovrebbe apportare il suo essere co-autore di un vino con un fine ultimo comune a tutti: “regalare sensazioni”. Il consulente in moltissime realtà aziendali è essenziale, sia esso agronomo o enologo, but in my opinion should be the interpreter,,it,in which it falls to work,,it,and must not ",,it,put the signature and just,,it,His role makes him partaker of the production phase,,it,but his involvement with the,,it,and the single reality,,it,It varies according to his style and his professional ethics,,it,There are situations in which the consultant should be limited to giving protocols,,it,do or interpret analysis,,it,and make technical decisions,,it,There are other situations where it might,,it,and in my opinion should,,it,passionately involved with it enters the system part,,it,A bottle is like a song,,it,"The symphony can create as tools or as a set of solos,,it,the result will obviously be different,,it,Michele Tagliente,,it,It's not often we say,,it local in cui si cala a lavorare, e non deve “mettere la firma e basta”.

Il suo ruolo lo fa partecipe della fase produttiva, ma il suo coinvolgimento con il local e la singola realtà, varia a seconda del suo stile e della sua etica professionale. Ci sono realtà in cui il consulente deve limitarsi a dare protocolli, fare o interpretare analisi, e prendere decisioni tecniche; ci sono altre realtà in cui potrebbe (e a mio avviso dovrebbe), coinvolgersi passionalmente con il sistema di cui entra a far parte.

Una bottiglia è come una canzone: “La puoi creare come sinfonia di strumenti o come insieme di assoli… il risultato sarà ovviamente diverso”.

Marco Bernava

Lo conoscete il cloruro di magnesio?

Il magnesio è un minerale. And 'present in cocoa, dried fruit, in seafood, in beans, in beans, in the bran, nell’orzo… insomma in alimenti un pochino trascurati.

La carenza di magnesio è causa di molti malesseri: dall’area psichica, to the muscle, to the cardiovascular, e a molte altre.

Magnesium deficiency is the cause of many ailments from mental ..., to the muscle, to the cardiovascular, e a molte altre.

Questa carenza può essere semplicemente risolta con l’assunzione di un integratore: “magnesium chloride“. An affordable rooms with a minimum expenditure safely at any pharmacy, exactly as I do from time. It 'simply dissolve 25/30 Article. in one liter of water and drink half a glass once a day.

Alas, the taste is not the best, but just dilute it with fruit juice, and you're done! Today I have prepared a glass of grape juice diluted with! 😉

Molte le sue proprietà: purifica il sangue, increases the tone immune and contributes to the proper functioning of most of the equipment of our body, in short, keeps you young! 😉 Già nei primi anni del 1900 i medici francesi P. Delbet e A. Nephew, I experienced excellent results with the use!

Non vi resta che provare…

I met Mario Maffi – Winemaker and Technical Director of the Agricultural Montelio – thanks to his invitation for a visit to the cellar. I listened and listened to me for hours. A simple man like few – gaze frank and sincere – linked to the territory, its history and its traditions. A real Italian.

The Farm Montelio, whose name derives from the greek Helios Upstream of the sun, It is located in Codevilla, in the province of Pavia. Fu l’Ing. Angelo Domenico Mazza, big fan of viticulture, to start business with the acquired land in the first 1848. From 1982, The Technical Director is the winemaker Mario Maffi. Then a Varzi, He is a great expert and connoisseur of Oltrepò Pavese.

A few weeks ago I went back to find it. A person who I respect very much, one of the best men I've known in recent years.

• Our origins ... it all starts with them. How did your adventure in the world of wine?

I was born in the vineyards because my father was a winegrower. But the my favorite hobby was to design homes. When I went to sign up for Tortona Surveyor, fate has it that I forgot a document at home. Along the way I met my Italian teacher of Retorbido, that, felt my choice, I strongly advised against. Urged me instead to enroll at the Institute agrarian despite my best grades were in construction and topography. After school Eng. Shoulder offered me a partnership in his studio. Literally burst into tears when I had to give up ... I had just received a call; I had to leave for the military. It was not his destiny, and I surrendered to fate. Once back I specialized in Oenology.

• I often ask this question and I would also like your opinion. In Italy there are many small producers. I often hear industry experts argue that these small businesses, failing mostly to pay the expenses for new technologies, can not make quality wines. What do you think?

This speech may make sense only with white wines. For red wines, no. The red wine is born in the vineyard. I have a dear friend who is going through a difficult time due to health problems, a music teacher involved in social. It, Giuseppe Colombo, along with three friends decided to produce wine good, and he turned to me. A day in the context of the important ones Piedmont,  in a tasting of eleven wines tasted blindfold, It was very successful despite the small dimension of reality. Red wine, starting from a good grape, can be produced safely with excellent results.

• What do you think will make the institution immediately to help manufacturers in a concrete way?

Need less bureaucracy, need a strong investment in young people, focused and not scattered, to create entrepreneurship.

After the war the Friuli Venezia Giulia gave money to the peasant families. But they had to invest a minimum of eight acres, and thirty-year mortgages with subsidized. If you decided to quit before the company, had to return the money ...

• And 'now widespread tendency to classify wines in biological, biodynamics, organic ... Do not you think that we can further confuse the consumer?

To say organic is almost a fashion seen that the average Italian is not polite to an end. As long as I shall see an organic vineyard sign near highly polluted areas, I can not believe in biological. The biological might have a logic if there was a strict regulation that would ensure its implementation.

Should be done with a mapping of land free from major sources of pollution, and a little rainy mapping of areas. They can not tell me you in the valley of the Adige with 1300 mm of rain per year can do with the biological parameters of Brussels.

Our Wine Company Montelio,  falls into a category I call "towards the environment”. We try to make integrated agriculture. We left the woods around the vineyards, and we have allowed a group of natural building, next to the plants, artificial nests to facilitate the return of great tits and redstarts.

Recreate a natural environment, This is what's really important…

Giacomo Leopardi, My favorite poet wrote: “I am convinced that even at the last moment of our lives each of us can change one's destiny…” I firmly believe. To do so, the only solution is to let go, and experience all that you can live ...

There fraintendetemi, I do not do crazy things, but if I find myself in front of I take the opportunity to fly. I learned how to do the last two years life, and I assure you it is really worth. Alike, when he seeks a person to know, that is presented to me for its uniqueness, I do not ever pull back. It 'a journey into the souls, often very intimate and exciting. The result is a personal enrichment of knowledge and experience, which offers a real moment of life… So one day a friend told me about Mark Bernava, Italian winemaker in the land of Spain.

I met him first on the phone, and then subsequently for months and months with a mail exchange. Sometimes with real disappointments, sometimes with positions taken by ... a true and sincere friendship that has grown over time, and that led me to get attached more and more to the person who was learning to know, and to appreciate. We had promised to meet us at the earliest opportunity of. Well a few weeks ago, the same friend who put me in touch with him, with an apology prompted me to go outside the building where I was for a small thing to solve. You have no idea of ​​my expression when I saw him at the door. I hugged him strong, happy and excited as long it did not happen…

Vigneti Bernavi’

Vi presento Marco Bernava, il mio caro Marco, a man of the earth, and wine ...

• Framework, the first time that I spoke to you on the phone I asked you to tell me a little 'tea. Your words to me were enough to understand. Imagine going back in time, was the 19 December 2011. "Hello Marco Cinzia, I have spoken to you, tell me ...?”

"It 's a good question! - I said to myself - how can I sum up all my concerns in a phone call without appearing a fool?”. And now I find myself with the same dilemma, but the title of our talk nicely sums up some of the central aspects of my "tell". I 35 age, I was born in Milan and graduated in Agricultural Science and Technology with a thesis in viticulture and enology. I tasted wine personally and professionally Italy from north to south to mature the idea of ​​the challenge, and very addictive: “Diventare wine producer!”.

Here's my be proudly Italian, agronomo e winemaker. But as a great lover of the natural system in which I live, and I believe that agriculture is an integral part of the real road dell'esserne, I decided to go a step further my studies and become even farmer, viticulturist and winemaker. I decided to do it in the ground Catalan (Spain), I work in the vineyards and in the cellar of our properties, driven by a passion for wine, with my partner Ruth (the true Catalan), and my brother Gino.

• Where does your passion for the land and for viticulture?

I am deeply convinced that every human being has the need for contact with the earth and with nature. Do you know why a person sees when he goes to the mountains and a forest, or see a cultivated field and lush, o un bel frutteto, it feels so good that spontaneously exclaims: "How wonderful place"? For the green color that gives us this feeling. It is shown that the mere sight of green vegetation, is associated in the depths of our ancestral brain abundance: “Vegetation means water, means the presence of animals, means food”. That's why when we process from concrete and asphalt, we feel good.

“We are part of nature, but we have lost consciousness”.

With this preamble to answer because of my passion for the land: “I feel part of me!” In addition to study ecological systems, beings, plants and animals from a biological point of view and then technology and applications, grants you the luxury to better understand the natural world and the role of the human being as a part of this world. The then understand how to take advantage of the natural resources in an intelligent way to create food will reveal the intersection of the biological cycles and the essence of ecology. Also, my family origins are related to agriculture, and I think it's in my genes has awakened this desire to resume the chapters started by my grandparents.

My passion for viticulture is quickly told. The plants of the genus Vitis have a special charm, a very complex physiology that makes an ecology of plants with interesting and with enormous potential. The domestication of plants of lives over the centuries is one of the most important traditional and cultural baggage that we. The results that today we can appreciate wine tasting, derived from a long and tortuous. And of course this is also part of the wine with its practices both natural and complex, precisely because of their natural.

Vigneti Bernavi’

• There is a person who has influenced you in your choices?
  

My parents designed to work in the service sector in Milan; because I have always sacrificed and Gino early age, we could enjoy the green color, could swim in the sea or in lakes, could escape from the city, and we could keep the bond with nature. Their, and the rural origins of my grandparents, have kept alive in me the love for the land, and have certainly influenced the choice to hijack my journey on the primary sector.

My studies have now approached the viticulture and oenology, one of the branches of agribusiness more advanced level of study and knowledge acquired. Actually, browsing in the many rooms of the primary sector, a framework struck me so lightning… amore a prima vista say: “The Vineyard!"And to mark permanently the interest in deepening my knowledge about the vineyard, was a man at a conference: Attilio Scienza. His vision of local wine, and the role of agronomic management system in the wine also deriving from the principles of the great Mario Fregoni, I was immediately captured by. I recognize that are the basis for the elaboration of the "my"By wine.

• Tell me about your career in Italy?

Tortuous and will soon give. After graduation, I had the good fortune to work with the Di.Pro.Ve. of the Faculty of Agriculture of Milan. To my way of being, I think the academic career I do not particularly suited to 25 age. The desire to touch the daily life of winemaking has prompted me to look for work as an agronomist business. After some experiences in Friuli and Tuscany I landed in Le Marche, and I started working with Antonio Terni at Fattoria Le Terraces. Here I was able to collaborate in the creation of great wines, with great technical, with a great team of people, and a great Antonio. My thirst for experiences led me also in southern Italy in the Vulture area, and then return to Bergamo. But now I had to deal with my real goal, and in my thirst no longer domabile to build my personal project.

• What led you to produce wine in the land of Spain?

My relationship with Spain (better said with the Calalunya) is dated 1996, year when I met Ruth. This land has great potential in my opinion, many unexplored. For a young and restless at the beginning like me, land was a "possible" to start such an important project. L 'Italy with the development of the sector over the last twenty years land has become difficult for small developers, especially if they are young and "unknown", unless you go to areas where the establishment of a stranger is difficult for reasons more social than economic (and I talk about reality experienced and well-known because of my origins). Spain leaves some door open location in part to the economic feasibility of certain investments, and partly due to an administrative and political will to want to keep young people in rural areas (this will, dictated by need and certainly not by altruism and justice; Spain is rural, and votes in the rural area have a weight different from that of urbanized regions).

Without going into speeches by the argument that it would divert wine, I summarize my answer with a game that turns out to be romantic and philological: “In Italian we distinguish the "viticulture" (namely the cultural baggage tied to the world wine) from "viticulture" (the cultivation of the vine); Spanish and Catalan, there is only the "viticulture”. And I am an engineer who finds himself in a place without "viticulture"!

• "I live the wine." Are you like me blood and fighting. In your wine feels the character that marks you. When I drank the first time I had as a projection in my mind remembering your stories about the difficulties, the hardships and emotions to produce. Tell me about your wine?

If my motto is "in wine vivendo”, the lemma of the Cantina BERNAVÍ is "interpreting the local”. I think part you can give an explanation as to why!

“The wine is a reflection of who does it, technically, emotionally and philosophically. I try to convey to the bottle my interpretation of the potential of our vineyards, either by choosing varieties, considering that vintages“

From the moment I decided to replant the varieties I made a choice interpretative. The agronomic management you have to model every year on the progress of climate and the objectives to be achieved. And the work in the winery must comply with the answers that every year each variety gives us (for better and sometimes for worse!), own to create an original wine, which is variable as a natural product. It is precisely the naturalness of the produced wine that has prompted me to not greet me in any product specification, and that makes me line up clearly against all the noise at the European level on the rules for qualification of wines. The wine BERNAVÍ want to be honest and straightforward like me, come noi!

We are three of us in this work and for the cellar bears our name. For this reason, the names of our wines are so immediate.

A white harvested at night to take advantage of the fresh south-west wind, and the moon that shines on calcareous soils: White Night. A red, result of the work of three young souls and coupage (cutting) three varieties as different as complementary, with vinifications ad hoc for each of them: 3D3. In itinere reserves in barrels of large volume, who will talk about the concentrations of which capable exceptional terroir this…

"The cup of wine has to tell the hard work in the vineyards cold winter and torrid summer, conditions in both extreme and fascinating; must tell curved backs of the screws trying to understand the needs of each plant, from pruning to harvest…” Marco Bernava

Una chiacchierata a tre.

Cynthia Tosini: A rieccomi! Ciao Giustino, ciao Fausto! Today it is back to talk about herbs ... and then you are questioned! Walking in the pasture with the producers of Fontina, we chatted of this plant that they use (leaves and flowers) throughout! But I say all! For inflammations, the dermatiti, against colds, for digestive problems, e chi ne ha, più ne metta! In short, we want to talk! Daiii, when you have finished spalmarvi suntan lotion and sunbathing, to read up on that today we talk about herbal medicines! By the way I am attaching a picture of the plant that I have personally 2000 meters, is called The imperial (Peucedanum ostruthium) o Agrù dialect in the Aosta Valley.

Justin Catalano: But what creams!! What are you doing sfotti? 😉 Incominciamo col dire che l’Imperatoria… is also found at lower altitudes, e al sud.

Fausto Delegà: I know the Imperatoria, already named a program! I tasted in France liquor frataioli based on this like Angelica. Certain aromatic oils of its rhizomes are many. I know that in Switzerland they use the leaves and rhizomes for flavoring cheese.

Cynthia Tosini: Fausto Will not Believe… As he spoke with the manufacturer of Fontina, on the uses of this plant, all of a sudden I said: "But put it in the fontina, us?!"It will begin to do so… We will fontina therapeutic!

Justin Catalano: This thing I'm interested in and not a little!

Fausto Delegà: Beautiful news of the future fontina… Healing, ah ah 🙂

Cynthia Tosini: An old farmer told me Valdostano, that both the leaves and the rhizome dell'Imperatoria, are used for therapeutic purposes for generations. Therefore, he still makes them dry in the shade, then puts them in a breathable box, and then use them throughout the year for various skin inflammations. Boil the dried extract, which then puts it in a cloth closed using it mo 'swab with the remaining liquid. Buffered on the injured party seems miraculous ... indeed it is!

La natura… cura! 😉

The recipe : “The Roots and the Fasioi”

Apro le finestre e il mio sguardo si perde… ricordi di campagna, laughter of children, scent of hay, of bare feet on the grass, di vendemmie festanti e di sonni tranquilli.

Solo chi ha avuto un’infanzia passata così, mi può capire. Can understand the desire to get back with the mind to remember, because the Earth called, riportando ad essi.

Every year, exactly 29 June – ricorrenza di Santi Pietro e Paolo – venivo accompagnata da mia nonna Jija in campagna, nella piccola Lorenzaga di Motta di Livenza a Treviso. Finite schools, finished college, finiti i ritmi severi della vita cittadina, finalmente arrivava la fatidica data. And three hundred miles away ... and everything changed. No more buildings but fields of vineyards, corn on the cob, geese, hens… party! When I first arrived I was wandering alone barefoot on the grass, as in exploration, how to regain possession of my nature, of my size ...

And now I'm here, ancora una volta, after so many years, because Earth calls, and do not you forget it ... And 'one in the morning.

Looking out the window I contemplate the landscape. In the company of the song of cicadas and the rustling of the trees the mind travels ...

Ricordo mia nonna Jija, una donna contadina conosciuta da tutti per la tenacia e per la determinazione. Ricordo le mattine, quando mi svegliavo all’alba. Col canto del gallo tutto riprendeva il normale ciclo naturale.

I looked in the milking, in the preparation of butter, while with the scythe cutting the grass ... Life in the countryside is of great teaching, the moments we spent so great intensity.

Do not forget the flavors, they used to be ... The fresh milk, bread with fresh butter, e… i radici e fasioi! A bean puree which is flavored fresh radicchio. I assure you, una vera prelibatezza!

Mia nonna durante l’estate preparava spesso questo piatto, one of my favorites. Today I want to remember so.

Roots and fasioi

Preparation:

• In a pan, put the beans (fasioi) previously soaked for twelve hours approximately.
• Combine the chopped onion, two potatoes into pieces, a stalk of celery diced, two bones of pork, of ground cinnamon, sale e pepe just as.
• Cook slowly until the beans are soft. Then, remove the bones and pass everything until you get a thick, homogeneous.
• Meanwhile, sauté small pieces of bacon, that a low heat release their natural fat to use as a first dressing of radicchio.
• Serve the radicchio (roots in dialect), with bean sauce that will be sprinkled on as a finishing touch.

About this recipe, è usanza locale dire mentre la si mangia: “Magnar e morir”