“A chat with ... Chiara Soldati”

The wine often seems to resemble the one who creates ...

Chiara Soldati

Chiara Soldati leads with his father George "The Scolca”,  the company Winery oldest in the area of ​​Gavi (AL).  Their wines and sparkling wines are one of the Italian excellence in the world.

During my visit to the Estate, led by Chiara I could appreciate over the place, the simplicity of this family that has given me a real moment of life. Cousin of the great Mario Soldati, writer and director, passionate man of territories, History,  Poetry, I wanted to know,  but above all listen. Knowing she,  was a little 'how to know him ...

• Chiara Soldati cousin of the great Mario Soldati. Chiara know is a little 'how to know him. Give me your memory of Mario ...

Winegrowers are born, technically it becomes, but the very soul of the land and the wine you can not learn if they do not live, generations, the slow flow of the seasons of life and life in a symbiosis that discovers and reveals tasting the wines that are produced by this dance that happens every year equal, but ever new. Much has changed in the world "Gavi" since his cousin Mario Soldati in 1977 was to visit these hills to write your book "Vino al Vino": most of the properties are then changed hands several times, much as to forget the origins and identity.

Forerunner of today's wine guides, Mario then expressed a wish and a board, visiting our winery and tasting our Gavi, I reread today with much affection :

"The important thing is the wine, and so far it can not be said that good. But more important is the man, the hope is that the intelligence industry is smart enough not to overwhelm the heart never craft ".

That heart was talking about Mario has allowed my father to achieve seemingly impossible goals in those years for both the Gavi in ​​general and for our cellar, but above all it has allowed me to still be witnessed today and creator of a successful evolving.

• You have an important surname. It is not always easy to respond to people's expectations in these cases. What has been your experience?

The stages that have characterized my professional training and conduct of my work, have been the result of a non-random, but marked by a desire to constantly enhance and develop the quality issues, innovation and promotion of the area. The most important thing is to know you have the opportunity to try to get in the game and know that there is someone who can give you this possibility.

• Our origins ... it all starts with them. Your doom in the world of wine. Have you ever thought to devote to them?

After grammar school, I attended the Faculty of Law and economics and at the same time I began specializing in the wine sector. Of 18 impegnata nel mondo del vino. “Nothing makes more sense of passion ": to fully live their lives and their work can not be ignored as the driving force and inspiration from having a great thrill. The wine for me is a passion that takes place every year in the time of harvest.

• Here we are, two women ... I simply passionate about wine and the stories of its people here with you, woman producer of success. What would you advise me on my path of knowledge?

There is no better way to learn about wine if you do not know the faces and the areas that are the soul of the most intrinsic. For years, I am part of the Wine Tourism Movement for years and I support what is essential to know a name, wine, a Company, live the experiences that give rise to the wealth of aromas and flavors that we find later in the glass.

I have read the Bacchae of Euripides. I remember well the concept that,  Zeus gave man the gift of wine to help them forget the pain, and also the statement that in the absence of the wine does not love. The whole tragedy is pervaded by a joyous exaltation and communion with nature that leads to the release of feelings.

• I love the earth, i suoi prodotti e le sue tradizioni. Puoi raccontarmi della tua terra di Gavi?

To explain what is for me the Gavi I can regardless of my personal experience as the'Infatuation with this piece of land near the Riviera has been passed down for five generations and in each step of witness, inevitably, merging with this magical reality is total and, perhaps, lies precisely in this invisible bond the secret of such stubborn passion .

All the grapes are places where, grown, give the best of themselves. He's got someone to express its full potential only in a place where the grape is the harmony and the best habitat to grow, the soil, il clima, the altitude and exposure to mature in the fullness of flavors and fragrances. A little 'as in "Les Miserables" by Balzac H.de, definitely the place deep influence on the soul of things and people and affects actions and thoughts, so also there are places for the variety of choice to grow and mature each variety. In times of global market, perhaps, remains one of the certainties feeble consumer could drink the wine really safe and indigenous territorial origin.

This is the case of grapes Cortese, even when grown in many places of Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo or even Pavia, only in Gavi and eleven surrounding municipalities, express a wine by the aristocratic personality , intense, Durable and stylish.

Looking at the vineyards, a keen eye, can understand much of what the clusters will give once they become wine, we say that the plant is a bit 'the mirror of the soul of the one who will hold the bottle.

For this it is important to preserve the authenticity of a grape as the Cortese, native and author of a white wine that can unleash his strong personality both as a young man, in the year of production, was made sparkling, in purity,  with a range of spicy aromas and a lingering taste of almonds that evolves in the mouth with refined elegance.

The opening of the world today allows us to taste white wines from all sources, even the most distant and unexpected, with an explosion of flavors and aromas of great power, Gavi but the quality can overcome fashions and trends thanks to a strong and refined, poco ruffiana, but with great character who wins because of its dualism of delicate wine but from the structure determined and persistent.

Al di là del nome "Cortese" from vitigno, who can deceive the imagination of taster, Gavi is packed with features typically masculine.

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

Surely you need proper information to the customer. Unfortunately this is not always possible, and information does not always reach the addressee properly. In numerous trips abroad, I realized that foreigners are definitely a lot more careful and prepared on this subject with regard to Italian consumers.

• The word "sparkling" according to many seems out of fashion. Definitions are used that in my opinion are not real wine culture. The oral a te ...

The classic sparkling wine, fermented in the bottle, finds its roots in the more remote spontaneously sparkling wine or frothy which the ancients certainly knew the difference in quality, due to the presence or less of the carbon dioxide, between wines fermented in closed containers and those fermented in open containers. It is therefore considered that these sparkling wines more or less according to the tightness of the container used – dall’otre, all’anfora, then from the barrel to the bottle – have cheered since ancient times canteens and made solemn ceremonies. The wine that gives us joy and emotion, by nature a wine moved, I would say Spumante Metodo Classico. Napoleon said of wine : in victory you deserve it, in defeat you need it.

• 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, mostly unable to bear the costs of the technology, can not make quality wines. What do you think?

The richness of the Italian wine scene consists in the great richness and variety in the distribution diversified productive in many situations with different capacities. The maintenance of our rural network is ensured by the presence of many small businesses that invest in the territory and help to maintain even difficult cultivation. I refer to the Cinque Terre or the Valle d'Aosta.

• It 'a difficult time for the sector. What do you think will make the institution to help manufacturers in a concrete way in the immediate?

In Italy there is a real "country system" that can promote, develop, supporting the wine industry, such as we observe in France. Initiatives are many, some very interesting, ma manca una visione d’insieme, one reale synergy. The efforts and initiatives are distributed among different actors do not always managed by a director who knows how to give an effective impact strength.

• What advice would you give to a young person who wants to get started in this field, both as a technician and producer?

Surely the advice that I can give is to come to this determination after seeing and comparing different companies domestic and foreign companies taking advantage of the internship opportunities on the farm. I work for some time with the Catholic University of Piacenza, in the Master of Wine, marketing e territorio, appreciating the vision and address practical training. At the end of the course, advice to specialize in a specific field of expertise. The future of professional and production is based on excellence, on what will make the difference in a globalized world.