The Carlin de Paolo winery,
situated in San Damiano d’Asti in Piemonte, Italy, is a family run winery in its
fourth generation and is a family that’s fiercely proud of its heritage and the
land which they farm to produce their multi-award winning wines.
Now run by brothers Davide and
Giancarlo the winery was founded by their great-grandfather in the early 1900’s
and has become one of the most notable wineries in the region combining the respect
of traditional winemaking and farming practices with modern technology to create
the best possible wines. Davide and Giancarlo are the youngest winemakers in
Piemonte also with Davide taking care of the vineyard management and Giancarlo
being the oenologist.
Modernising the winery is always
tough for the younger generations who want to embrace the future but also keep parents
(and traditions) happy. I have noticed this talking to many Italian winemakers
of my generation, but Davide and Giancarlo have managed this well, including creating
the export market to Hong Kong as previously their wines never left Italy.
Wine Times caught up with the brothers
as they were in Hong Kong earlier this week to find out more about their
passion for wine, what it’s like working as a family unit and whether or not
they think their wines are suited to Asian, and in particular, Chinese cuisine.
WTHK: You say good wine is not
made in the cellar but on the vineyard. Why do you think this is so?
CdeP: “It means that to have a
high quality wine, we need to have a high quality grape. We care a lot about
our vineyards and they are all we have so we really treat our vineyards as if
they were human beings; taking care of them from their birth, during their life
and until their death. We are the owners of the winery and it’s important to
respect the vineyards we have”.
WTHK: The firm is in its fourth
generation. Will it stay in the family for many more generations?
CdeP: “Our family has been
producing these wines for four generations now and before us our father,
grandfather and great-grandfather always produced wines for Italian families.
We are the first to export wines into foreign markets. We are convinced that
the tradition of keeping it in the family will continue and, aside from the
wine production, we want to spread the word of our family and its values”.
WTHK: What is it like to be
working all as a family side by side?
CdeP: “Well, we are five children
in this generation. Our sister is a nurse who works in the hospital but she’s
always in call for the family! Our two other brothers are younger with one
studying to be a chef and the youngest, still at secondary school. We two are the
core of the winery operations but our father Franco is still the boss!! Our
father will never travel around the world, but if you come to Carlin de Paolo
he will be the first to open the door for you”!
WTHK: You make a lot of different
wines but do you have a favourite grape to work with?
CdeP: “Barbera definitely. First
of all, our major vineyards are dominated by the Barbera grape so Barbera
represents the wines we produce more of compared to others. Secondly, our
winery is located in Gorzano which is a small village of which I (Giancarlo) am
the major. This village is situated in the heart of the Monferrato area which
is very well known for the production of Barbera d’Asti. We have different vineyards
in different areas but our core production is Barbera in Monferrato. Our family
has always cultivated Barbera so it’s traditional but we also like to offer our
other wines such as Barolo, Moscato and Roero”.
WTHK: What one wine sums up
Carlin de Paolo?
CdeP: “Barbera is our flagship so
when you think of Carlin de Paolo you think of Barbera. The climate (terroir)
is perfect for the cultivation of Barbera grapes and we have always cultivated
and drunk Barbera grapes so it’s in keeping with tradition”.
WTHK: You make a very interesting
fortified wine. Can you tell me more about that?
CdeP: “The Vino Chinato is not a
wine, it is a liqueur. We are wine producers so in order to produce this
product we cooperate with other companies that specialize in distillery work.
In the past our family already produced Barbera Chinato in a very artisanal way
and we used it as a remedy for curing sickness. Today we cannot produce it in
the same artisanal way due to the laws of production so we bring our Barbera
grapes to the distillery and they add sugar and spirit alcohol to bring it up
to 16 per cent alcohol. Medicinal herbs are also added to the mix to make the
complete package called Chinato Barbera. It’s very good as either an aperitif or
at the end of the meal and is has been considered as an elixir for the stomach
and aids digestion – it also works really well with chocolate”!
WTHK: As you have been travelling
around Hong Kong and China, how do you think your wines pair with Chinese food?
CdeP: “We’ve travelled all around
China and we have been promoting our wines there thus far. We are beginning to
make the consumers in Asia aware of our wines and although we do not speak
either English or Chinese, we understood that, on our travels, our wines speak
many different languages. Admittedly we do not have a deep knowledge of Chinese
cuisine but we have seen that our wines work very well with Chinese cuisine. Of
course, we have travelled to many cities in China and the dishes are regionally
very different and in all these situated our wines have adapted and worked well
with all the dishes we tasted”.
Carlin de Paolo wines are
available in Hong Kong from House of Fine Wines and they can be contacted by email
at info@houseoffinewines.com or
by phone on +852 3156 6011. You can also follow their blog on http://houseoffinewines.blogspot.hk/
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