FRECCIAROSSA

On 4 February 2020 we drove off down the mountains in Valsesia early on a sunny day, only to be swallowed up by heavy fog as soon as we reached the plains. Our destination was the Frecciarossa winery, in the hills of Oltrepò Pavese. We had the fortune of being invited to the presentation of a new red wine named Anamari and, above all, to celebrate 100 years of winemaking there.

After driving in fog so thick that you could easily lose orientation, the skies gradually brightened and we saw the contour of hills. The closer we got and the steeper the road began to climb, the more the sun came through, until all of a sudden we were on top of the low clouds that filled the vast Po valley like cotton candy. A quick turn left and we had reached Frecciarossa.

Literally the name “Frecciarossa” means “red arrow”, but as owners Margherita and Carillo Radici explained, the name stems from the term “fraccia rossa”, meaning “red landslide”, and referring to the area’s clayey soil with red iron veins, in contrast to the majority of soil in these hills, which is grey. In fact, the name comes from an oversight made during the registration. The name “Fraccia Rossa” was mistakenly written as Frecciarossa (Red Arrow), thus lending the name to the winery and the hill!

The American importer of Frecciarossa promoted the wines with artistic cards.

It is a truly wonderful place. The “Villa Odero”, a beautiful manor house built in the second half of the 19th century, the park, the winery and the surrounding vineyards are in complete harmony. The owners and their daughter Valeria, who now runs the place, and all the staff are extremely welcoming and friendly. Above all, the wines are exquisite.

We returned for a longer visit in August and ended up staying overnight. It was just before the harvest, and almost ripe bunches of grapes were hanging heavily on the vines. We were even more impressed. Frecciarossa is among the most beautiful and well-kept wineries we have visited.

The history of Frecciarossa began with Mario Odero, a wealthy merchant from Genoa, who specialised in trading coal between Italy and Great Britain. He had spent many years of his life in Wales, and when he returned to Italy, he did not feel comfortable living in Genoa any longer. He missed the country side.

On his many travels between Italy and GB, he had the opportunity to visit some of Europe’s most prominent wine regions in France and Germany. So, he sold off everything, bought the manor house and the surrounding land, and decided that he would make high-end wines. He introduced his favourite grapes from France and Germany – Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling, without neglecting the local varieties, Barbera, Croatina and Uva Rara when he founded the Frecciarossa winery in 1919.

In 1990 Margherita Radici Odero, guided by the same strong will and determination as her father Giorgio, took the reins of the winery and fostered the progressive modernisation of the winery. Additional wines were introduced and under Valeria’s influence, farming became organic.

Now Valeria is at the helm, working enthusiastically and tirelessly at improving the already wonderful wines, without compromising the quality, harmony and balance of this place on the path to excellence.

We were positively surprised to find all this in Oltrepò Pavese, just about 1.5 hours’ drive from Milan Malpensa airport, and less than an hour from the city itself. Indeed, this territory is little known outside Lombardy, and here its wines are considered rather common with a few exceptions, and only the sparkling wines had earned more recognition.

Wine and Winemaking

Wine

Wine is a product of the earth and of man. It arrives at our table from the vineyard in a bottle, passing through a vat and a barrel. To really get to know it, we must first acquaint ourselves with the vineyard and the people who grow it, draw the grapes from it and turn it into wine. To make good wine, you need love for the land, because the future of those who grow it depends on it. You need passion, and you need the right knowledge as a winemaker. These are handed down from generation to generation, taught in schools or by expert oenologists, but only good grapes can give good wine.

How many of us, at home, in a restaurant or at the supermarket, can pick up a bottle and say: I know where it comes from, I know who makes it and what is behind it?

We want to give you the opportunity to get to know the real wine, from its origins to your table. On our journey we will go to discover small producers and their lands, even before their wines. This is our aspiration: to take you with us to discover "real wines made by real people".

Wine, or rather Wines

We believe that there are two great types of the product "wine". The vast majority are wines produced on a large scale, very widespread and well known. For a consumer, the norm is to associate a product with a label. The label signifies what kind of product is inside the package - it is somehow the guarantor. If you uncork a "Mouton Cadet”, a “Blue Nun” or open a "Tavernello" tetra pack, you do so knowing what you will find, and this regardless of the year, or even the land, in which the wine was produced. One may roughly know where Mouton Cadet comes from, but honestly, does anyone have an idea where the Tavernello grapes come from? “Consistency" is what these wines offer, whether they are big or small, does not matter. (In truth, Mouton Cadet offers far more than just consistency). With regard to “consistency”, these wines resemble industrial products, such as Coca-Cola or Carlsberg – products for which the name alone reveals the qualities. It is the strength of the brand. There are also many generic products, such as pasteurised milk, of which we know what to expect. They are safe, (arguably) healthy and have a predictable taste because they are practically the same, as once they undergo pasteurisation, all those little microorganisms that create distinctive flavours fade away.

This is nothing negative. On the contrary, brands and labels greatly simplify our choices. These are industrial products, where the hand of man weighs at least as much as that of nature. They are products, where the "miracle" of transforming grapes into wine is performed with scientific and technological knowledge and the main characteristic of these products is “consistency”, so that the consumer knows what he is buying. Consistency at this level, however, does not exist in nature and hence is the affirmation of man over nature. We prefer to leave this to the great names and large retailers. In any case, you would not need to join our journey to find such wines!

The other "product" wine is produced on a small, artisanal scale. It is a product that reflects the earth, grapes, climate and wise hand of the winemaker. These wines vary from each other, from year to year, from vineyard to vineyard, while maintaining the same label. Some are produced according to the dictates of organic farming, others follow the anthroposophical philosophy of biodynamics, and others yet are made with "conventional" interventions reduced to the bare minimum. They have one thing in common that is fundamental for us: they are produced by passionate people and from grapes grown "with love". They are natural wine, where the additives are limited to a minimum and never used to create "consistency". They reflect a territory, vintage, person, not a company that identifies itself with an emblem, symbol, label… in other words, wine with soul. The wines we want to present to you are "juice of the earth" and not a sophisticated industrial product.

In principle, winemaking is a spontaneous chemical process initiated and governed by human intervention. People wait until grapes are ripe, collect them, press them, wait for the juices to ferment, decide at which moment the fermentation must be interrupted, the wine must be separated from the skins, put into large or small containers and aged… until it is ready to be bottled, sold and drunk. Each of these steps requires human intervention and each of these steps is based on human experience and knowledge. Since the last century and the progress of chemistry, human intervention is less empirical and increasingly scientific. It is so developed, that soil is analysed in labs and with the aid of drones and satellite pictures, it is established which vines to plant in exact spots. Micro sensors monitor the microclimate in the vineyards, the presence of moulds, fungi, parasites and other threats. The level of “readiness” of mature grapes is assessed with high-tech machinery. Science is widely being used to create products that meet the consumers’ palate and sell, to optimise the use of labour and machinery and allow the people who work in the vineyards and in the wine cellars, the marketing gurus, sales force and above all, the investors, to make a profitable living and a return on their investment. Wine is, after all, big business! Well, not for everyone. For many small, or very small vintners, it is passion, it is a vision, a purpose in life to make true, authentic wines. The idea of Vinland was born when we tired of the large wine productions and decided to explore the world of small wines, made “next door” by people and nature, not by industrial processes. When we first visited Paride Chiovini in Sizzano - and such visits can take hours of long conversations - after showing us around his vineyards, he told us how much he loved spending time there. “It makes me oblivious, because I’m so happy there”, he said. One day, while in his beloved vineyard, he received a call from a restaurant he supplies. They asked for an urgent delivery as they were out of stock and had a big party of guests coming. Paride went back to his cellar, loaded his car and drove off. On the road he realised that he was still wearing his dirty clothes and boots covered in soil and dust. Too late, he thought. A Jaguar was parked in front of the restaurant and a very elegant gentleman drove off in it. The restaurant manager asked with a wry smile “ Did you just see that Jaguar leave? That was Mr. A., a colleague of yours”. Paride knew that Mr. A. was one of the best known winemakers in Italy, whose family business exported many thousands of prestigious bottles globally. He was puzzled, felt embarrassed in his dirty working clothes and regretted not having shaken hands with the great man. Then, as he drove back, he realised that no, he did not want to be like Mr. A. He wanted to be just like he was: bound to the soil, happy in the vineyard. At Vinland we have wines from many passionate winemakers like Paride Chiovini, and we are happy to introduce their wines to you, and tell you something about them.