Biodynamic Barolo - Philine Isabelle, a new wave in Langhe?

Yeah, here we are. We are in Monforte località Busia, so in the middle of the Cri Busia, where my cellar is located. I don't have any vineyards in Busia, dommage, but well. So we see Monforte on this side, and everything here is the Cri Busia. Colonello Busia is in this direction, and also Barolo you'll find in this direction. And yeah, you see this nice amphitheater. Also here on this side, how the region is really made of, or how it was, I think, in my opinion. On the top of the hills, there was the forest. Down the valley, there are some creeks. It's very humid, and then the middle part usually is planted with the vineyards. Well, right now, it means home, and yeah, it means cultivating my land, which is an incredible, incredible step that I did. Yeah, biodynamic, I mean, obviously, the crucial approach of biodynamic agriculture is to be very aware of the responsibility when you produce something that someone is eating. So obviously, my aim is to produce something that is good for your physical body, and also for your emotional body, and also for your spiritual body, for your eye. So obviously, biodynamic approach is really this. How can I produce, and how do I produce food in order to make development with the human species possible? That's like the overall concept why it started. I have to be aware that I'm so responsible, like a doctor is on the other side, you know? I'm producing something that someone is integrating in his body, and is constituting his mind, and his soul, and his body out of it. Biodynamic cultivation leads me to, in my opinion, the highest quality that I can achieve right now with my cultivation. It's in the research of every detail, stepping into it, and providing the best circumstances for the plants to grow in order to have the best quality, taste, and also like a health approach for someone. Of course, it's always bullshit to answer with a negative answer, you know? But I hope I won't see it like Burgundy, in terms also of market development and everything. I hope to see this region with a spirit of development and of a clear vision how we want to conduct tourism, how we want to conduct biodiversity, living together, recreating spaces. I think one big thing we need is to work on community within the area, people that are involved in the wine and food industry, so that we can work collectively to the area. One of the biggest problems with you know, what you can call the farmer's mentality, is that everyone is thinking about its own little piece and not, you know, the collective. So that's, you know, what I saw when we came back to Lange, and it's a big portion of our future development as an area overall. Yeah, you're totally right, and this implies like the being conscious about a commonwealth approach, socially and economically, and culturally in the end also, yeah? It's about a common feeling to create, and this for example is in Burgundy or in Falz, it's like this, you know, there's, for me it was normal working in Falz, the young people of the also second generation of the of the winemakers, everything, everybody's meeting together, grouping together, discussing very openly what's going on in the wine, for example, you know, I have this problem, what do I need, you know, my cork thing is rotten, can you give it to me, can you borrow it to me? I hardly see it here, this going together, and it will, yeah, it will be probably young people hopefully breaking this cluster of mindset. What is your winemaking approach? Well, my winemaking approach is quite, well, I'm with one step in natural, but I'm also taking the parts of in a logical technique, to be honest, in order to have precise wines with soul, that is actually my main aim, so I want, I hope so. Precise wine with soul? Yeah, that's it, you know, because I wanted to have it, it's a little bit of a combination of both sides, to be honest. So, I like to to be rather classical, rather natural, but, for example, if sometimes, you know, last year, for example, I had a blockage of the Chardonnay at seven gram of sugar, I have no problem with pH that we have here, and the high temperature in a cellar that I have here, to give them Pied de Cul with artificial yeast in this case. Usually I'm working without, of course, if it needs help, yeah, so I'm not super dogmatic with that. And my winemaking approach is super classical, so I'm rather on the traditionalist side of the Lange, probably, but we'll see, I'm adjusting one or the other little bits and pieces. This is something very cool, because you're coming from, you know, you're approaching Lange with an outsider, and you are, at the same time, bringing something to the Lange, and it's, you know, I look forward to seeing what you're going to pull off in the next couple of years. Yeah, because it's actually quite a, it's a delicate situation, because the region is so famous for some traditional approaches, for very important characters or personalities that have been here, and actually you are a little bit riding the famous horse. So you, in my opinion, I try to be rather humble with the approach coming here, with my outside view, you know, to be rather in the direction of, I appreciate what's there, I'm not saying that's all ---- what's going on here, and I make it my way, so I try to fit a little bit in, but to reflect and adjust in a humble way. How do you combine a scientific approach with that soul, that spirit? You're so Goetheanistic, you know, it's, I'm loving that you are talking about Goethe in a way, no? Why Goethe? Because he's, he did this, actually, it was his life aim, deep inside of science, in a small microcosm, and then stepping out, writing a poem or something like this, so actually I'm super affected to this approach, to see, to understand something, to understand who is the nature, who is grapevine, what's the nature of grapevine, how do my ferments work, so for example, yeah, I have a, I need a basis, a strong basis of knowledge, as you said, of science, of facts, and then, for example, when I try to understand what is the movement of the plant, you know, what does it mean to grow in a spiral, or to grow upwards in a direction like this, I like to draw, I like to move myself, to move my body, actually, like a dance. Yeah, I try to attract that, you know, I, no, no, it's more like, you know, we have to re-talk about this, I don't know the name, it's Gaga, Batsheva Dance Company, it's an Israel dance company, they're so fantastic, so I hope it's a little bit more like that, you know, so yes, it helps me actually to try to understand what's going on in the plant when I'm having a physical feeling with it, you know, what does it mean to expand with your body, what does it mean to concentrate with your body, which is, for example, the process of vegetation with grapevine, you know, like expanding, growing fast, quickly, growing into the space, or then the opposite process, which is concentration, yes, like seed process, fruit process, everything that is back into something, and yeah, that's a little bit what I try. So you try to combine science with your feelings, or? Yeah, with my feelings, and also, you know, if I want to tell people, okay, who are you, you know, or if I want to describe you, who's my best friend, I will not start with, he has, he's 1.8 meters tall, he has blue eyes, I will start, no, he's a cool dude, he makes me laugh, he has a warm heart, you know, so in order to actually understand someone, you need both, you need the hard facts, but you also need some of the soft stuff in between, and as the plant is not speaking with me, I have to take everything, as I said, from poems, to drawing, from movement, to get those worlds together, that are not separated, in my opinion.