The very first episode of the Italian Wine Podcast aired in March 2017, as the brainchild of Stevie Kim, Managing Partner of Vinitaly and Founder of Mamma Jumbo Shrimp. Stevie’s mission has always been to bring the joy of Italian wine to the masses and podcasting was an obvious way to do that. The Italian Wine Podcast, with interviews conducted in English for a primarily English-speaking audience around the world, was launched with a focus on everything from the A to Z of Italian grape varietals, the evocative stories unique to Italy’s wine culture, and all types and styles of Italian wine, including natural wine.
Stevie Kim, the Founder of the Italian Wine Podcast
The podcast began with one host, biodynamic wine pioneer Monty Waldin, and averaged two shows a week, interviewing winemakers, wine educators, wine writers, and other wine professionals across the industry. Waldin threw a spotlight on natural wine, biodynamic practices, as well as the commercial side of the industry, following trends in sales and marketing, and innovations in packaging.
Monty Waldin
Over the next eight years, the Italian Wine Podcast grew exponentially, becoming the only wine podcast in the world with shows seven days a week. The podcast now proudly encompasses over ten hosts, with each show dedicated to a specific theme including: Masterclass US Wine Market, Wine Books, DEI in Wine, Italian Wine, Food & Travel, The Next Generation, Asia Wine Market, and more. With almost 2500 episodes recorded and 8 million listens, the Italian Wine Podcast is a trailblazer in the wine communications arena.
In this article, we have turned back the clock to the first episode, fondly remembering where it all began, to celebrate the immense growth and achievement the Italian Wine Podcast has experienced since its inception.
Episode 1: Monty Waldin Interviews Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini
Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini is the owner of four wineries in Tuscany (Altesino, Borgo Scopeto, Caparzo and Doga delle Clavule). Since the interview was recorded she has added a fifth. She often refers to her “alphabet” of wineries, rattling off their names in A,B,C,D order. All four wineries are located in Tuscany, spread across the Chianti, Montalcino and Maremma regions. Elisabetta explains, “all my wines are Sangiovese based, I’m a Sangiovese geek, a groupie.” Monty explores Elisabetta’s childhood dream of living in the country, far from her upbringing in Rome, growing fruit and “making the best jelly and the best jam in the world. I ended up doing the same thing, but with a very precious fruit that is the grape, and making wine now.”
Stevie Kim & Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini
Teasing out more technical information, Monty asks what makes the four wineries special. The answer from Elisabetta is firm and immediate, it is the commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. This commitment was inspired by her son, Igino, an environmental engineer, who encouraged her to invest in photovoltaic cells at all four wineries, as well as “biomass furnaces to produce energy out of all the leftover from harvest and wood, bushes, everything we have to burn, we burn it over there. We are almost independent from buying electricity.” Elisabetta is passionate about the environment and organic practices, something which she says has bonded the whole family.
Igino is committed to ensuring best environmental practices are followed at all the wineries, building energy efficient warehouses, installing more photovoltaic cells wherever possible, recovering, repurposing grey water and rain water, and adding beauty to what would otherwise be drab buildings. Very much a proud mother, Elisabetta goes on to talk about her daughter, Alessandra, a former aerospace engineer for Rolls-Royce, who is now set to take the helm at the wineries with her mother. “Multi-talented family,” Elisabetta remarks with a laugh.
Altesino Winery
Monty takes a minute to explore the ever-popular Italian topic of food. Comparing notes of their favourite dishes, Elisabetta admits, “we love to eat and to cook a lot. Our number one dish probably is tortellini. We do that for Christmas. We do that for every holiday. It’s the typical dish of Bologna, and it’s in our heart. Even if we live in Tuscany, and we have many beautiful dishes in Tuscany too, we have to bring something from our family tradition from Bologna. I love the tortellini in the soup with broth.” Of course, there has to be wine on her table and Monty is keen to find out what she’s drinking. Surprisingly, the first wine she mentions is her Morellino, which she loves to serve chilled, and then the white Le Grance, which is a beautiful blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Her renowned Brunello di Montalcino, Montosoli, comes out from time to time, because “sometimes you feel like this is a Montosoli night.”
A quick discussion of wine scores, the good, the bad and the ugly of wine journalism, much to Monty’s chagrin, as a journalist himself, reveals that Elisabetta is fairly immune to the slings and arrows of wine commentary. She doesn’t keep much of an eye on her wines’ rankings, perhaps because they are always at the top, and she isn’t very interested in what is written about them. Her healthy opinion is that she is making the wines she wants and, if others like them, that is wonderful too.
The interview winds down with a glance to the future. Elisabetta is fully aware of her good fortune and her success, yet she does have one more item on her bucket list: a beautiful castle in a Tuscan location that she won’t name, but a place she hopes to rescue and restore sometime soon. She reveals that, although she has many friends, her frank and open nature has also brought many enemies. She hopes to turn the wineries over to her children and focus on taking care of her castle, with no regrets and no need to be a backseat driver in her children’s management of the business. A little return to her childhood dream sprouts up in the final moments of the conversation, wistfully considering making jam for her grandchildren someday.
Did you enjoy this interview with Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini? If so, we have another one! Episode 1348 has Stevie Kim with Elisabetta at her winery Altesino.
