Olivier Bourseau: Emanuele Baldi, thank you very much for giving us a few minutes for this interview. Alfredo Prunotto wines are some of the most famous red wines from Piedmont in Italy. How do you explain the fame behind these Barolos and Barbarescos? Emanuele Baldi: The fame behind all Barolos and Barbarescos and the wines made by Prunotto is historical. At first Alfredo Prunotto was with a few others one of the only winemakers focusing on quality since the very beginning of the century. He was born in 1904. Secondly it was the first winery in 1961 to select single vineyards like the example of the French winemakers in Burgundy. It did so with the single vineyard Bussia for Barolo and with the single vineyard Pian Romualdo for Barbera d’Alba. Olivier Bourseau: Alfredo Prunotto retired in 1956 and the brothers Colla took over. Then in 1989 the company was sold to Famiglia Antinori and in 1996 the brothers Colla retired too with Antinori taking over the production process. How has the style of Prunotto changed over time since 1923 when Mr Prunotto took over the Cantine SOciale “ Vini delle Langhe”? Emanuele Baldi: It is a very difficult question because in order to understand the changes since 1923, we should taste all the wines which have been made since and with the same aging as well. But what we can say is that the style of Barolo and Barbaresco wines from Prunotto has been consistent though time. Of course this style also reflects the new technologies which have been introduced at the winery and more generally in the region of Barolo and Barbaresco. The other factor which needs to be taken into account is the climate. Of course in the last 15 years, we have had a lot more great vintages than we have had in the past 50 years. So I would say the style has changed but still, it has been consistent with the idea of producing very high quality Nebbiolo grapes from the region of Barolo and Barbaresco. Olivier Bourseau: I have read in an American wine magazine that it was a Frenchman, Louis Oudart who back in the middle of the 19th Century came to Piedmont hired by the Marchesa of Barolo to make more noble wines from the wines which were being produced by then which were simple rustic and even sweet. The style Oudart introduced was a wine matured in big Slovenian casks, with much more fragrant style, with high acidity and hard tannins needing some cellaring before drinking. This new style by then was followed by the winemakers of the region and the style which is today the traditionalist style was born. I understand that 20 years ago some winemakers started to use more new oak and became the modernists launching a new style of Barolos. Is Prunotto more of a traditionalist or a modernist? Emanuele Baldi: The revolution which happened in the middle of the 80’s was very important to bring Barolo to the attention of the world and to make these wine more approachable and delivering at the very beginning of their life. Revolutions are always very useful because they always break the status quo and they show that there are other ways and sometimes better ways to make wine in this case. But tradition on the other side is very important to keep the style of wine on track. So in that regard the revolution, the innovative way of making Barolo was very useful to raise the technical knowledge in the winemaking for all the area. So I would say that back in the 1980’s, the distance between tradition and innovation was very far apart from each other. 20 years later, the styles are definitely closer together, not that they are the same, but closer together and with the advantage that quality of the area has been raised dramatically in the last 15 years. And Prunotto was very innovative in 1961 when it was the first Wine Estate to make wines from single vineyards, where traditionally Barolo wines were blended grapes from different vineyards. It was also very traditional in the 80’s where it didn’t embark in short fermentation and high temperature and didn’t embark either in only new and small oak barrels for the maturation of the wine. Today it is really the case of trying to get the best out of tradition so keeping the style of what Nebbiolo is all about which is finesse and potential to age, but also using some of the new technology and some of the innovation to make the wines technically well made and accessible younger with soft tannins so that you can enjoy them today especially with the right food. But at the same time they can also age for a long time or 20 or more years. So it is all about balance between modernity and traditions. Olivier Bourseau: There is a big debate in the wine world between the easy to drink wines or the international taste, with ripe flavours and tasting nearly sweet and oaky, and the more traditional styles which reflect a location where the wines are made thanks to regulations, such as the ones in place in Italy, Spain or France. Do you think wines should be simplified? Emanuele Baldi: I think to a certain extent yes definitely, Italy along with the other traditional wine countries has some regulations with the DOC system which makes it very complicated to understand. But on the other that system was built in order to represent the differences in soils, the difference between all the local grape varieties, which is something we should not lose. So I think yes a simplification might be useful especially for the “Vino da Tavola”, and for the more easy drinking everyday wines but tradition should be kept and it should be enhanced in order to provide for each region and for each local grape variety the best expression of the Terroir. Olivier Bourseau: We have tasted together your Barolo Bussia from 99 to 04 yesterday. You were telling me about the single vineyards in Barolo which have been classified like it is the case in Burgundy for instance. Apart from Bussia which is one of the great single vineyard there are also Brunate, Cannubi, Cannubi Boschis, Fiasc. Since there are many winemakers sharing these vineyards and some being more successful than other, what is the most important in you opinion: the place where the wine is made or the man making the wine? Emanuele Baldi: Definitely the place has got a major importance especially with the grape like Nebbiolo which has adapted to the Piedmont area since at least (some documents say) the 13th Century. It has really adapted to a different soil, and between all the important elements there are in Langhe, soil is the major factor. Then if you manage to produce on the right soil some great grapes, the hand of man is then also very important to process these grapes into the bottle. It is also very important to interpret the grapes and the vintage in the best possible way. Winemakers say that if you have great grapes from a great Terroir, the less you do the better it is in order to have the best expression of this Terroir. So if we were to summarize this case, the importance and the weight of the different elements, I would say that soil would account for 40%, hand of man would account for 30%, and another 30% would be the vintage. Olivier Bourseau: Nebbiolo is a very local grape variety. Some other winemakers have introduced Cabernet Sauvignon in their wines in the area like Gaja and more widely in Tuscany. How do you see these experiments and should there be a place for imported grape varieties? Emanuele Baldi: Italy is probably one of the countries with the richest heritage of autochthon grape varieties so there are really a lot of grape varieties which should be used and to express the soil of the different regions. On the other hand international grape varieties can be very useful in order to be a player on the international stage with international consumers. We are open to experimentation and we have been releasing 3 years ago a wine which is a blend of Barbera and Shiraz. And we have to say that this French Italian marriage seems to be quite effective! Olivier Bourseau: How is the Italian wine market currently and are Prunotto wines mostly exported or drunk in Italy? Emanuele Baldi: I would say that Prunotto thanks to the Antinori Distribution is very widely available in the best restaurants and in the best wine shops in the world. We do have a thorough distribution in the world but Italy is still the largest share of our business with 55% of our sales done in Italy and 45% being exported. Olivier Bourseau: Emanuele, thank you very much!