Marco Malvaldi: “wine is one of the most beautiful ideas in our life because it is always different”

In “Prova d’orchestra” - “Orchestra Rehearsal”, Federico Fellini makes the German orchestra leader say that when “everyone listens to Beethoven, everyone becomes a knight charging into battle against an enemy”. Similarly, “when you open a bottle of wine, you’re the noble savoring the fruit of his estate. Whether you’re truly noble or not, and whether you made that bottle or someone else did, doesn’t matter. But in the latter case, the effect is less dramatic and more relatable because it’s what we all do, in one way or another. If you think about it, if we had to produce everything we use in a day ourselves, we’d probably leave the house wrapped in a bedsheet, hopefully not woven by us, and face countless problems. Our lives constantly rely on things made by others, and on ideas conceived by others, which we then build upon. Among these, wine is one of the most beautiful, because it’s always different. Here, we have a Tassinaia 2019, which can only be made from that specific plot of land in that specific year. You have no idea, just a vague one, of how it will turn out, and you can’t be sure. In an age of extreme planning, seeing people with such passion, who bet and invest so much in something that a single day of bad weather can ruin, restores your faith in humanity”. These are the words by Marco Malvaldi, among Italy’s most beloved authors, known for many bestsellers including the famous novels that inspired the hit Tv series “I delitti del BarLume” - “The BarLume Murders”, set on Elba Island, and “La Regina dei Sentieri” - “The Queen of the Trails” (Sellerio Publishing House), his latest crime novel co-written with Samantha Bruzzone. It’s set in Tuscany’s Maremma region, one of Italy’s most renowned wine territories, home to Castello del Terriccio, one of the largest agricultural estates in Tuscany and Italy, headed by Vittorio Piozzo di Rosignano. Together, they recently discussed wine and literature, in last days, Cortina d’Ampezzo at “Una Montagna di Libri” - “A Mountain of Books” (moderated by journalist and writer Francesco Chiamulera, who also founded the literary series from Cortina d’Ampezzo).
“Wine is one of our passions which, put like that, doesn’t sound great at first, but it’s one of the things we most naturally associate with conviviality, which is, in fact, the context where it expresses itself best - underlined Marco Malvaldi - to put it as clearly as possible, let’s go back to when, in my mind, human civilization began, around 500 before Christ, when some gentlemen in a place called Greece started asking deep, strange, and unusual questions which can be divided into two major lines of thoughts: on the one hand, Sparta; on the other hand, Athens. The Spartans were fitness fanatics who ate only olive pits, animal fat, and black broth, and they didn’t drink socially but consumed their wine alone, never appearing drunk, and mocked those who were; the Athenians, on the other hand, held symposia, gatherings where people drank, discussed beautiful and interesting things, and always walked home on their own two feet, because that was part of the rules. Now - said Malvaldi - if you look at the contributions to human civilization from Sparta and Athens, I’m not saying wine was the main reason, but you might suspect that this “social lubricant” played a big role. The fact is, in company, when we lower our defenses just enough, we’re better able to think and express ideas that we might otherwise keep to ourselves if we were guarded and completely sober. Even just sharing a bottle of wine is a sign of trust because if I drink with you, I’m saying I trust you, and we can talk freely. If you happen to be particularly evil, you might do like some ancient Romans and poison me with a slice of bread cut with a knife that’s only sharpened on one side, and then I’d die”.
“When I met Marco Malvaldi a year ago at Castello del Terriccio - explained Vittorio Piozzo di Rosignano, who heads the family estate - we toured the property and cooked together. He told us he was writing a book set in Tuscany, in the world of wine. Castello del Terriccio is located at the northern edge of the Tuscan Maremma, on hills facing the sea: it’s a 1,500-hectare estate, of which only 60 are vineyards. We also have 700 hectares of forest, from which we produce wood; 200 hectares of pastureland for two herds of free-range Limousin cattle; and we make olive oil in our own mill. We also grow grains and bake bread with our own flour, all of which become ingredients for our restaurant, Terraforte, with chef Cristiano Tomei. It’s a very old company - he added - built between the late 1200s and early 1300s at the behest of Pope Boniface VIII for his Gaetani family. It came to us through various successions in the early 20th century, and we’ve carried on its legacy ever since. The name comes from the castle at the top of the property, where locals once took refuge from Saracen pirate raids. A curiosity? Our symbol, a sun that looks very modern, is actually ancient. It was found during excavations for the vineyard of our flagship wine (Lupicaia, ed). A stone fragment was unearthed and later identified by the Archaeological Museum of Volterra as an Etruscan sun. My uncle - Gian Annibale Rossi di Medelana - chose it as the symbol of our winery because it was such a beautiful discovery”. And, this is the backdrop of the novel by Marco Malvaldi and Samantha Bruzzone, partners in life and work, which features Corinna Stelea, a Police Superintendent, and her friend Serena Martini, a chemist, mother, and expert sommelier, collaborating to a “cold case” that resurfaces in the Tuscan Maremma, a region rich in tradition and modern agri-tourism. It happens that a vintage Ape car - coupé because the victim had made him take off his top, like a true dandy - resurfaces from a dried-up pond at the Tegolaia Winery, a massive estate near Bolgheri now owned by a Dutch multinational. It’s the same three-wheeler van once driven through the vineyards by the colorful Marquis Crisante Olivieri Frangipane, who owned a much smaller estate but produced wines of exceptional quality. The discovery of the Ape, years after the nobleman’s disappearance, confirms his likely death. But what kind of death? Corinna, called in to investigate about the case, and Serena, reluctantly involved, have no doubts, especially since Frangipane’s character and habits were very far from that environment of corporate winemaking. Therefore, the investigation focuses on the conflict between marketing and tradition; and, it will be wine, properly used and shared in good company, which ultimately leads to the truth.
A story in which inspirations from the world of wine are many, so much so that, alongside Piozzo di Rosignano, the authors thank Albiera Antinori, president of Marchesi Antinori, “for providing constant inspiration through the products of their wineries”, a benchmark of Tuscan wine. They also acknowledge Ivo Basile, longtime communications director of the Sicilian label Tasca d’Almerita, and Gianluca Putzolu, commercial director of Le Macchiole, a company which shaped the history of Bolgheri, for letting them “taste many fundamental concepts of the world we’re writing about”, among others. For example, Malvaldi still explained: “it’s a classic experience for winegrowers, and something you learn firsthand when visiting large estates, that if you arrive in your car and try to explore a property as vast as Terriccio, your car becomes a comfortable four-wheeled ornament, completely useless unless you want to get lost and spend the night in the woods. In that case, it’s the perfect vehicle. That’s why people move around in real jeeps, or in an Ape, that symbol of Italy’s economic miracle, that little 50cc machine that fears nothing and no one. I felt reassured the first time I arrived at Terriccio and was overtaken by a couple of Apes speeding by, tires screeching. I thought, okay, at least it’s something they actually use here”. And, basically, “we have a worker who drives around the estate in an Ape, which has such a distinctive sound you can hear it coming from very far away”, recalled Piozzo di Rosignano. For him, the book offers “an image of the wine world created by people who truly understand wine, a pleasant novel that can also bring readers closer to this beautiful world, to the joy of being together and sharing a good bottle. It’s an analysis that contrasts the old, established wine world with the new one producing quality wine in innovative ways, but lacking tradition, history, and a culture beyond profit-making”. According to Marquis Crisante, wine was a product of family tradition, humanistic rather than capitalistic. Of course, both aspects are necessary. “With Crisante, we had fun - explains Samantha Bruzzone - we gave him a few quirks and habits we heard about locally. I lived in a rather ugly village, but it was near Bolgheri, which was the upside, and, so legends about local nobles would surface soemtimes. We exaggerated those stories and gave them to Crisante”. Who represents, “to me, as a Genoese - said Bruzzone - also the “damnation of the Tuscan”, i.e., someone, who, just to show how clever his/her brain is, won’t stop at politeness or the risk of offending others. That’s why Tuscans, especially those from Livorno, can come off as annoying to the rest of Italy”. “I love that, especially the Livorno part, I totally agree with it, because coming from a Genoese, it recalls ancient rivalries - still joked Mavaldi - Italy is built on this, we’re not a country, we’re 20 regions, each with cities that dislike one another. In Tuscany, all the provincial capitals are against each other, and all against Florence”.
Both authors are chemists, and in the book they manage to make even dendrochronology accessible to readers. In winemaking, this refers to using tree growth rings to date the wood used in its production or conservation in barrels and cellar beams, offering insights into the wine’s history and production. “Crime novel reader - explains Malvaldi - is curious by nature, we’re all children of “Csi”, and these things interest. We’re two theoretical chemists who, as my father used to say, talk math with chemists, chemistry with mathematicians, and football with each other”. Then, there are the stories wine tells, like in the tasting room of Marquis Crisante Olivieri Frangipane’s winery, where a family crest reads “winemakers since 1240” above a large display of ancient books opened to maps, plots, production specifications, and other aspects of ampelography - the science of grapevine classification. A video manifesto plays, narrating how the history of wine is the history of Europe. “That’s exactly how - adds Piozzo - wine has accompanied humanity since the dawn of time and evolves with us, like a true life companion. It’s a human creation, it doesn’t exist in nature, even though we talk a lot about natural wines. The beauty lies in opening a bottle and realizing that every vintage is different”.
In the novel, wine is described as “a very complex object”, and with the statement “a fertile ground for those who love talking about things they don’t understand”. Malvaldi explains “if you tried to describe wine purely from a chemical perspective, you’d go mad because the sheer number of molecules in a bottle makes it impossible. And even more so if you try to predict how it will evolve, because there are too many variables. Sometimes you hear wine described with strange terms by mentioning bell pepper or cat pee as aromas, and it’s plausible, because the molecules that produce those aromas can be present. That’s a fact. But when someone tells me a wine is sumptuous, regal, and seductive you’d rather tell me how they actually taste. Because it depends on who you are, how much you know, what food you’re pairing it with, and your mood. Even Mario Soldati, in his wonderful book “Vino al Vino”, says that drinking wine where it’s made and taking the bottle home to drink it are two completely different experiences. In short, a bottle of wine cannot be separated from the context in which it’s enjoyed”.
Places like that part of the Tuscan Maremma where the novel is set, an area that seems a bit Californian, with the beauty of the Bolgheri vineyards, birthplace of the Supertuscans and more, are well known to the authors:: “I was born there and lived there until I was 18 - narrates Bruzzone - before moving to Pisa, where I met Marco and dragged him back to discover the Upper Maremma, the Etruscan Coast, which, until the early 1990s, it was a depressed, mostly agricultural area, with the only exception being Piombino, where there was the steel mill. But when the steel industry went into crisis, the locals had to find something else to do. And at that point, they probably realized they were living in a treasure. They were helped, quite simply, by the construction of a highway, the Variante Aurelia, that runs from Rosignano, where the motorway ends, to Grosseto. “I remember the “Valentini” arriving at the beach, looking like they were heading to California. And near Cecina, there’s actually a place called California. That’s how tourism started and got a strong boost, perhaps even too strong in recent years. As we say in the book, anyone who had a farmhouse, even a small house, or maybe even a stable, thought it wisely to renovate and list it on Airbnb. In this whole game, which seems grassroots, the wine world played a major role”. Because in those very years, Malvaldi recalls, “Sassicaia 1985 was rated by Robert Parker as the best wine in the world, scoring 100/100 (“the wine I liked most in my entire 37-year career”, as the global wine critic and founder of Wine Advocate, he once told WineNews, ed), after having conquered the first place in “Wine Spectator”’s “Top 100”, and the Supertuscan phenomenon arose”. It’s worth noting that when Sassicaia was named the world’s best wine, it didn’t even have a denomination, it was a table wine, something arisen from the ground up, thanks to Marchesi Incisa della Rocchetta. Before that, people would go to Bolgheri to buy wine in demijohns. Then, in 1971, Sassicaia was released (with 1968 vintage, ed), and people slowly realized that this territory had an incredible advantage, that each hill is different, each slope unique, with the sea in front reflecting sunlight, yet you’re still in the hills”. At Terriccio, under Gian Annibale Rossi di Medelana, “we used to produce corn, wheat, and also wine, though very different from what we make today”, recalls Piozzo. But, the terroir remains the same, as described by Bruzzone. “I always say that making wine is a bit like creating a mosaic. You have many little tiles, and if you place them all correctly, you can create something beautiful, potentially even a work of art. But if you scatter them randomly, you end up with what we call in Tuscany a troiaio”. That is, to put it in “Malvaldi style”, while sipping an excellent Tassinaia by Castello del Terriccio.