If you thought family values were gone think again! What a surprise !
I was invited to go and taste the new Visciola production that my friend had set up and was expecting to be concentrating on the fantastic taste that she had achieved using the 400 year old recipe her father had found amongst old paperwork.
When I arrived I found Mr Cardinali, carefully looking into each of the big damisan bottles full of visciole, the particular type of cherry that the drink takes its name from. He patiently explained that it was with the juice that the cherries release that the drink is made.
My friend Giselle arrived and greeted me with the usual Italian affectionate hug and two kisses quickly followed by her two brothers Luca and Cristiano.
Although the younger members of the family run the business it was Giovanni, the father, that took me through the various stages of production, underlining how nothing was added to his Visciola though many commercial ones have flavours added to them.
He winked explaining he too had a secret ingredient, and found it great fun that I kept trying to get him to reveal it to me. Once the explanation and questions were over it was time for tasting. His face lit up when he saw my reaction after having sipped it from a small cup.
Visciola is difficult to describe, some say it is like port but I think it is very different, a good visciola leaves a good clean palate. It should not be too sweet, the taste should be definite and the effect should start as soon you take the first sip.
It has been described as a ‘vino di meditazione’ and it is just that ! A “mediation wineâ€?, if you drink it with your eyes closed you easily understand why. Obviously a few too many tend to transform meditation into extreme joy, as Giselle explained, and they all laughed telling me stories of long tasting session that lead to very funny consequences. It is indeed a wine of joy!
Visciola trees Prunus Cerasus, are typical of the Marche and the drink itself has been mentioned in ancient texts, so it has been appreciated over the years but due to the amount of time it takes to produce a bottle and the fact that the process is lengthy and requires great patience, it’s production is not extremely wide spread.
My first recollection of this drink was in a country house during a particularly cold winter! A wonderful but strong drink, a little glass of visciola has an innocent aspect but a few certainly knock you out and for some just one is enough! I remember a local producer who had a covered parking area with columns outside his house and they were all dented by people having left slightly jolly!
So a drink to have indoors, to offer friends and that makes people happy in fact I have not met anyone that remain sad after a glass of visciola!
In this case the passion and spirit of the family is transmitted in what they produce. When I asked how the company was run and how they made decisions they laughed and explained that the office they met in was their mother’s kitchen, where the whole family meet up for Sunday lunch with the whole extended family present: the three adult children Giselle, Luca, Cristiano and their respective spouses and children so 12 people and the mother and father for a grand total of 15! The lunches lead to ideas and decisions and though they can at times not agree they have great respect for each other and for their parents. Something that is rare to see even in family run businesses and the Marche is full of them, there is often one person who decides and the others obey and the old guard, the father, is often seen as a figure that is to be kept to one side once the business has been taken over by the children .
In this case it is quite the opposite, not once did the children try to put him to one side, they let him take his time to explain things, focusing on what he thought was important. In Giovanni’s case the main point he wanted to get across was the fact there was nothing added to the visciola , it was pure , no flavours aromas or other elements it was just visciola and wine and this I realized when I tasted it and this is even more evident in the after taste.
So not only is this family able to collaborate, but they actually have fun, they discuss laugh and are very close. Giovanni , the father has not yet mastered the use of mobile phones so tracking him down is often a problem, Amalia the mother who cooks fantastic meals and often takes care of the grandchildren seems to think that the child that gives her the most trouble is her husband Giovanni ! He is always at the cantina and even with the mobile that has been bought for him is always late for lunch! Giselle and her two brothers are very close and are able to support each other, their way of discussing and not arguing is the secret of their success and this comes through in the fantastic Cardinali Visciola. A truly joyful experience so it is well worth visiting their cantina for the pleasure of meeting them and the joy of tasting their visciola.
Le Cantine del Cardinale is in Serra de Conti. Their web address is www.cantinedelcardinale.it
Tasting sessions are often combined to dinners made with local specialities but advanced booking required.
The new product soon to be launched soon is Visciola Grappa!
