A chat with Evio and Angelo Cadorin, owners of the Le Favole winery.
Let's start from the beginning: how did Le Favole begin?
EVIO - I believe that Le Favole are, in some way, a necessary step in our family history. My grandfather had some land. I remember a vineyard and 5 cows and a hut on the plateau. Then, in the 60's my father repaired televisions in Sacile. He had abandoned agriculture because in those days maintaining a family was nearly impossible only with farm work. Later he went on to work for Enel, but he had never really abandoned his passion for the land. I remember he would spend Saturdays and Sundays working on that bit of land that he owned and often my brother Angelo and I would help him. It was hard going. The work we did was quite basic, but it was probably those hours, those days spent in contact with nature, which marked us. As if unconsciously during those innocent years we made ??a promise to that land.
So let's say that your vocation to the land runs deep, however, once school ended, the countryside was not your immediate future.
EVIO - True. Once school finished I followed in my father's footsteps. I devoted myself to electronics. To keep things simple. After a brief period as an employee I became self-employed. I fixed TVs, installed CB systems and a few VHF radios for business, ... basically I was always busy. There is one thing, however, that I feel is important to mention...
What?
EVIO - Since I was a child I always had a deep curiosity about how things worked. I think that I disassembled every object that came my way. And this curiosity, this need to profoundly understand things, was then important for my activity in Le Favole.
ANGELO - Of course, and while he was dismantling everything, I was working tirelessly in the fields…
Let's get on with our story.
EVIO - The turning point was roughly in 1988. In those years, examining the areas in which I worked, I realised that there were several situations in which, or as a result of potential hazards, or as a result of better coordination, the availability of a remote control would have been a successful innovation. I was already working in the radio transmission field, I had specific skills, so I began to study the problem. I don't want to go on for too long, except to say that, through trial and error, I resolved the problem. And with great satisfaction.
When did the time come for Le Favole?
ANGELO - Our company was doing well. Our business was continuously growing. Thus, my brother and I decided, at a certain point in time, to diversify investments, to share the risk and we thought the world of agriculture had the right features to satisfy our need.
You talk about agriculture and not the winery, or vineyard, why is that?
EVIO - We were actually looking for an agricultural business. Whether it was a vineyard, arable land, or corn, for us it was not relevant. Or at least at the time that was my belief. We only had the size clear in our mind, and hopefully close to home. Now I believe that these certainties were only a form of self-deception, because, deep down inside, it was the vineyard calling us.
In what way?
ANGELO - We travelled around the whole Friuli area, but every time there was something that was just not right. And then Evio saw a business in Muzzana del Turgnano. It would have been an interesting business deal, but we discarded it thinking that it was too far from Sacile where we had our business. A few weeks later he saw Le Favole (in Carlino, even further than Muzzana) but he was bewitched. He called me on the phone... enthusiastic. A vineyard was not at the centre of our thoughts, but when we came upon it, we knew that perhaps it was exactly what we were looking for. It was there and it was waiting for us. In one week we managed to do everything that we had not been able to do in more than a year. We had come full circle and closed the loop.
What plans do you have for Le Favole?
ANGELO - As already mentioned, Le Favole was an investment for us not a hobby. It is important that this point be highlighted. And just like any investment it is also backed by study and planning.
EVIO - We immediately asked ourselves what product we wanted to offer the market, the answer came by itself. We already had a deep-seated culture of quality in our company (our remote controls, for example, are TUV certified) and therefore the first step was to produce high quality wines. How did you achieve it? With which vine varieties? Which technologies? This was exactly the challenge. Identify our mix. To do this I started to "dismantle" the wine world, just as I used to do when I was younger. I studied, attended courses, spoke to consultants, because, once again, it was essential for me to understand.
What answers did you arrive at after all this study?
EVIO - Firstly we wanted genuine wines which, however, in some way, were representative of the area. Thus we left a lot of space for native varieties (I was thinking of the Friuliano, or Refosco, for example, or even Malvasia that is giving us great satisfaction). I immediately understood how important working in the fields had been. This is why we work with grassed vineyards, we don't ever try to push production by strains and we only harvest manually.
ANGELO - The technological part of the cellar is obviously well cared for and we have our own bottling line, allowing us to better manage this phase of production. It seems incredible, but also the correct time of bottling can significantly improve the quality of the final product.
Let's go back for a moment. Why Carlino?
EVIO - Apart from love at first sight, if I may say, producing wine in Carlino definitely makes sense in the context of our project. That area has ancient wine-making traditions, even if now partly forgotten, and, from an investment point of view, this on the one hand gave us a measure of the potential of the area and, on the other, a beneficial opportunity/cost ratio. More so, harvest after harvest, we are realising that learning from our mistakes, improving our management of the vineyard, absolute qualitative potential is emerging. In the planting of new plants we have, as much as we could, recovered old grafts of the Merlot, Friulano and Malvasia grape varieties. This choice also forms part of our quality path. In fact Malvasia first made clear that which was explicitly mature for us. The awards obtained, recognition in wine guides, enthusiastic comments from customers serve as a measurement, an indicator that are plans were correct. What I like even more is that when comparing this wine, we no longer hear talk of wine from the plains or wine from the hills. There is only malvasia, in absolute, and it excites. Its elegance, finesse, its presence, all excite...but I shouldn't be the one saying this. Even the merlot and friulano are following this road. As well as the sauvignon. It too.
Why Caneva?
ANGELO - I'll answer that. Caneva is home and it is near home. Like Carlino, it has an important oenological past, especially in the context of sparkling wines, and this one is still undervalued. Thus, in our plan, it has both strategic as well as emotional importance. We built the cellar here. An enchanting place. Partially built underground to minimise the environmental impact. Approximately seven hectares surround it, where we fittingly chose the most suitable variety with the aim of enhancing the local vocation that is sparkling wine. Prosecco, of course, but only at the top and then in the best part of the land we planted Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir in sequence: the project. The climate is cool in summer and not too cold in winter, significant temperature changes, exposure, red soil and karst rocks, everything seems tailor-made to produce a great sparkling wine.
Giallo di Roccia?
EVIO - In fact Giallo di Roccia. The new challenge. Exciting. I believe that I must have thought at least a thousand times that I had set a very high standard, but the more I reflected, the more I became convinced that it would have been a winning challenge. In effect to tackle, with such a young cellar, which furthermore comes from industry, as I was saying to tackle the undertaking of producing a sparkling wine, what is more, produced with the classical method might seem to many as risky, if not an outright act of arrogance. But really no. This is not the case. A great deal of study and humility is in this wine. A great deal of care. Obviously, there is always extreme attention to the market and its developments, in our business decisions, but in the product there is heart, in the product there is a great deal of heart.
Future plans?
ANGELO - The objectives are obviously complex. The promotion of the new wine, Giallo di Roccia, currently occupies most of the resources, but, thinking on a larger scale, our mission remains the same.
That is?
ANGELO - First and foremost constant focus on quality. I believe that quality is a kind of corporate mantra. I believe we possess the mentality, the structure and the ability to consistently pursue this objective, we are also examining in detail eco-sustainability aspects of wine. This is also not a secondary detail in our way of doing things. Lastly, there is the promotion of the territory.
EVIO - The wine tourist can give us a lot, I think, and vice versa. In this regard we have an agritourism that works in synergy with the cellar essentially to experience the culture of the territory: to offer a tasting of our wines and local specialities. A driving force.
Roberto Fresco