 Do you like to support the little guy in the wine world? The small producers? Then maybe you should be back in cooperative wineries. We're going to talk all about it in this video. Oh, welcome back to Exotic Wine Travel, the show that helps you drink adventurously so you can expand your palate and expand your mind. I am your host, Matthew Horkey. We're all about expanding minds today, and I hope I can get people to refocus and revisit cooperative wineries. So what is a cooperative winery? A cooperative winery is made up of a group of wine growers that maybe don't have the capital or the knowledge or the expertise to make, sell, and market their own wines. So what do they do? They band together, strengthen numbers. Under one brand, everybody puts resources in and therefore you can make wine, bottle wine, and sell wine. You know, they became really popular after World War II, especially in the traditional wine making countries, you know, where farmers were basically poor, they couldn't afford to make or bottle their own wine, but they have vineyards that were passed down throughout the ages. So what do they want to do? They wanted to make wine still. It's a concept that really hits home for me because actually my father is a farmer. I remember when I was a little kid getting so excited as we'd pull in with our truck and the dump truck would tip and all the grain would rush out and I would just sit there and look at it. You might even be drinking a lot of cooperative wine and not even know it. You know, in Italy and France, more than 50% of the wine produces actually from cooperatives. In Spain, that number is even higher, although a lot of it gets sold out in bulk wine. And in Portugal, I think it's around 40%. The good cooperatives are branding different lineups of wines. So a lot of times they look like a small producer. They look like just a normal wine brand. There are some criticisms of co-ops, you know, some people complain that the co-ops don't pay their growers back. You know, those cooperatives usually go out of business, but well-run cooperatives can produce some just fantastic wines. Like we're going to taste today everything from table wines to really, really high-class wines. A couple of my favorite wineries in Italy, Pretorio del Barbaresco producing amazing Barbaresco. We have Cantina Tarlan up in Alto Ajde producing incredible white wines and then Santadian Sardinia also doing really good work. So I've got a lineup here today. We are going to taste everything from Italy to Slovenia to Portugal. First up, I have the Vincchio Vaglio. This is the La Legenda Barbera di Asti 2019. This cooperative is located in Piedmont. I have been there before. They focus on Barbera, but they also produce small batches of Barbaresco, Barolo, some really good stuff. This is the type of wine I think that cooperatives do a great job of good ones. This Barbera di Asti retails around six euros in all of Italy. So that's one heck of a value. Now, not going to be expecting, you know, super blockbuster or 100-point type of wine, but if you're talking about delicious wine for a bistro, hey, I'm all about that, especially at that price. Good thing I have my trusty core of in here. I'm working on trying to get a discount code. I'll sort it out so you can get some. If it's done by the time this video is released, I'll put it in the description box. So I think Barbera, along with San Giovese, I talked about it in a recent episode, is one of the most food-friendly great varieties in the entire world. Same thing applies here. We're talking about sour cherry, cranberry-type notes, a little bit of mineral action. There's not wood on this wine, but it's a lot more complex than the six-year-old price tag might suggest. Nice little wine, fruity, juicy. It's something I definitely want to drink during lunch, during bistro. You can even serve it chilled. This is the stuff where cooperative winters can really win. It's really hard to find unless you're going for industrial wine, cheap wine, that's this good. In addition to that, again, you're supporting small growers. Next up, I have a cooperative from Slovenia. I think it's one of the... I think it might be the oldest seller in Slovenia, in Gratis Keborda. This is Kletberda, or basically in Gratis Keborda. They make a bunch of different ranges of wines. Everything from cheap supermarkets, more premium wines. This was kind of a one-off. I was really excited about this wine. This is the Mutnik single vineyard Rebola. 2014. This is a barrel fermented Rebola, also known as Rebola Gialla. This cooperative is made up of 480 producers. So every little producer owns a little piece of the winery. Vigia Vagliocera, I think, I believe is around 180, if I'm correct. And that's why I went from red to white, because we went from a simple red. And we're going to move up to more complex wines. You know, Rebola or Rebola Gialla is known in Italy. It's considered to be an Italian grape. But there's actually more plantings right across the border in Slovenia, where it's become kind of a flagship grape. I actually just did an article on Slovenia and Rebola. I'll put it in the description box as well. Now, you give this wine to somebody in a blind tasting. I think it'd be hard for them to pick out this from a cooperative. They say it's a small producer. A lot of Rebola's in Slovenia are made with skin contact. This one may be having a little bit, but it's more of a classical white wine. More of a burgundy in terms of barrel fermented style. Really good barrel fermentation. Basically, you get some nice yogurty notes from the Lise contact. A lot, a lot of flint kind of crushed rocks. That's what you get, because there's fish soils there in Goriskeberda. White peach, like in a fresh white apricot. Full body, rich, tangy. Nice little piercing acidity. Really good job. You know, Slovenia, like a lot of the other countries that were part of ex-Yugoslavia, there's not a lot of cooperatives anymore. I think in the past, since everybody was forced to be part of a cooperative, now that the countries are free, they don't want to cooperate together and want to do their own thing. In terms of Clet Berda, a lot of Slovenia's famous producers actually got their start there. Them and their fathers or grandfathers, even their grandmothers, that's what's cool about cooperatives. It really brings communities together. Next up, we're going to go to Portugal to the Azores. This is the biggest seller on the Azores. This is the Pico wines. Terroir Volcanico Tarantes do Pico 2019. Tarantes do Pico, I think, is the same grape as Malvasia Fina. Barrow Fermented, these are volcanic wines. You know, I came across this winery several times at different volcanic summits around the world. I think the first time I came across it was John Sabo's Volcanic Summit in New York City. And then last year, there was a Go Volcanic Summit in Budapest, Hungary. This cooperative has 280 growers. This is from their premium line of wines, not cheap wines. These are wines that are going for 30, 40 euros in Portugal, so not so cheap. I'm excited to retaste this. I tasted this a few weeks ago. I'm excited to revisit it. Super, super serious juice here. Literally showing what cooperatives can do, not just kind of basic stuff, but also really serious stuff. Lots of flint, lemon, smoke, white pear, even white flour. Perfect wood integration. Think more of a smokier, maybe premier cruciabli. Lots of acidity, which is just hitting my palate perfectly. Long finish, citrusy acidity. Something if you're a Riesling fan, or like I said, you're a Chablis fan, or maybe even Chenin Blanc, you're really going to get into this type of wine, just because the acidity is beautiful, gorgeous stuff. I've been to a lot of cooperative sellers before. They really do bring the good ones that are well run, bring a lot of communities together. When you're buying from these sellers, you're really supporting the small guy, the small farmer. In essence, that's what wine is all about. Isn't it bringing people together to share laughter, food, and of course, good wine? So let me know. What do you think about cooperative wines? Do you have any favorites? Drop it in the comments below, and I will see you at the next episode. Hello, thanks for watching. Hey, you made it to the end. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Click the bell so you know when new videos are out. 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