Many of you may have known the story behind the logo of the Qimisola. Itself is a tale we created between a rabbit (holding a bunch of grape) and a snake who was coiling around an empty glass lusting for wines. While the obvious reason for us to select these two animals for our logo is because Soren was born in the year of Rabbit (according to the Chinese zodiac signs), and Mikkel was born in the year of Snake, we wanted our logo to inspire some imagination… a tale about wine, a tale about relationship, a tale about transformation from grape to wine but also from alienation to friendship. And from very early on, we have decided to introduce our wines with each of them bearing a name of a tale. To best live the Danish root of Lars, what can be more suitable than the Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales? :-)
I Fratelli – the tale of “TWO BROTHERS”.
Last year we introduced our first Barbera d’Asti vintage from year 2015 bearing the name of “I fratelli” (the brothers). It’s inspired by HC Andersen’s tale of two brothers – The elder brother is bright and alert. He is a lover of the nature and lover of the truth. The younger brother was quieter and into the books. He is a believer of justice and hope one day the truth will triumph. They turned out to be two great men in Danish history: Hans Christian Ørsted, a famous Physicist and Chemist, and Anders Sandøe Ørsted, a lawyer and prime minister of Denmark in 1853. Both served mankind, both lived their lives seeking truth till the end. Just like the mighty Genius of the mankind said to them in Hans Christian Andersen's tale, to the elder brother Hans Christian Ørsted “What is near and what is far, while the mighty genius of thought lifts you on high?", and to the younger brother Anders Sandøe: “"Be strong in fame and strong in the battle of life! With truth in your heart fly toward the land of truth!"
We wish the I Fratelli wine to carry on the tale of the “Two Brothers”, just like we wish our boys Soren and Mikkel, to seek their truth in lives, however different they might become. And we wish the I Fratelli will speak the truth to your heart, no matter what your taste preference might be. :-)
il Babbo – “WHAT THE OLD MAN DOES IS ALWAYS RIGHT”
While our 2016 vintages are in the bottles, it’s also the time for us to choose the right fantasy name for our top quality Barbera di Asti Superiore. It’s a wine using our best grapes from 100 years old vines at the top location and aged in new French barriques for 18+ months. It has rich flavor with a great complexity and depth. When we stumbled on the Andersen’s fairy tale of “What the Old Man Does is Always Right”, we know it’s the right one. In Italian, it has a much shorter translated name called “il Babbo” (the father, or the “old man”).
The tale is about an old couple who had few possessions, and the old farmer set on the journey to either sell or trade their one and only horse for something else. The wife said to him “you’ll know what is the best”. Then off he went. Through the whole journey, he exchanged the horse for a cow, and exchanged the cow for a sheep, then the sheep for a goose, the goose for a hen, the hen then for a sack of rotten apples.. Last but not least, he put the apple as the price for a bet with an English man. After hearing the old farmer’s story, the Englishman bet that the old man's wife is going to beat him up knowing he had exchanged his horse eventually for a sack of rotten apple. And the old man bet that his wife will give him kisses instead of cuffs. He bet she would say: “‘whatever the old man does is right”. So the Englishman went with the old man to his house. His wife listened out his whole story of the exchange. And after every twist she just got happier. She is just like him, see all the beauties in what has happened. When she learned eventually the old man brought back the sack of rotten apples, she gave him a kiss because that turned out to be exactly what she needs at that moment to exchange with the neighbor for some chive for the omelet. The Englishman was touched by the couple who are “always downhill and always happy”, so he paid willingly the bunch of gold pieces as the price for the bet.
We love the story because it speaks about the wisdom, happiness and the trust in life, which cannot be measured by values of the possessions. And it always pays when the wife believes that her husband is the wisest man in the world and that whatever he does is right. :-)
Lars likes particularly the last sentence. And I (Qi) will have a long way to grow and practice my wisdom in this. While I am trying, hope one day you will try our “What the Old Man Does is Always Right” wine too. It must be right for you :-)
Learn more about the wines:
Learn more about the original fairy tales:
The original tale of the “Two Brothers”
The original tale of the “What the Old Man Does is Always Right”.
