Storia
Origins in Valle d’Agno
MASARI was founded in 1998 by Massimo Dal Lago and Arianna Tessari. They combined their experience and shared passion to revive viticulture in Valle d’Agno, searching for old vineyards and local grape varieties and returning them to cultivation with particular attention to the land.
Arianna came from a historic winegrowing family in the Soave Classico area. Massimo was born in Valle d’Agno, trained at European universities and developed his career as a winemaker. After gaining professional experience, they began exploring Massimo’s native valley through wine.
Their objective from the outset was to make wines that expressed their place of origin. The project developed around two contrasting sides of Valle d’Agno: the volcanic Costa Nera and the calcareous Costa Bianca.
A family project
Winegrowing became a family way of life rather than solely a profession. Giovanni, Camilla and Matteo, the younger members of the family, are closely attached to Valle d’Agno and participate in the project.
Environmental commitments and recognition
By 2017, the estate’s wines were receiving top distinctions from several Italian wine guides. These were awards for individual wines rather than for the estate as a whole.
On 10 January 2019, a Veneto regional press release presented Massimo Dal Lago and Arianna Tessari’s work at MASARI as a project intended to lead to Europe’s first organic DOC wine. Veneto president Luca Zaia described the vineyard involved as an exemplary undertaking and offered the region’s technical support toward the project and the possible recognition of a biodistrict. The announcement described an initiative in development rather than a completed certification.
The 2021 edition of Slow Wine awarded MASARI the guide’s estate-level “Bottiglia,” recognising the consistently high average quality of the wines submitted for tasting.
MASARI Alla Casa Rossa
MASARI Alla Casa Rossa became the centre of wine production and hospitality. The estate occupies an elegant 18th-century farmhouse amid vineyards, olive groves, meadows and woodland in the hills of Valle d’Agno. It accommodates guided visits, tastings and overnight stays.
Terroir
Valle d’Agno
MASARI works in the high hills of Valle d’Agno in Veneto. The Piccole Dolomiti protect the area to the north. The pre-Alpine climate is generally cool and well ventilated, with pronounced day-to-night temperature differences during summer.
Vineyards lie within an intact, predominantly wooded landscape of meadows, olive groves and small cultivated areas. Vines and olive trees occupy terraces retained by dense dry-stone walls: black basalt walls distinguish the volcanic sector, while white-stone walls mark the calcareous side. Current vineyard descriptions place individual plantings between approximately 300 and 500 metres above sea level.
Costa Nera: volcanic right bank
Costa Nera is the volcanic slope on the orographic right side of Valle d’Agno. Its basalt and tuff derive from the ancient Monte Faldo volcano and the extensive complex of submarine volcanic activity that formed the largest volcanic area in the Triveneto. These dark, mineral-rich soils can accumulate water and solar heat. MASARI associates them with freshness, minerality and an assertive expression.
Costa Bianca: calcareous left bank
Costa Bianca occupies the valley’s left slope. Its stony soils consist of marine calcarenite and marl, contain abundant fossils and include a significant proportion of clay. Their Priabonian geological designation takes its name from Priabona, the small settlement at the centre of this zone. Outcropping rock creates demanding conditions for vines, while the clay contributes water-holding capacity. MASARI associates these soils with richness, structural depth and aromatic complexity.
Vinificazione
MASARI treats each vine individually and relies on manual work to give close attention to each fruit. Harvesting is performed by hand into crates.
The vineyards form part of a mixed agricultural ecosystem rather than an uninterrupted monoculture. Woodland, meadows, olive trees and cultivated plots coexist on the hillsides. At least 20% of the farm’s surface is to remain meadow or woodland, while no more than 80% may be devoted to any single specialised crop. This is intended to preserve habitat for native flora and fauna, predator and pollinator insects, and microorganisms living in symbiosis with the vines.
Synthetic fertilisers and herbicides are excluded because of their effects on soil microflora, groundwater and both beneficial and harmful insects. Insecticides are also excluded. Mechanical cultivation controls the grass cover and encourages roots to penetrate more deeply, with the goals of strengthening plant vitality and resistance and sharpening the expression of the soils. The vineyards are not irrigated.
The farming programme is framed as environmentally aware and sustainable, but no certifying body, certification status or conversion date is identified.
MASARI Alla Casa Rossa is the centre of wine production. Across the range, fruit is harvested manually into crates, with careful selection where drying or prolonged ageing is planned.
Spontaneous fermentation or fermentation with native yeasts is central to the cellar approach. White-wine production includes gentle or direct pressing, natural settling, fermentation and maturation on the fine lees. Depending on the cuvée, lees contact continues for about six months or until the following spring. Traditional-method sparkling production proceeds to a second fermentation in bottle and 42 months on the lees.
Red grapes may be partially destemmed and crushed. Fermentation takes place in wooden vats, small wooden containers or small oak barrels, generally with prolonged skin contact. One current protocol specifies a maceration of at least three weeks. Oak maturation ranges from about 10 or 12 months in small barrels to 24 months and, for the longest-aged selection, 60 months; bottle maturation may follow for six months to at least one year.
The cellar also works with dried grapes. Selected loose bunches dry in naturally ventilated rooms for approximately four months or until Easter. Subsequent approaches include traditional vinification and maturation in small oak barrels, or an exceptionally long skin fermentation of about five months followed by ten years in small barrels.
No general information is given about clarification, filtration, stabilisation, sulphur additions, malolactic fermentation, cellar temperature control or the proportion and origin of new oak.
Filosofia
MASARI defines its role as both interpreter and guardian of Valle d’Agno. Its stated aim is to understand the differences among individual plots and translate the land’s richness into wine rather than impose a uniform style.
The family regards winegrowing as a way of life. Human knowledge and experience are understood as the link between the environment and the soil, carrying responsibility for applying environmentally aware principles throughout production.
The approach places the vine within a complete ecosystem of woodland, meadow, olive trees, insects and native microorganisms. Biodiversity, intact soils, deep-rooted vines and limited intervention in the vineyard are intended to preserve the identity of each site. Patience, careful selection and close attention to detail are recurring principles, particularly when the character of a vintage determines whether the fruit is suitable for the longest-lived selections.