Masi Agricola export manager Carina Kurttila recently gave a presentation on leading Amarone producer Masi, taking guests through six wines out of a portfolio of 35 labels.

The event was held at Attard & Co. Canter Business Centre in Marsa.

The current owner of Masi Agricola, Sandro Boscaini, is the sixth-generation owner of the high-quality vineyards in the Vaio dei Masi in the Venetian region, along with his brothers Bruno, an engineer responsible for facilities and logistics, and Mario, a shareholder who is not active in the company.

Sandro has also involved his two children in the business, Alessandra and Raffaele, who are commercial and marketing directors respectively.

The original Masi winery is based in Verona, in the Valpolicella Classico region, but it also produces wines in other Verona areas, including Soave and Bardolino.

What makes Masi stand out is its appassimento production method

Thanks to a collaboration with the Conti Serego Alighieri, a noble family that has lived in Verona since 1363 and descendants of the poet Dante Alighieri, Masi also produces a wine with grapes from Tuscany, with Vaio Armaron being its top wine from this region and which is capable of ageing for 30 or 40 years.

It also produces in the regions of Friuli and Trentino, where a similar collaboration with another noble family, the Conti Bossi Fedrigotti, enables Masi to handle the production and distribution of the wines from the vineyards spread over 40 hectares in Revereto.

“Their top wine is Fojaneghe, the first Bordeaux blend that even predates the Sassicaia in 1961,” Ms Kurttila said.

She explained that what makes Masi stand out is its appassimento production method, which Sandro has updated to the appaxximento, which turns the 21st-century technology into a winemaking tradition dating back to the Romans. Ms Kurttila said this involves storing the grapes on bamboo trays in lofts to allow them to concentrate colour and aroma.

This technology has also been introduced in Argentina, where an indigenous Verona grape, the Corvina, is also being grown alongside local varieties Malbec and Torrontés. The Boscaini family also has a research department and an experimental vineyard, from where 48 local varieties not grown commercially are being cultivated.

One grape that dates back to antiquity which Sandro has brought back into commercial production is the Oseleta, used in the Brolo Campofiorin that was tasted during the event, and is now growing 12 hectares of this vine.

The first of two wines tasted was the Passo Blanco from Argentina, a blend of 40 per cent Pinot Grigio that is semi-dried and 60 per cent Torrontés. This is a fresh, modern, New World wine with tastes of green apple and more complex aromas.

Next came the Masianco Pinot Grigio, blended with 25 per cent Verduzzo, a local Venetian var-iety and worthy brother to the red Campofiorin. Refosco grapes are used for a rosé, Rosa dei Masi, of which 15 per cent of the grapes are lightly dried.

Three red wines completed the tasting. The Brolo Campofiorin (2009) is made of 80 per cent Corvina, 10 per cent Rondinella and 10 per cent Oseleta grapes and, as a result of 24 months spent maturing in oak, it has great ageing potential. This wine has hints of dried fruit and aromas of dark cherries, red berries and blackberries.

Another red wine that can age for up to 40 years is the Riserva di Costasera Amarone, a blend of 70 per cent Corvina, 15 per cent Rondinella, 10 per cent Oseleta and five per cent Molinara. This has a long appassimento of 120 days.

Angelorum, a Recioto from the Valpolicella Classico region, is served in a half bottle (375 ml). Again a blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes, this is a dessert wine that goes well with dry cakes like Pandoro, Gorgonzola cheese, dark chocolate and peanuts.

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