page 2
sandro boscaini
appointed “accademico
della vite e del vino”
scandinavian countries:
in defence of the
prestige of amarone
page 3
xxvi technical
seminar: a great
amarone needs time
pages 4/5/6/7
pages 8/9
riserva di costasera
2008, a delight with
neapolitan cuisine
masi recioto
“angelorum on the
rocks”
the joy of terroir:
mazzano in decanter
magazine
03/2014
news – april 2014
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vinitaly 2014
cantina privata boscaini, a unique collection
At Vinitaly 2014 Masi presented Cantina Privata Boscaini,
a unique collection of fine wines, top cru selections and historic vintages of Amarone, produced in limited quantities
and only in the best vintages. This extraordinary patrimony,
available for purchase only by the company’s greatest national and international admirers, is part of the DNA of the
Boscaini family, and of its values rooted in the winemaking
traditions of the region. “Today, real luxury is represented by
authentic products that are made of raw materials selected
with care, encapsulating the experience and know-how of
long tradition. Quality is part of their very make-up and
there is no need for it to be flaunted,” this is how Raffaele
Boscaini, seventh generation of the Boscaini family at Masi,
describes the spirit behind Cantina Privata Boscaini. This exclusive collection of wines has its origins in the traditions of
the Boscaini family, one of Italy’s most famous winemaking
families worldwide. It has always been their custom to put
bottles of Amarone from the best vintages aside for use in
the celebration of special events or to leave for future generations. This habit began in the nineteenth century when
Paolo Boscaini began keeping bottles back from the same
years as important family events: weddings and births of
children and grandchildren, for example. The tradition was
masinews
april 2014
taken a step further in the 1920s by Guido Boscaini, who
was convinced of the ageing potential of Amarone and its
extraordinary capacity for evolution in bottle until we arrive
today at Valpolicella’s biggest and best collection of historic
vintages. Kept In The Cantina Privata Boscaini: Osar: a
wine with surprising complexity and structure, owing its
originality to the use of the Oseleta grape, a fascinating grape
with extraordinary power, the jewel of our territory, and an
antique variety rediscovered by Masi. A unique and modern
tale on the winemaking history of the Venetian regions: a real achievement for the Masi winemaking team. Mazzano: au
austere and majestic cru, the prototype of Amarone, drawing its unique and unmistakable style from the eponymous
vineyard, with its ideal orientation and important altitude.
Campolongo di Torbe: Top quality cru Amarone, the faithful expression of one of the best terroir sites in Valpolicella
Classica. Intense and elegant, with fine balance. Mezzanella:
A cru Recioto wine that stands out for its complexity and
for its characteristic almond aftertaste. Considered a real rarity. Collezione grandi annate: the Collezione Grandi Annate (Great Vintages Collection) is made up of the rarest and
most sublime vintages of our terroir sites, such as the historic
1964, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1995 and 1997
page 1/9
03/2014
news – april 2014
sandro boscaini appointed
“accademico della vite e del vino”
A prestigious new award for Masi
President, Sandro Boscaini: he has
been unanimously elected to the Accademia Italiana della Vite e del Vino
(Italian Academy of Vines and Wine),
the historic association that includes all
the top researchers, scientists, lecturers, businessmen and journalists of the
wine world.
“I am extremely honoured,” said San-
dro Boscaini, after his election at the
association headquarters in Florence’s
Accademia dei Georgofili. “After
decades of commitment and work on
behalf of our main wine and its cultural inheritance, this is an award that
encourages me and my company to
continue down the path of scientific research on the one hand, and of pairing
wine and culture on the other”
scandinavian countries: in defence
of the prestige of amarone
Masi was the first company to place Amarone onto the
Swedish monopoly market more than 25 years ago with
the introduction of Vaio Armaron Serego Alighieri, a wine
that is still listed today and has a great following among fans
of high class wines. In more recent years, Amarone has made
the Scandinavian markets a target for producers from our
area, thanks to its reputation for being an approachable and
serious wine. At the same time, this has led to a dumbingdown in quality from some less worthy brands with little
regard for the history and image of the product. In other
words, sadly, low-price Amarone with questionable quality
(commodity wine) has now invaded the shelves.
Sandro Boscaini, historian and writer, as well as noted
user of the Appassimento method, was invited to Oslo
and Stockholm by the staff on the monopolies and
leading wine journalists, to examine the subject. He
explains: “Appassimento is a method, which means it
can’t also be a wine name.” Inspired by the simplistic
equation, Amarone = Appassimento, the unique and
masinews
april 2014
historic Appassimento method has, incorrectly, become
used as a wine name. The term was first seen on bag-inbox packaging that contained “Vino da Tavola Italiano”,
marketed, sadly, by Amarone producers who profited from
the ambiguity. At the same time, “Appassimento” has been
used erroneously as a denomination in its own right for
wines from various Italian regions and countries of the New
World. The resulting confusion on Scandinavian markets
has been reinforced by a strong publicity campaign that has
now been allowed to go live in Sweden, to the detriment of
the final consumer.
Amarone is, without doubt, the best known of all wines
made with the grape Appassimento method. But its
character is not only the result of this method, it is also and
above all the true expression of a great terroir, Valpolicella
in this case, or rather, better still, Valpolicella Classica.
Despite being a “majestic” wine, Amarone displays great
drinkability and softness, both of which qualities make it
familiar to greater and lesser expert wine aficionados alike page 2/9
03/2014
news – april 2014
xxvi technical seminar: a great amarone needs time
Appassimento and patience. These are the two indispensable factors for making a great Amarone. This is what emerges
from the 26th Technical Seminar, presented, as tradition
demands, at Vinitaly by the Masi Technical Group, in collaboration with the University of Verona’s Department of
Biotechnologies and the Fondazione Edmund Mach of
Trento. Under scrutiny from the research team: the science
of Appassimento as a unique, characteristic and distinctive process used in the Valpolicella region to make its princely
wine, one of Italy’s finest reds, exported and lauded all over
the world: Amarone. Up for sensorial, aromatic and organoleptic comparison: wines made from slow-appassimento
Corvina grapes, as tradition demands, and wines made from
an accelerated, fast appassimento method instead. “Research
proves that time is a fundamental factor for quality in wines
made from Corvina” – says Giambattista Tornielli, the Verona University Professor who coordinated the research –
“time imbues a wine made with slow metabolic appassimento
with unique characteristics. In fact – Tornielli concludes – the
complexity of the aroma of an Amarone is inversely proportional to the speed of its appassimento and its fermentation.”
For Sandro Boscaini, president of Masi Agricola: “Respecting the long time scales required allows us to keep standards
of quality high and maintain the unique characteristics that
masinews
april 2014
are inherent in this wine intact. There is no such thing as a
great Amarone that has not had a slow appassimento, with
all the time necessary to make it unique.” Which was how
the man universally known as Mr Amarone put it. “The
dumbing down of the taste profile that comes with fast
appassimentos, which are unsuitable for Corvina anyway,
diminish the image and limit the potential for this gentle
giant on international markets.” Boscaini concluded, “Furthermore, the recent use of the wording Appassimento as
the name of a table wine on the market is an affront to
the authenticity of Amarone and its unique production
process.” The Masi Technical Group co-ordinator, Raffaele
Boscaini, pointed out that “The Technical Group has been
studying how to perfect the traditional process of appassimento for decades, in the search for a modern wine with
an ancient heart. Their expertise led Masi to introduce the
NASA system in the Nineties as an innovative and natural way of creating ‘assisted’ appassimento, created in collaboration with Prof. Attilio Scienza and the University of
Milan. Subsequent studies with the University of Verona
and the Experimental Institute of Bordeaux, together
with research into the genome structure of Corvina, have
given us scientific proof of the unique way grapes react to
appassimento and of the metabolism of noble rot”
page 3/9
03/2014
news – april 2014
riserva di costasera 2008,
a delight with neapolitan cuisine
Masi Amarone, the Marco Polo of wines, continues its
journey in search of the world’s gastronomic traditions. This
year it set sail for the island of Ischia, to pair up with the
traditional flavours of Campanian cuisine interpreted in a
surprising and exciting way by Michelin-starred chef Nino
di Costanzo from the “Il Mosaico” restaurant. This happy
link-up has been celebrated in the historic surroundings
of Villa Serego Alighieri, home to the descendants of the
Supreme Poet, Dante.
The Mediterranean flavours of Neapolitan cuisine (from
pizza to mozzarella, from fish to buffalo meat) have been
paired with Masi’s wines from the Valpolicella region in
an unusual and original way. The great Campanian chef ’s
main course – “Buffalo cheek with Amarone and honey,
served with scampi and milk-cooked potatoes” – is inspired
by the great wine list masterpiece: Amarone Classico
Riserva di Costasera, a rich and prestigious wine with a
unique personality. “I wanted to create a dish that would
be evocative of the landscape in Ischia: hilly countryside
masinews
april 2014
overflowing with vegetation or covered with vineyards and
lemon groves, and the sea, a land famous for its spa-like
mineral waters as well. So I picked buffalo cheek, a simple
and traditional ingredient to represent the land, and giant
scampi, the noblest sea creature to represent the sea. Their
flavours balance the spectrum of tastes that come from
Riserva di Costasera, with its baked fruit tastes, its soft
tannins, and its long, long finish.” This is how Nino di
Costanzo explains his choice of ingredients and the unusual
food-and-wine pairing.
Sandro Boscaini, president of Masi Agricola, expresses
his satisfaction with the experiment. “Like our Amarone,
chef Nino di Costanzo’s cuisine comes from the passion of
a family tradition – this is a common factor for both of us.
The food-and-wine pairing using our Riserva di Costasera is
quite extraordinary. Nino has got to the heart of this wine,
providing a dish that respects it and enhances it at the same
time, thanks to his long experience and his love for the
food, smells and flavours of a unique part of the world”
page 4/9
03/2014
news – april 2014
riserva di costasera 2008,
a delight with neapolitan cuisine
masinews
Luc Desroches with Esther de La Durantaye, Marie
Michelle Goulet, Karin Fuhrer and guest
Fumie Ohmi, Toshiko Takeda
Conte Pieralvise Serego Alighieri with Naomi Kubo,
Kazuo Naito and Francesca Brunelli
Massimilla di Serego Alighieri
Kaidi Kerdt, Margit Kirsipuu, Hilje Savolainen
Raffaele Boscaini and wife with Nino di Costanzo,
Salvatore, Vania Faccincani
Cristina Valenza and Elisa Venturini with Nereo Pederzolli
and Nicola Dante Basile
Raffaele Boscaini and Vania Faccincani with guests Fodale,
Zancano, Esposito Lina, D’Alessio, Onofrio and Muolo
april 2014
page 5/9
03/2014
news – april 2014
riserva di costasera 2008,
a delight with neapolitan cuisine
masinews
Enrico Franco and wife
Pier Giuseppe Torresani with Sebastian Bredal
and Marthe Bohn
Sandro Boscaini with Licia Granello and Nino di Costanzo
Alessandra Boscaini with Bruno Boscaini and wife
The Boscaini family with Nino di Costanzo,
Marco Sabellico and Licia Granello
Roberta Ruffo with Giulio and Alessio Brandi
Silvia Lui and Mabat Group
Pier Giuseppe Torresani with Luigi Fioretti, Alex Hunt,
Gustavo Lo Bianco, Gabriele Rosin
april 2014
page 6/9
03/2014
news – april 2014
riserva di costasera 2008,
a delight with neapolitan cuisine
Alessandra Boscaini, Paola Fasoli and Vittorio Soffia with
restaurateurs and friends of Venice
The Neapolitan pizza
Mario Boscaini and wife with Marco Sorio
Marco Zauli, Silvia Lui, Francesca Brunelli
with Kenneth Soh
BUFFALO CHEEK COOKED IN AMARONE AND HONEY
WITH SCAMPI AND MILK-COOKED POTATOES
paired with riserva di costasera amarone masi 2008
executive Chef Nino di Costanzo
Procedure
Ingredients for 4
1 kg buffalo cheeks, 300 g celery, carrots and onions,
500 g chicken wings, 2 lt Masi Amarone, 100 g honey,
100 g extra-virgin olive oil, 1 shallot, bay leaf, pepper,
200 g potatoes, 200 g buffalo milk, 4 giant scampi
masinews
april 2014
Make a stock out of the chicken wings, half the vegetables,
a bay leaf and pepper. Simmer for about 4 hours. Prepare
the Amarone sauce by cooking the shallot with the wine
and reducing to a third of its volume on a slow heat. Lastly,
add honey. Brown the buffalo cheeks in hot oil, add the
remaining vegetables, the Amarone reduction and, after a
few minutes, the chicken stock. Cook together for about
6 hours. Once the buffalo cheeks are done, remove from
the pan and reduce the remaining sauce. Peel the potatoes,
cook them in milk, mash them and fluff up with a trickle
of olive oil. Shell the prawns and fry them in a hot nonstick pan. Assemble the dish with the buffalo cheeks on a
base of mashed potato, dressed with the Amarone sauce
and decorated with the cooked scampi.
Restaurant Il Mosaico, Hotel Terme Mazi, Ischia, Napoli
page 7/9
03/2014
news – april 2014
masi recioto “angelorum on the rocks”
Two basil leaves, crushed ice, a cherry in syrup and 6cl
of Masi Recioto Angelorum served in a red wine glass
with a twist of orange peel as garnish.
Here’s a new Masi’s recipe to revitalise the Recioto
wine, a wine category that is all set to become an allyear-round classic, reversing the current negative trend
with consumers. This was the third appointment for
Masi Angelorum at Vinitaly, after the Recioto mojito
(2012) and the Recioto ice-cream (2013).
“This time we’re not talking about a cocktail,” says
Raffaele Boscaini, seventh generation of Masi Agricola’s
masinews
april 2014
owning family, “but an innovative, fresh and elegant way
of preparing and serving Recioto. In difficult economic
circumstances for both the on- and the off-trade, we are
relaunching the sweet wine category by widening the
potential client base and proposing an unusual new way
of consumption, rather than by creating a new product.”
This new way of serving Recioto is equally good for
the consumer and for the trade. Inspired by the slogan
“try this at home” anyone can prepare a Recioto on the
rocks, at any time of year, especially as an aperitif before
meals
page 8/9
03/2014
news – april 2014
the joy of terroir: mazzano in decanter magazine
The opening pages of the May edition of Decanter
are dedicated to
our
Mazzano
vineyard, presented as one of the
wine world’s most
important cru terroirs. This vineyard is the source of the eponymously-named cru wine
in the Cantina Privata Boscaini range, produced in the
heart of the Valpolicella Classica area in a vineyard famous
for its quality since the XII century. Here, Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes are grown at the significantly high altitude of between 350 - 410m asl, on terraces
shored up by traditional stone walls (marogne). The deep,
Masinews 03/2014. News April 2014.
In-house publication by Masi
Communications.
masinews
april 2014
friable,
brown
soil, stratified over
layers of marnous
limestone
and
basaltic lava from
the Eocene era, is
rich in humus and
has a good chemical / mineral composition. This is
what gives the cru its character, imbuing it with a unique
and unmistakable style. The same edition of Decanter has
a feature by Ian D’Agata dedicated to a wide variety of
Italian wines, in which he picks out Vaio Armaron Serego
Alighieri in the group of products from Amarone Families and recommends it as “an important Amarone… well
balanced and very drinkable”
Editorial:
Cristina Valenza, Angela Franceschini
Dora Stopazzolo
Masi Agricola S.p.A. Tel. +39-045-6832512
Fax. +39-045-6832535 e-mail: masi@masi.it
www.masi.it
page 9/9