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“The original Super Venetian” celebrates its fiftieth birthday today |
Masi Agricola is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of one of its most popular wines, the Super Venetian Campofiorin. Harvesting for the first vintage of the wine from the Valipolicella region began on 30 September 1964.
Today the wine accounts for nearly 30% of Masi’s global revenue and is distributed in around 90 countries. The producer claims it is the world’s best-selling premium wine without “controlled origin of designation” (DOC) status.
The success of the original Campofiorin has led to the recent creation of a duty free exclusive variant Nectar Campofiorin, characterised by a higher percentage of Corvina grape variety – said to give wines from the region their smooth, cherry flavour.
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Left: Masi Agricola owner Sandro Boscaini. Right: Sampling the fruits of the first harvest | |
A family of other wines have been created around the Super Venetian including Masianco, Rosa dei Masi and Brolo Campofiorin Oro.
Campofiorin is made using Masi’s take on the Amarone wine production process known as appassimento – drying grapes (traditionally on straw mats) to concentrate the sugars and produce a sweet and balanced taste.
Masi Agricola owner Sandro Boscaini said: “My father Guido was the inventor of Campofiorin. He made it in response to the need for a wine that represented the special qualities of the Verona area, with its particular techniques and particular native grapes, intending it to be a wine rooted in history but made in a new way. This is how a wine that has become a classic in the Italian winemaking tradition became so successful.”
NOTE: The Moodie Report will run an extensive interview with Boscaini in the coming weeks, part of The Moodie Wine Project (see below).
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