We of Città Meridiane like Iene we bring luck! Seriously, the case wanted that we were visiting Maso Martis company, welcomed by Alessandra, Roberta and Tobia, the four-legged house mascot, on the same day that the winery was selected among the 103 best Italian from Wine Spectator, who will be protagonists at the Vinitaly première event on April 18, 2020 at the Palazzo della Gran Guardia in Verona.
At home of Madame Martis
In Trentino only 3 were chosen: Maso Martis, Tenuta San Leonardo and Cantine Ferrari. A great result considering that the selections of OperaWine cannot be nominated but it is Wine Spectator that decides in absolute autonomy! And a great pride for the Stelzer family, to become ambassadors of Made in Italy with Madame Martis Brut Reserve 2008, awarded by the prestigious magazine with 92 points.
We arrived in Martignano on a sunny and warm November day, after days of heavy rain. And this has allowed us to better admire the breathtaking view of the city of Trento which can be enjoyed from the Maso Martis site at the foot of Monte Calisio, also known as Argentario – as Alessandra explains, who welcomed us with a great smile – because a once it housed very important silver mines.
We began the visit with her that, at the foot of the vineyards that climb the slopes of the mountain, tells us how this is a suited area for the cultivation of the vine. So much so that from the end of the 1800s on these lands, caressed by the mountain breeze and exposed to the sun in an optimal way sheltered from mold and stagnation, extended vineyards.
And Antonio and Roberta Stelzer fell in love with the maso and the old vineyards that surround it and bought the estate and started the business. It was the early 1990s and a few years later Alessandra and Maddalena were born, who are now also involved in the Maso Martis team together with the oenologist Matteo Ferrari in the cellar and Andrea Cristelloni with Daniele Tomasi in the vineyard.
Right from the start the production on the 12 hectares of cultivated land is almost completely addressed to the classic method sparkling wine that represents the terroir of Trentino: out of 60,000 bottles produced each year, 45,000 are dedicated to TRENTODOC, the classic Trentino method that requires a lot of passion and a lot of labor in the vineyards Mountain. And if Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the basis of their classic method in the Brut, Millesimato and Riserva versions, a very special place not only on the estate but also in the heart of the Stelzer family is Moscato Rosa, an indigenous vine that is not easy to produce.
The visit continued in the cellar areas where we investigated the stages of production of these sublime mountain bubbles, from organic cultivation to hand harvesting, from the soft pressing of Chardonnay, Pinot Nero, Pino Bianco or Pino Meunier grapes to bottling with the addition of yeasts and sugars that give way to the second fermentation, up to the bottled one, which gives the typical elegant character to these bubbles. The Trentodoc specification provides for a minimum of 15 months on yeasts for a Brut, 24 months for a Vintage and 36 months for a Reserve.
Alessandra showed us the pupitres, the special wooden trestles, on which the bottles rest and are manually rotated every day so that the residual yeasts are all deposited in the neck. In order to speed up the times, the pallet machines are useful, those machines that carry out the mechanical remuage operation. At this point we asked ourselves: what happens to the residues deposited in the neck of the bottle? It is here that the phase of disgorgement occurs in which these residues are eliminated and the bottle is topped up. Then the bottle is ready to be capped, packaged and sold.
After the visit and the educational tour on the “birth” of these excellent bubbles, we went into the tasting room with glass walls in which the beauty of the mountain area in the background is the absolute protagonist.
At this point has reached us Roberta, we had met in Bari during the event “Trentodoc bubbles on the city” organized with the support of AIS Bari, with the aim of making known the classic Trentino method, and with which we had greeted each other with the promise of a visit to Maso Martis.
Promise kept with adjoining tasting which included the TrentoDoc Dosaggiozero Riserva Millesimato, obtained from 70% Pinot Nero and 30% Chardonnay grapes with a stay on the lees for 36 to 48 months, the Trentodoc Brut Riserva Millesimato, a more mature product, on yeasts for at least five years and the Trentodoc Brut Rosé Millesimato, a 100% full-bodied and velvety Pinot Noir.
Alessandra and Roberta wanted us to taste also their dry Chardonnay white and the passito wines: Sole d’autunno Chardonnay Passito, enveloping and with warm golden tones, and Moscato Rosa, a refined and exclusive meditation wine. We did not try the classic award-winning method that we named at the beginning, the Madame Martis Brut Riserva Trentodoc Millesimato, produced in only a thousand bottles from 70% Pinot Nero, 25% Chardonnay and 5% Pinot Meunier.
We brought it with us, as a precious and highly appreciated gift from Roberta, in its elegant wooden livery ready to be uncorked for the new year, hoping that this sparkling wine will also bring us a bit of that fortune that is living on the national and international limelight.
Maso Martis
Via dell’Albera, 52 – Martignano (TN)
Info: +39 0461 821057 – visit@masomartis.it
