Italian Wine, Azienda Agricola Maccari Graziano
The Wonderful Wine of the Region of Veneto
By
©Lucia Barbini Falcone
During my last visit in Italy, my brother-in-law, Bepi, drove his friend Paolo and I to the Azienda Agricola Maccari Graziano: the small agriculture company where he personally buys his delectable wines. As we drove, Bepi assured us that well experience once again la bella vita.
The Azienda Agricola Maccari Graziano, is situated in the heart of Visnà di Vazzola, a small village in the northeast part of Italy, 50 kilometers north of Venice.
A welcoming committee made up of the two Maccaris grown children, Graziano and Ferdinando, and their father and mother greets us with much enthusiasm.
Signor Ferdinando is the one who explains the history of their Azienda Agricola, the art of wine making, and answers all my questions.
Information flows from Signor Ferdinando like the wine his Brother Graziano transfers from the huge metal container into the flask.
Our wine is the best, says Signor Ferdinando as he points to his brother. We do not adulterate our wine. E genuino, Its pure.
Signor Ferdinando gives me and my friends a tour of his family farm and tells us its history. Great-grandfather Maccari started the vineyard in the late nineteenth century. In 1998 Maccaris grandchild, Signor Graziano, a shy man of forty with a family of six, took over the activity after his uncle retired. He then constructed a new cantina in the same place as the old one, purchased the newest equipment, and with much enthusiasm continued the family tradition of wine making.
La passione è nel sangue, The passion is in the blood, says Maccari Sr. with much pride. My Son Graziano has worked in our vineyard since he was this big. He places his right hand to his waist to show how tall Signor Graziano was when he started working in the family farm.
Maccari Sr. smiles benevolently, bids us an Ill see you later, with a wave of his hand and tells us that later hell show us the barn, his pride and joy.
Sr. Ferdinando, tells us that he joined the Graziano Maccari Azienda Agricola a few years ago to take care of the business facet of it.
The Maccari Azienda Agricola produces different types of wine, he says with pride: Prosecco, Chardonet, Merlot, Cabernet, and Raboso which is the typical wine from the Piave area.
The Raboso is our best. Yes, our best together with the Prosecco. To produce the wine they use only grapes from their territory. The most important factor about the wine is that it isnt artificially altered.
What are the elements necessary to produce a vino di alta qualità, a high quality wine? I ask turning to Signor Graziano. In breve, in short, Signor Graziano tells us, several elements contribute to the quality of the wine; primarily, the climate, the territory and of course its biological entity.
As far as the climate, there are several things to consider such as the temperature, the light, and the rain preceding the time of the vendemmia, harvest, all elements that influence the maturation of the grapes.
The territory determines the typicality of the wine which is the essence of the Viticultura Classica Europea. One of the most important aspects of the territory is the diversity of its components.
However, Signor Graziano explains that the star ingredient is the knowledge one brings into the art of wine making, the sensitivity to understand the correlation between the territory, the grape, and the process of fermentation.
For that, Signor Ferdinando interrupts, we have Graziano, who relates to wine as he relates to his children. Wine is his first child, he says with a smile.
Signor Ferdinando, as well, talks about how hed like to enter the International Market, and of the difficulties for a small Azienda Agricola to enter it, due to certain Italian laws which make it hard to compete with other wine producing countries.
After a tour of the farm with Maccari Sr., we are escorted to the office where Signora Maccari, a cheerful woman of sixty is holding a bucket full of eggs in one hand, and a dish of award winning sopressa, salami, in the other, which the Maccaris also sell. She bids us to sit down and enjoy the sopressa, a piece of fresh bread, and of course, a glass of their best Prosecco chilled to perfection.
Salute, Signori Maccari! Bepi, our friend Paolo and I raise our glasses with our compliments and best wishes. We shake hands with the whole Maccari family, and load the six cases of their best wine into the car. A smiling, satisfy Bepi hops in the front seat, eager to get home and to try the new Raboso del Piave Signor Ferdinando has suggested to him.
Lucia Barbibi Falcone: Falcon7072@aol.com
Azienda Agricola MACCARI GRAZIANO
Via Crosere, 7
31021 Visnà di Vazzola (TV) Italy
Tel. 00139 0438 443971
e-mail: tnf@libero.it