Azienda Agricola Masciarelli

Common questions

• Where is Masciarelli located? add remove
  Masciarelli Tenute Agricole is based in San Martino sulla Marrucina in inland Chieti, with vineyards in all four Abruzzo provinces: Chieti, Pescara, Teramo and L'Aquila. The home estate sits at around 380 metres, twenty kilometres from the Adriatic and twenty from the Majella mountains. Wine tourism runs from Castello di Semivicoli, the family's seventeenth-century palace at Casacanditella, twenty minutes north of the main winery.
• Who founded Masciarelli? add remove
  Gianni Masciarelli (1954-2008) founded the estate in 1981. He is one of the names most tied to the modern revival of Abruzzo wine. He began with a small plot of family vines in San Martino sulla Marrucina, planted with Trebbiano and Montepulciano by his grandfather. Since his death, his Croatian-born wife Marina Cvetic Masciarelli has run the estate. Their daughter Miriam is now active in the business too.
• Can you visit Masciarelli winery? add remove
  Yes. Visits happen at Castello di Semivicoli in Casacanditella, in the province of Chieti. The castle is the family's seventeenth-century baronial palace and Relais de Charme, so guests can stay the night as well. Three set tastings can be booked at the castle. Maiella offers 4 wines in 1 hour at 40 euros. Gran Sasso offers 4 wines in 1.5 hours at 50 euros. Premium offers 5 wines in 1.5 hours at 90 euros. All come with Marina Cvetic Bio extra-virgin olive oil, cured meats and a first course. Wine and Food packages with dinner and paired wines at the on-site La Tavola di Gianni restaurant start at 330 euros for two people.
• What is Masciarelli's signature wine? add remove
  Villa Gemma Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva DOC is the most-cited wine, a long-aged red that critics at Decanter, Wine Enthusiast and Gambero Rosso keep coming back to. The Marina Cvetic line, started in 1991 as Gianni Masciarelli's tribute to his wife, is the other flagship range. Many credit its Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Riserva DOC with changing what an aged white from Abruzzo can be. Castello di Semivicoli Abruzzo Pecorino DOC and Gianni Masciarelli Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo DOC round out the best-known labels.
• Is Masciarelli sustainable or organic? add remove
  The estate holds ISO 14001 certification for the way it manages its impact on nature, and the outside firm Bureau Veritas checks it. It was also the ninth Italian wine company to join EMAS, the European green audit scheme. The wines are not certified organic, although the Marina Cvetic extra-virgin olive oil is sold as Bio.
• How many wines and vineyards does Masciarelli own? add remove
  Masciarelli farms more than sixty vineyard parcels across all four Abruzzo provinces. Together they cover around two hundred and seventy hectares of vines, roughly 380 football pitches. The cellar produces twenty-two labels in seven lines: Linea Classica, Gianni Masciarelli, Villa Gemma, Marina Cvetic, Iskra, Castello di Semivicoli and La Botte di Gianni. The vineyards sit between two hundred and five hundred metres up. They grow on limestone, clay and sandy soils, between the Adriatic coast and the Majella mountains.