Massa Vecchia

Massa Vecchia Profile

Quick Facts

Name of Estate	Massa Vecchia
Region	Tuscany
Country	Italy
Proprietor	Fabrizio Niccolaini
Size	3.6 hectares
Farming	Organic (Not Certified)
Soils	Shale clay and palombino clay; chalky marl and chalky marble in alternate strata
Grapes grown	Sangiovese, Merlot, Alicante, Malvasia Nera, Vermentino
Fun facts	Everything produced at Massa Vecchia counts as Kevin McKenna's desert island wine!

Everything produced at Massa Vecchia counts as Kevin McKenna's desert island wine!

Name of Estate	Massa Vecchia
Region	Tuscany
Country	Italy
Proprietor	Fabrizio Niccolaini
Size	3.6 hectares
Farming	Organic (Not Certified)
Soils	Shale clay and palombino clay; chalky marl and chalky marble in alternate strata
Grapes grown	Sangiovese, Merlot, Alicante, Malvasia Nera, Vermentino
Fun facts	Everything produced at Massa Vecchia counts as Kevin McKenna's desert island wine!

Get to know
Massa Vecchia

producer profile 10.07.2019

Massa Vecchia Producer Profile

The Massa Vecchia farm is located in the upper <glossary title="630">Maremma</glossary> in <glossary title="1055">Tuscany</glossary>, at the foot of the <glossary title="651">Metalliferous Hills</glossary>, in the town of <glossary title="635">Massa Marittima</glossary>. The farm was founded in 1985 by Fabrizio Niccolaini, who ran it with his wife Patrizia Bartolini until 2009. It was taken over by Patrizia's daughter Francesca Sfrondrini and her partners Daniel and Ines Wattenhofer, Thomas Frischknecht and Rocco Delli Colli until 2019. When Francesca and her husband decided to end their tenure at the farm, Fabrizio returned after a decade hiatus and is now joined by his sons Vasco and Tosca.   The farm consists of six <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary>: 3.6 of vineyards, 1.5 of olives and 0.8 of cereal grain. It produces around 15,000 bottles of wine each year and olive oil in small quantities. Working with nature has always been the philosophy at Massa Vecchia. The farm’s products respect nature and the the cycles it imposes, where human beings are guardians who follow the natural processes without manipulating them. In this way the wine produced here reflects the land which gave rise to it.  The vineyards are worked solely by hand, with <glossary title="442">fertilizers</glossary> from the farm, the only <glossary term="Contact Treatment" title="328">treatments</glossary> used being <glossary title="993">sulphur</glossary> and <glossary title="333">copper</glossary> and with the fewest <glossary title="545">interventions</glossary> possible on the land. No additional <glossary title="279">chemicals</glossary> are used in the winery, and no <glossary title="993">sulfur</glossary> is ever added during <glossary title="1104">vinification</glossary> or at <glossary title="185">bottling</glossary>. The rarity of these wines cannot be understated. We only get a handful of bottles a year.

producer visit 07.08.2019

This visit to Massa Vecchia took place in November, 2011

This visit at Massa Vecchia took place in November, 2011. Words by Jules Dressner, photos by Alex Finberg. There is no highway to get to Massa Vecchia, and since the <glossary title="427">estate</glossary> is high in the mountains, one must navigate the most twistiest and turniest of routes. Because we were late, Alex and Kevin were driving like mad men, taking those turns like Formula 1 racers. Mind you that I hadn't eaten breakfast because, although it is apparently customary to eat insanely large dinners at <a href="http://louisdressner.com/producers/Poderi/" target="_blank">Sanguineto</a>, apparently breakfast is out of the question. When I woke up, nothing was set on the table and all Dora offered me was coffee.  The combination of an empty stomach, having just tasted a large amount of <glossary title="1010">tannic</glossary>, <glossary title="71">acidic</glossary> red wines, twisty roads and Kevin's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schumacher">Michael Schumacher</a> impersonation was too much. For the first time in my life, I got violently car sick. Luckily, Alex noticed something was wrong when I stuck my head out of the window and promptly pulled over. I rushed out in the nick of time and luckily, things didn't get messy. Our Massa Veccia visit was to be a quick one and we were late. Kevin looked around and made some phone calls but Francesca was nowhere to be found. I took advantage of this to eat some white chocolate with macadamia nuts, the only thing I could find in the car.  Alas it was looking like we'd missed our chance and the most we were going to get out of the visit was my nausea and this picture Alex took of a donkey.  <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//fa/ce/face565e11e9d3ab970f26b3be3a449b.jpg" /> Kevin wrote a note on the two pack of wines Dora had given us for Francesca, and we hopped back into the car. Alex turned on the engine and was about to pull out when we heard a van driving up the road. It was none other than Francesca Sfrondrini! <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//d3/cb/d3cb028b5c259f711ea3a40d347ed4bd.jpg" /> After letting us into the <glossary title="254">cellar</glossary>, Francesca gave us the lowdown on 2011. It was a difficult <glossary title="1109">vintage</glossary>, and she joked that right around <glossary title="521">harvest</glossary> they were worried that they would be stuck with "1000 kilos of <glossary title="765">Passito</glossary>!". They started <glossary title="521">harvesting</glossary> in late August; in the end a few days of rain, along with some much needed cool nights, saved the day. We spent the bulk of the visit in the <glossary title="254">cellar</glossary>. If necessary, a small <glossary title="792">pied de cuve</glossary> is made in this <glossary title="325">concrete</glossary> <glossary title="1140">tank</glossary>. <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//10/d8/10d85ce9b744d6cb6059750b97b5bad5.jpg" /> Everything is then <glossary title="441">fermented</glossary> in <glossary title="1218">open vats</glossary> made of <glossary title="1206">chestnut</glossary>, with the exception of the <glossary title="871">Rosato</glossary> which <glossary title="441">ferments</glossary> in <glossary title="986">stainless steel</glossary>.  <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//b8/40/b840b754cb7248bd2f2ed34b4b59fac2.jpg" /> Francesca explained that they prefer working with big, <glossary title="716">neutral</glossary> <glossary title="142">barrels</glossary>. <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//ce/5e/ce5ef6c52f00c128eda311a57ec0a1ae.jpg" /> The "Querciola", made from 72 year old vines planted by Francesca's great-grandfather, is <glossary title="74">aged</glossary> in the old, larger Rinaldi <glossary title="142">barrel</glossary> you can see to my left. <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//5e/83/5e83c95d058d9150b79ff895eec6cd3e.jpg" /> Francesca also has some small cherry and <glossary title="1206">chestnut</glossary> <glossary title="142">barrels</glossary> reserved for making their <glossary title="911">Sangiovese</glossary> <glossary title="1098">Vin Santo</glossary>. <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//3d/fe/3dfefe75060104534dd8f7c96feb7c22.jpg" /> Side Note: Francesca has the coolest pony tail I've ever seen.  As of this year, a new law has passed and the wine has to be <glossary title="827">pressed</glossary> before Christmas to be given the <glossary title="1098">Vin Santo</glossary> title. Francesca explained, however, that traditionally one does not <glossary title="827">press</glossary> until late January, which is what she did. When Kevin asked why this law was passed the answer was simple: "It benefits big companies who mass produce <glossary title="765">Passito</glossary>." In such, they will be obliged to label the wine as <glossary title="765">Passito</glossary>, which is technically false because unlike other straw wine, <glossary title="1098">Vin Santo</glossary> is made by hanging hand picked grapes to dry from rafters, as opposed to laying them out to dry. Another distinction is that they are then <glossary title="441">fermented</glossary> and <glossary title="74">aged</glossary> in small cherry, <glossary title="1206">chestnut</glossary> or pear tree <glossary title="142">barrels</glossary> and <glossary title="74">aged</glossary> for much longer than the average <glossary title="765">Passito</glossary> (up to ten years). Whenever she ends up <glossary title="185">bottling</glossary> it, Francesca plans to explain on the <glossary title="133">back label</glossary> that the wine was made traditionally but that the law forces them to label it incorrectly.  The visit was ending when I noticed a box that said: "Etichette McKenna." Kevin wants you to know that, as official Verifier of Winery Import Label Management (V.W.I.L.M), everything at Massa Vecchia is in order. <img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_07//58/0f/580f0782117cd3f96273e488e4958975.jpg" />

harvest report 11.11.2014

2014 Harvest Report from Massa Vecchia

This was the year of a lot of rain and very little sun. No summer really, late <glossary term="Mildew" title="1137">mildew</glossary> and very slow ripening. The <glossary term="Mildew" title="1137">mildew</glossary> was under control, thanks in part to the assistance of a <glossary term="Nettle" title="715">nettle</glossary>/horsetail (equisetum) <glossary term="Decoction" title="384">decoction</glossary> in conjunction with the normal <glossary term="Bouillie Bordelaise" title="179">bordeaux mix</glossary>. We only had to do one more <glossary term="Contact Treatment" title="328">treatment</glossary> than usual. The more important problem was the cool temperatures and heavy rain that hit us in gusts from July onwards. There were also two <glossary term="Hail" title="1136">hailstorms</glossary> early in the summer. The <glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary> started pretty late by our standards: the second week of September to finish on 20th of October. The more coastal varieties like <glossary term="Aleatico" title="88">Aleatico</glossary> and <glossary term="Malvasia Nera" title="624">Malvasia Nera</glossary> did not finish so well and this year there is no <glossary term="Passito" title="765">passito</glossary> of <glossary term="Aleatico" title="88">Aleatico</glossary> -- already in July the grapes were splitting from too much water. Both will go with a bit of <glossary term="Merlot" title="650">Merlot</glossary> into the <glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">Rosato</glossary>. The grapes of medium <glossary term="Maturation" title="639">maturation</glossary> like <glossary term="Merlot" title="650">Merlot</glossary>, <glossary term="Sangiovese" title="911">Sangiovese</glossary>, <glossary term="Malvasia di Candia" title="1297">Malvasia di Candia</glossary> were the best grapes for us this <glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintage</glossary>, and the <glossary term="Cabernet Sauvignon" title="217">Cabernet</glossary> has skins so tough a cannon wouldn't scratch them. We harvested the <glossary term="Alicante" title="90">Alicante</glossary> very late because it took so long to ripen. For the white, it's a "saga" year. The late varieties like <glossary term="Vermentino" title="1081">Vermentino</glossary> were not ripening well, so we <glossary term="Effeuillage" title="416">removed leaves</glossary> to give more sun and then <glossary term="Hand Harvesting" title="520">harvested</glossary> in three triages, taking advantage of the fine, dry weather of the first week of October. There was a big difference in the fruit of the <glossary term="Pass" title="1144">passes</glossary> because meanwhile some <glossary term="Grey Rot" title="182">rot</glossary> set in on a part of the grapes. We dried some of the <glossary term="Malvasia" title="623">Malvasia Bianca</glossary> and then we put in together with the rest of the must to reach a satisfactory degree of alcohol... Ultimately a really nice wine, but a strange way of getting there for sure! It took lots of patience and imagination this year... Only a strict selection on the vine allowed us to have good wines in the <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary>. Still, we lost about half of the crop... That's our adventure in 2014!