Masi : Costasera 1997

Characteristics and tasting tips for Costasera 1997 by Masi

Tasting

Colour
This wine displays a particularly deep, opaque ruby red hue, highlighted by delicate brown tints at the rim.

Nose
The bouquet opens with intense aromas of cherries macerated in brandy, subtly accompanied by hints of carob.

Palate
The palate is both generous and velvety, revealing indulgent flavours of jam and cooked cherries. The wine retains lovely freshness and great precision on the finish, thanks to well-integrated tannins and balanced acidity.

Food and wine pairings
This cuvée pairs beautifully with roast or grilled red meats, as well as game dishes in sauce. It also enhances mature, full-flavoured cheeses such as Parmesan. Finally, it can be savoured on its own at the end of a meal as a wine for contemplation.

Serving and cellaring
To fully enjoy Costasera 1997, serve it at 20°C. With exceptional ageing potential, this vintage can be cellared and enjoyed until around 2032.

A great red wine from Veneto, a symbol of Masi's excellence

The estate
Located in Gargagnago di Valpolicella in Veneto, Masi Agricola is a world-renowned benchmark. Although the Boscaini family has been growing vines there since 1772, the modern company and the brand as we know it today took shape in the 1970s. The estate is still run by the founding family, with Sandro Boscaini as its chairman. Renowned for its unique expertise in grape drying, the house exports its wines to more than 140 countries while remaining strongly committed to sustainable viticulture.

The vineyard
The grapes for this Amarone della Valpolicella Classico come from the estate's finest hillsides, located in the municipalities of Marano, Negrar, Sant'Ambrogio and San Pietro in Cariano. Facing west and south-west, these plots benefit from long hours of late-afternoon sunshine and from light reflected off Lake Garda, in a mild climate. The vines thrive on crumbly red limestone soils enriched with marl dating back to the Cretaceous period.

The vintage
The 1997 vintage began with a particularly cold, dry winter, followed by a sudden warm spell that triggered early budburst in spring. Despite a hailstorm in July with limited consequences, August and September proved very dry. These weather conditions brought the harvest forward by more than a week, yielding perfectly healthy bunches with intense colour and superb sugar concentration.

Vinification and ageing
Costasera 1997 is crafted using the traditional appassimento method. Harvested between late September and early October, the finest bunches are laid on bamboo racks in dedicated drying lofts until 20 January. After losing nearly 40% of their weight, the concentrated berries undergo gentle pressing and partial destemming. Fermentation takes place naturally at low temperature in large Slavonian oak casks and is followed by malolactic fermentation. The wine is then aged for 24 months, mostly in Slavonian oak casks, with one fifth in small Allier and Slavonian oak barrels, before resting for at least four months in bottle.

Grape varieties
70% Corvina, 25% Rondinella, 5% Molinara