A Woman Choosing The Wine Producer Path Instead Of Joining Her Family In The Professional World

In the beautiful hills of Valpolicella, a wine region right outside of the romantic city of Verona in Veneto, Italy, a farm witnesses all the important events of a family filled with professional doctors and lawyers such as weddings, anniversaries and childhood summers. It is a place where a young girl starts to form a big dream: becoming a wine producer with the indigenous wine grapes they already sell to other wine producers and hence forgoing the path of a professional like her parents.

Camilla Rossi Chauvenet did not want to follow in her parents’ footsteps as she had always felt like a gentler soul that was happy to have a tiny business to make enough just to survive who was not cut out for the over-competitive world of professionals. And although some of her fondest memories were at their family vineyard estate, in her mother’s family since 1883, she didn’t quite know initially how this place would be linked to her future way of life yet all she knew was that she wanted to be surrounded by the beauty and tranquility of this estate; an estate in the eastern part of the Valpolicella wine region which always had a feeling of generosity as family and friends went there to connect with each other away from the constant grind of life.

The idea of smelling perfumes and thinking about the various scents would fascinate Camilla as a teenager and so once she received her driver’s license she started going to a sommelier course and “fell in love” with wine. When she announced to her family that making wine would be her future they were perplexed at the notion of anyone becoming a wine producer as no one in the family drank wine.

Camilla saw that this passion would take her away from her family’s way of life of being overworked and stressed and that she was choosing a life that they could never understand. Yet, ironically, it would bring them closer together realizing through time that their opposing personalities were a necessary mix to having any chance to overcome the many unseen obstacles that would present themselves in regards to having such a big dream.

Massimago in Valpolicella

The wine region of Valpolicella was mainly established in the western section of this region as the “classic zone” with some of the most well-known producers located there. Valpolicella showcases their red native varieties by producing a range of different styles from the same grapes; the easy drinking light red called Valpolicella to their top fine wine called Amarone made by the long, laborious process of air drying grapes as well as the popular Ripasso that uses leftover dried Amarone grapes in the process creating a red wine more in the middle of the previously mentioned wines.

Valpolicella wine producers were traditionally men who had come from several generations of wine producers that followed strict adherence to the exact protocols of these wines.

After Camilla spent time at universities in Italy, Spain and France learning about winemaking and viticulture as well as being given opportunities to experiment with various wine practices, she decided to come back to her family’s vineyards tucked away in the Mezzane Valley in Valpolicella in the eastern section of the region to start her wine brand: Massimago. The eastern area was known more for growers who just sold their grapes to cooperatives, as their families were not lucky enough to have a strong brand name, and so when she decided to make wine herself, under her own brand, a young woman with no family in the wine world to speak of, the local people thought she was crazy and would disrupt the hierarchy of Valpolicella.

At first she saw herself only making a small amount of wine as well as establishing a lovely bed and breakfast located in the charming house among her vineyards. She thought she would sell just enough of her small quantity of very thoughtful, high-quality wines to cover expenses and devote herself to a life of working to strive for only the best; leaving room for experimentation and hosting guests so she could give people the experience of living in harmony with nature while drinking great wine and delicious food.

Unfortunately she realized why so many small wineries were either going out of business or simply selling their grapes to cooperatives since there was so much “bureaucracy” and that tiny wineries could not afford to pay for all the paperwork as well as to do the constant leg-work to keep her wines on restaurants and hotel lists. And so she needed to increase the number of bottles made so she could hire people to help her with the unpleasant realities of keeping a winery financially sustainable. But although it has been many years of struggle, Camilla has become a shining new face among other young people in the eastern part of Valpolicella who are helping to bring wines with finesse and nuance to a new generations of wine drinkers.

Masseria Cuturi in Puglia

During this time her parents started to get into the wine world which was initially shocking to her. They loved socializing with passionate people who loved to drink wine and eat good food and felt that this was something that they had missed out on in their life. After Camilla started to get Massimago up and running in 2003, her mother, who is extremely respected in her family as being someone who turns everything she touches into gold, encouraged Camilla to travel down to Puglia with her several times as they were initially inspired by conversations with a Puglia wine producer. Puglia is in southern Italy, the heel of the boot, and so it seemed like a fantasy world for northern Italians such as Camilla and her family as it has a warmer climate with delicious Mediterranean food and lots of land that was “rich in beauty and nutrients” but was still relatively cheap. When Camilla’s mother eventually decided that Puglia was a place where they should buy land, everyone in the family was behind it as her mother always knows what is best; Camilla’s mother believes it is best to invest in land as it can be passed down to future generations. And so in 2008 they invested in an historical property called Masseria Cuturi 1881 where the first Primitivo vines were planted in specifically the Manduria commune in Puglia. 

Masseria Cuturi is a beautiful property with an ancient farm (a farm is called a ‘masseria’ in Puglia) that sadly had the century old vines of Primitive dug up by the previous owner and so Camilla has been determined to replant the vineyards back to its former glory with native Puglia varieties such as Primitivo as well as protecting the 500 year old olive trees, the millennium old forests where Emperor Frederick II spent time during the 1200s and the ancient archaeological sites that dated back to around 300 BCE that all surround the property.

Test of a Dream

The challenges have only grown for Camilla throughout the years as despite the cost of the land in Puglia being relatively cheap, it has been extremely expensive in regards to setting up an infrastructure to receive water and electricity, paying several unexpected permits to the local government as well as the difficult mission of finding another winery in Manduria, Puglia, where they could make their wine until their own winery was built. But the lack of a winery did not keep Camilla from doing her own experiments with tiny amounts of wine and eventually she started to make a decent amount at another producer’s cellar, who happens to be from Veneto as well, in 2017. Actually she won second place for the Primitivo category at the 2019 Radici del Sud, an exhibition that awards wines from southern Italy with first or second place, winning two honors with her first official vintage for her 2017 Masseria Cuturi ‘Tumà’ Primitivo.

Besides all the various roadblocks that Camilla would have faced during normal times, the coronavirus has only compounded the issues that a small, quality minded wine producer has to face as her wines are sold in restaurants and boutique hotels which have been one of the industries most impacted around the world. Covid-19 has created a situation where she finds herself mostly on the computer and the phone at all hours of the day as she needs to sell a few cases here and a few cases there via Zoom tastings and she has no time to take care of herself or even to sit down and enjoy dinner with her husband.

Camilla said it took 17 years just to see a little bit of success with her Massimago winery in Valpolicella but she feels that she will never witness the financial sustainability of her Puglia property as even the simplest things take over a decade to accomplish and the flying back and forth takes its toll, especially when there is no progress much of the time. Yet the fierce determination of her mother always saying to her, “You should be brave and you should think about the next generation” keeps her going. And in a way her mother’s strong personality which has helped her to become a successful lawyer complemented with Camilla’s gentle, artistic soul ended up being a wonderful combination of finding a way to create wines that do not compromise on quality or taking care of Mother Earth under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

As Camilla deals with her own precious spirit being given devastating blows by the harsh realities of the world, she finds strength in knowing that if someone like her doesn’t protect the historical properties of her family in Valpolicella and her adopted property of Puglia that they will most probably fall into the hands of someone who will just be out to make a quick buck off of them. During her toughest times she reminisces about her original dream of making wine on a very tiny scale that would be manageable for one person but she realizes, especially witnessing some of the ruthless practices that happen to special vineyard properties, that she has been given a bigger purpose in life. She feels the responsibility to protect the two estates that she has sworn to oversee as it is not just about her but about “the community and the health of the planet” and preserving an overall healthier way of life, a culture that takes the time to eat well and drink well which is becoming more and more of a rare luxury for people.

She was given a glimmer of hope in 2020 as it was a “great vintage” in Puglia and she was able to make her wines in her own winery for the first time and she was so “happy” with the possibility that there was light at the end of the tunnel. In that moment Camilla thought of her mother’s words of bravery and perhaps she did have what it took to keep this much larger dream alive for the next generation; and that is something the world as a whole is struggling with these days: the conviction that there is enough strength and bravery to protect what is most cherished.

***Link to Original Forbes Post: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2021/02/17/a-woman-choosing-the-wine-producer-path-instead-of-joining-her-family-in-the-professional-world/

Massimago Wines From Valpolicella

2018 Massimago, ‘Magò’ Brut Rosé Millesimato, Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy: Blend of Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella – organic grapes. Long Charmat method on lees for 8 months in tank. Pretty salmon color with pure aromas of strawberries and cranberries with a hint of hazelnut with an intense minerality and creamy bubbles.

Massimago ‘Zurlie’ Refermentation in Bottle (wine refermented in a 500ml bottle): Blend of Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella – organic grapes. Re-fermentation in bottle. Pinkish orange color with yeasty toast aromas and tart sour orange flavors that had a hint of red hots candy – a wild, funky, fun wine.

2019 Massimago, ‘Duchessa Allegra’, Garganega IGT, Valpolicella: 70 year old vines organically grown. Blanched almonds, golden apples with a broad body and intense stony minerality.

2017 Massimago, ‘Marchesa Mariabella’, Ripasso DOC: Blend of 65% Corvina, 20% Corvinone and 15% Rondinella. Comes from a single organic vineyard 590 feet in elevation; intense bouquet of wild flowers with good and juicy cherry flavors with hints of baking spice on the finish.

2015 Massimago, ‘Conte Gastone’, Amarone DOCG: 65% Corvina, 30% Corvinone and 5% Rondinella. Comes from a single organic vineyard 590 meters in elevation; cherry pie and rich cassis with layers of cocoa dust and gravel.

2015 Massimago Amarone della Valpolicella and 2015 Massimago, ‘Profasio’, Valpolicella Superiore CATHRINE TODD

2015 Massimago, ‘Profasio’, Valpolicella Superiore DOC, Valpolicella: 65% Corvina, 20% Corvinone and 15% Rondinella. Comes from vineyards 330 to 1,150 feet in elevation; light and nimble on the palate with dried herbs and sour cherries with a bright, elegant finish.

2015 Massimago, Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG: 65% Corvina, 30% Corvinone and 5% Rondinella. Comes from single organic vineyard over 1,150 feet in elevation; stunning nose with rose oil and cherry liqueur with freshly grated nutmeg and a breathtaking overall sense of finesse.

Masseria Cuturi 1881 Wines From Puglia

2019 Masseria Cuturi 1881, ‘Rosa dei Cuturi’, Rosato Puglia IGT: 100% Negroamaro. Zingy cranberries with lilacs on the nose and a broad body with lots of fresh red fruit flavor on the finish.

2019 Masseria Cuturi 1881 ‘Segreto di Bianca’ FianoCATHRINE TODD

2019 Masseria Cuturi 1881, ‘Segreto di Bianca’, Fiano Puglia IGT White: 100% Fiano. Floral nose with nectarine on the linear body and salty finish.

2019 Masseria Cuturi 1881, ‘Zacinto’, Negroamaro Puglia IGT: 100% Negroamaro. Fresh tobacco leaf with ripe black cherry and crumbly earth with a slight grip with structured tannins that gave an elegant shape to the ripe fruit.

2019 Masseria Cuturi 1881 ‘Tumà’CATHRINE TODD

2019 Masseria Cuturi 1881, ‘Tumà’, Puglia IGT: 100% Primitivo. Blackberry with smoldering earth and licorice with soft, round tannins.

2017 Masseria Cuturi 1881 ‘Chidro.’CATHRINE TODD

2017 Masseria Cuturi 1881, ‘Chidro.’, IGT Salento: 100% Primitivo. Black plums with hints of volcanic ash with a fine structure and dried thyme on the long, complex finish.