Biography
The decision to produce wine came to Gianni Masciarelli in 1981 after an inspiring trip to France. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who had cultivated a small vineyard, he began to bottle Trebbiano and Montepulciano in the property situated at San Martino sulla Marruccina in the province of Chieti, twelve miles from the Adriatic Sea and the same distance from the Majella mountain chain. Given this special location, the vineyards of San Martino, 1300 feet above sea level if only six acres in size at the beginning, enjoy a very favourable climate.
More recently, vineyards in all of the provinces of the Abruzzo region have been acquired, with a special emphasis on the cultivation of Montepulciano among red grapes, Trebbiano and Chardonnay among white varieties. The estate now consists of some 800 total acres, 680 planted to vines; with the widely acknowledged quality of his top wines, Gianni Mascarelli has contributed to a greater recognition of the character of Abruzzo wines with a decisive emphasis on the quality and personality of its native grapes and the typicality of its wines. These are the fundamental values on which his entire production philosophy is based.
Production is divided into three separate lines, widely popular not only in Italy but in international markets as well: Masciarelli Classico, Villa Gemma, and Marina Cvetic, wife of Gianni Masciarelli. Marina Cvetic is today, after the death of her husband, the main representative of the winery. The lines group various labels produced in the different parts of the firm located in the provinces of Chieti, Teramo, and Pescara. The finest wine of all, however, since its debut vintage of 1984, is the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Villa Gemma, a grand red wine, potent and concentrated, an authentic standard-bearer of the Abruzzo; along with these the Trebbiano and Chardonnay Marina Cvetic are well worth mentioning. But Villa Gemma is worthy of the closest possible attention: a deep, somber, ruby red which already shows its imposing character, fruity, balsamic, and spicy in aroma with notes which range from eucalyptus to chocolate and leather. And the Trebbiano Marina Cvetic is a wine of admirable structure and richness as well, a milestone among white wines of real body with its opulent, unmistakeable notes of peach, papaya, and lavender which make it a leading wine of Italy’s center-south.