Springtime for Italian Innovation

Last spring, my wife, Tricia, and I had the opportunity to meet Camilla Rossi Chauvenet, an Italian Tourpreneur in Northern Italy. Her winery, Massimago, is challenging convention in the traditional viticultural region of Valpolicella. Nestled in the foothills of the Italian Alps, the Valpolicella wine-growing region is sprinkled with incredible Italian villas; a legacy of the heady days of…

Last spring, my wife, Tricia, and I had the opportunity to meet Camilla Rossi Chauvenet, an Italian Tourpreneur in Northern Italy. Her winery, Massimago, is challenging convention in the traditional viticultural region of Valpolicella.

Nestled in the foothills of the Italian Alps, the Valpolicella wine-growing region is sprinkled with incredible Italian villas; a legacy of the heady days of the late 1800s when a newly unified Italy became a magnet for commerce and foreign direct investment. The nearby city of Verona acted as a fountain of wealth for the region, splashing droplets of opulence into the city’s wine-growing suburbs.

The Massimago Estate has been in Camilla Rossi Chauvenet’s family since 1883. Here, she focuses on the region’s primary grape varietals: Corvinone, Corvina, and Rondinella. From these, she produces an assortment of different wines, including the wine that has made the region famous: Amarone. This delectable treat is made from late-harvest grapes that are dried to maximize their sugar content.

Camilla has marketed Massimago as employing the best of the region’s traditional wine-producing practices, while embracing new and innovative ideas that might strengthen her brand. Her approach is clearly designed to attract the next generation of wine consumers who are purchasing from a global marketplace.

Camilla has used an innovative marketing tactic for her winery: music composition. By hiring an Italian composer to write a song for each wine, Camilla added a touch of musical elegance to this traditionally silent art. As an added bonus, she even included a poem on each bottle’s label to help better describe the wine’s nuances.

If you’d like to see more of Massimago’s highlights, please feel free to watch the video below before visiting Tricia’s image-rich blog post. Here’s hoping you find Amore for Amarone. Cheers!


Comments

2 responses to “Springtime for Italian Innovation”

  1. Your posts contain a richness that I do not see often, the writing and photos are brilliant – but what makes the posts so interesting are the short videos (GIFs ?!?) and then the introduction/summary of your closing video. Wonderful post Shawn and while it feels like I’ve walked through this town with this post, I sure would like to do it in person. Beautiful place.

    1. Thank you Randall! The Vine short video platform, owned by Twitter, is a rapidly growing social media site that showcases only 6-second loops. They play automatically on the desktop site, but are still a bit clunky on mobile.

      Glad you enjoy this post format! Your comments inspire me to continue posting. Thank you for the encouragement and here’s hoping your week is off to a great start. 🙂

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