The Tasting Panel magazine

June 2017

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june 2017  /  the tasting panel  /  61 hat makes a great winemaker? High-quality grapes? High scores? Respect from your peers? Longevity? In the case of Lucio Matricardi, it's collaborating with a talented team of fellow winemakers that work incredibly well together. As the Group Lead Winemaker for Gruppo Mezzacorona, Matricardi works with five winemak- ers who are responsible for three wine brands, Mezzacorona and Rotari from Trentino and Stemmari from Sicily, which produce a total of 19 different wines. One of the first things Lucio will tell you, however, is, "This is not a pyramid type structure but a horizontal structure that requires everyone to participate in all aspects of the grape growing and winemaking process." With a degree from the University of Bologna and a graduate degree from U.C. Davis, Lucio is able to blend New World and Old World philosophies with the team, which includes Matteo Covazzi, Maurizio Maurizi, Andrea Martinelli, Sabrina Viola and Head Winemaker Fabio Toscana. The graduate work at U.C. Davis helped him approach wine more scientifically and "to under- stand how to make good wine by looking at the market." This does not mean trying to emulate the "global style" of wine pioneered by Australia in the 1980s. Lucio and the team tackled another challenge recently with the creation of Mezza di Mezzacorona, a seri- ous but affordable Charmat-style spar- kling wine made at the large Trentino facility. Mezza di Mezzacorona is the unique entry in a new proprietary category: Italian Glacial Bubbly. Great What Makes Winemaking? How the Winemaking Team at Gruppo Mezzacorona Oversees Three Wineries and Three Brands by Bob Bath, MS W

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