Cantine Maschio eyes up a more sustainable future
As Cantine Maschio celebrates the past 50 years, it continues to build a more sustainable future.
2023 is set to be a milestone year for Italian sparkling wine and Prosecco producer Cantine Maschio, part of the Cantine Riunite & CIV Group, as it celebrates its 50 thanniversary, and looks to the future, building on the sustainable practices that earned it Equalitas Sustainability certification in 2022.
Although its roots on the Veneto hills reach back into antiquity, the winery’s story really began in 1973, when Bonaventura Maschio turned his family’s century-old distillery into a winery that even then boasted state-of-the-art technology and production methods.
Initially, the company focused on producing IGT semi-sparkling wines such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, which became market leaders, and highly recognisable for their unmistakable Rhine bottles. However it was during the early 1980s that production of Prosecco really started to gain traction. Since the establishment of the DOC and DOCG in 2009, the category has experienced steady growth and unmatched success worldwide. Cantine Maschio tapped into this trend, becoming the first Italian winery to make Prosecco in a 200ml format, catering to an important sector of the market by combining convenience, style and quality.
Since then, the brand has invested in research and development, looking at increasingly innovative techniques and winemaking processes, as well as continuing to add value and boost the popularity of other native grape varieties such as Verduzzo or Manzoni Blanc. This year the company will mark its 50th anniversary with the release of a limited edition of the company’s flagship wine: Prosecco DOC Treviso.
Green initiatives
Last year, the company was awarded Equalitas certification, an accolade that Gabriele Cescon, director and chief winemaker, called a “core achievement” that reflects Cantine Maschio’s place in the region like “a piece of a big mosaic”.
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The certification, established in 2015, is one of the most comprehensive sustainability protocols for the wine industry. It analyses the sustainability of a company in three criteria: economic, social, and environmental. But certification not only guarantees transparency but also stimulates wineries to build on their achievements and improve upon them.
“It’s the acknowledgement of the commitment and the approach that we have been nurturing for many years,” Cescon explains. “We live in a wonderful territory, inhabited by an active community, made by people, businessesand institutions. We are a piece of a big mosaic, and we must take action with awareness and commitment, driven by another key concept, respect. Respect for the work, for the people, for the land, and the environment.”
This involves practices aimed at reducing the impact of production, and recovering byproducts of the wine supply chain, and waste materials. “We are constantly engaged in promoting recycling, reuse, and correct waste disposal,” says Cescon. “We aim to make the consumption of natural resources more efficient, with particular regard to water and energy, developing the use of renewable resources to reduce our carbon footprint. Growing up is a splendid adventure. Doing it together is a story worth living – words that are driving our actions over the next 50 years.”
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