About Tenuta Maso Corno
Tenuta Maso Corno is a small estate winery located in Trentino-Alto Adige, in northeastern Italy. The estate produces wines from the region's characteristic varieties, including Teroldego, Lagrein, and other indigenous and international grapes suited to the alpine terroir. It operates as a family-run agricultural holding typical of the Trentino wine tradition.
Prices are for take away and shipping. The wine bar serves from its own list.
The winery
About Tenuta Maso Corno
History
Tenuta Maso Corno is the estate of Giulio Larcher, a winegrower who came to viticulture out of personal passion and then spread vine growing across the whole property. At its centre stands a centuries old farmhouse, a maso in the local word, set on the slopes of the Lessini Mountains above the town of Ala in Trentino.
The winery is a young one, and Larcher has kept it a single family project. A TrentoDOC producer profile describes it as founded about a decade before that page was written, and the vines around the house are already over thirty years old. The estate appears under the name Azienda Agricola di Giulio Larcher.
The land and the vineyards
The vineyards spread in a fan shape over a terrace above the Ala stream, at about 500 metres above sea level. From there the view runs down to the Adige valley and across to the Piccole Dolomiti. The Lessini side of Trentino is cool and high, which suits sparkling wine and Pinot Nero.
The soils are dolomitic limestone with only a thin layer of topsoil, so the vines have to work for their water and nutrients. The estate lists original clones, carefully chosen rootstocks, low yields, sorting of the grapes and picking by hand as its working rules. For the sparkling wines, grapes also come from sites between 500 and 800 metres.
The wines
The range has three still wines and a sparkling line. SantaMaria is a Pinot Nero made only as a riserva, aged in French oak barriques and meant to rest for years in bottle. Villanova is a golden white described as elegant and aromatic, and Declivi is a Sauvignon Blanc with elderflower and wild herb notes.
The newer TrentoDOC wines carry the founder's name. Giulio Larcher Pas Dosé is pure Chardonnay, fermented in steel with no malolactic fermentation, aged on the lees for at least 30 months and bottled with no added dosage. Giulio Larcher Clou Pas Dosé blends 70 per cent Chardonnay with 30 per cent Pinot Nero, rests on the lees for at least 60 months, and the Chardonnay part is aged in French oak.
Today
Giulio Larcher runs the estate himself, and the aim stated on the winery's website is wines with character, class and a structured body. The estate takes visitors for tastings by appointment, so it is worth calling ahead. The TrentoDOC listing asks guests to phone the winery to confirm times. On our shelves it stands for small scale mountain sparkling wine from the Trentino side of the Lessini.
- Owners
- Giulio Larcher
- Area
- Ala, Trentino, at about 500 m above sea level
- Main grapes
- Pinot Nero, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc