“VINITALY IS 50 YEARS OLD? IT’S OLDER, FOR ME. IT ALL STARTED WHEN I WAS HIRED BY VERONAFIERE THAT WANTED ITALIAN WINE TO HAVE ITS FIRST TRADE FAIR, “MR. AMARONE”, SANDRO BOSCAINI, TOLD WINENEWS FOR # VINITALY50STORY, FROM VERONA TO THE STOCK MARKET

“I have actually been with Vinitaly for 53 years, not just 50. I was a student at the Università Cattolica in Milan, ready to graduate, when VeronaFiere hired me. I worked directly with Angelo Betti, Head of the Press Office and responsible for new projects, to do market research on including viticulture and enology at the international agricultural fair. I did research for more than two years and it was a valuable training experience. After two years of research, I had three proposals to offer. Veronafiere chose the conference-oriented one and the first Vinitaly was entitled "Italian Wine Days".
Then, things starting changing, the law on Appellations of Origin was gradually implemented, there were social changes, international trade incentives, and Vinitaly has become what is today: a great national and international fair , a meeting not to be missed for those who work for and love Italian wine”.
Fifty years have gone by since the first Vinitaly and today Sandro Boscaini, the head of Masi Agricola (and president of Federvini), one of the most prestigious brands of Italian wine shared his memory with WineNews, one of most popular sites for wine lovers, for # Vinitaly50Story, half a century of Vinitaly and Italian wine, through the stories of their players, and the first 50 years of the industry’s international benchmark (Verona, 10 - April 13; www.vinitaly.com).
Also in 1964, "Mister Amarone" and his company with the "Supervenetian" Campofiorin discovered Amarone and its particular production techniques that only a few producers knew about. He paved the way for the revival of the great red wine in the eighties, with a group of pioneers, which today has triumphed on the most important foreign markets. Behind that acronym, there is a history of an exciting and compelling Italian business that started in Valpolicella, then Verona and recently the Milan Stock Exchange. Just a few months ago Masi Agricola was listed on the Italian Stock Exchange.
“Masi participated in the first edition and I personally have never missed a day of Vinitaly”, said Boscaini. “I have seen it grow and become what it is today and with great pleasure have seen its brand and reputation established worldwide. During my travels, i never fail to remind people that I was in some way one of the fathers of the show, and I notice in the eyes of the experts, even in countries as far away as New Zealand, Argentina and Malaysia, the dream of one day being able to visit and participate in Vinitaly. Masi is attending the 50th edition celebrating the first 50 years of its legendary wine, Campofiorin, at the "usual" location, with the "usual" people, the decades-long seminar, conducted by the Masi Technical Group, the same values, and the same recognized personality and quality wines. But it’s different.
It is a company that has had the courage - and is the first of the premium wine brands - to go public, to gain credibility through transparency, and to create a healthy synergy between wine and finances that will allow it, hopefully in the future to other innovative entrepreneurs, to face serenely and with the necessary tools, the challenges of the global market”.
The story of Masi is the story of a Venetian family - the name comes from Vaio dei Masi, a small valley the family acquired in the eighteenth century and still owns - that in seven generations has created the famous Amarone, an Italian excellence worldwide.
“An extraordinary wine from one of the greatest wine territories”, whose civilization preserves “the spirit of adventure of Marco Polo”, transferring the ancient moral strength “into the milestones of daily work” (considerations of Philippine De Rothschild, Hugo Pratt and Ermanno Olmi, who won the Masi Award, from the Masi Foundation that promotes Venetian Culture and Wine).
The family is at the helm of a company that, through subsequent acquisitions has expanded to the best terroirs and vineyards of the Venetian area (the historical Crus, of which Masi is the pioneer), rediscovering the oldest varieties of native grapes like Oseleta as well as Campofiorin, Costasera, Vaio Armaron, Casal dei Ronchi, Mazzano, Montepiazzo, Angelorum, Grandarella, Campolongo di Torbe and Osar Fojaneghe.
Many of the wines bear the name of the vineyard, and are grown in Valpolicella Classico, the estates of Strà del Milione in Friuli, Possessioni Serego Alighieri (Dante's descendants, who Masi brought back to their ancient homeland through the acquisition of Poderi del Bello Ovile in Tuscany), the Historical Estates of Conti Bossi Fedrigotti, all the way to Argentina with the project La Arboleda Masi Tupungato.