The Basilica of San Marco and the network of wine capitals received the 41st Premio Masi

The “Internazionale Grosso D’Oro Veneziano Award” is the highest honor assigned by the Masi Foundation, committed to promoting and enhancing the territory, population, cultural heritage, great creativity, and productive skills of the Venetian civilization, paying particular attention to culture and wine production, which represent typical characteristics of the Veneto territory. The 41st Masi Award went to the Procuratoria of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice, “for its contribution to the preservation of the values of Venetian civilization”, and also to the “Great Wine Capitals Global Network”, “for its current and fundamental contribution to the Civilization of Wine” and also together, for having contributed to spreading a message of culture throughout the world, generating solidarity, civil progress, and peace. The Venetian gold coin, a symbol of a virtuous spirit of exchange between populations, will be delivered to the two Institutions, on the Valpolicella brand’s 250-year anniversary, on October 14th, in the newly built space at Masi Agricola “Monteleone 21”.
The Masi International Award “Grosso d’Oro Veneziano 2022” has been assigned, in an ideal link of continuity with the cultural heritage of the Venetian civilization, to the Procuratoria of San Marco, led by the Procurator Carlo Alberto Tesserin. It is the emblem of the ancient Venetian lagoon civilization, and the Institution dates back to the Middle Ages. Now, it combines the highly acclaimed monument, a symbol of Venice around the world, to the commitment of conserving and enhancing the Basilica of San Marco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, staging high-quality cultural and museum initiatives. The “Grosso d'Oro Veneziano 2022” was attributed as well to the “Great Wine Capitals Global Network”, as an emblem of “Wine Civilization”, and presented, however, as a projection towards the future because it has identified “the most current expression of the symbolic value of wine” in this Institution.
The Association was founded in 1999 in Bordeaux, to “support the health and prosperity of activities related to wine, communities, and tourism in our capitals”. It counts eleven major cities around the world: Adelaide (Australia), Bilbao (Spain), Bordeaux (France), Cape Town (South Africa), Lausanne (Switzerland), Mainz (Germany), Mendoza (Argentina), Porto (Portugal), San Francisco (USA), Valparaíso (Chile) and Verona (Italy). These cities share a fundamental economic and cultural characteristics. They are all wine regions whose excellence has been recognized worldwide. The jury of the Masi Prize has emphasized that the International context the associated Capitals represent, “joins the historicity of European wine with the newest enology in the New World, connecting all the countries that have the greatest interest for wine-making through the symbols of each territory, represented by the culture of the product, production, research, and promotional structures, as well as a tourist attraction”. The “Great Wine Capitals Global Network” Institution, is globally committed to creating a synergy between the Great Wine Capitals, aimed at supporting, as the motivation of the Award states, “the cultural significance and multifaceted aspects of wine and its world. That is to say, history, territories, vines, human know-how, and the most recent meanings of representing a territory’s culture, including the environmental, emotional, and tourist aspects”.
“This year marks the 250th Harvest in Vaio dei Masi, so the Masi Foundation Council has decided to combine the “Venetian Civilization” Award and the “International Wine Civilizations Award" within “Grosso d’Oro Veneziano”, signifying that it is now time to honor the emblems of the “Venetian Civilization” and the “Culture of Wine”, with our highest award”, Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti, president of the Masi Foundation, commented. “Following the 40th anniversary of the Award, this year we have an equally important celebration waiting for us. Two events are coming together under the sign of “Venetian Civilization”. They are, the 250th harvest, an important anniversary that consolidates our bond with the territory and with the Venetian civilization that is the basis of the history of the Masi Agricola company, and the Masi Award, which from the beginning enhanced and brought to the world the renewal of Venezie’s excellence”, Sandro Boscaini, president of Masi Agricola and vice president of the Masi Foundation, added.