Heinz: Masseto has ‘come into its own’

Staying faithful to its core markets has enabled Ornellaia to build up its portfolio in Asia and pave the way for the single-vineyard icon, Masseto, its winemaker has said.

Axel Heinz, Ornellaia winemaker

Speaking to the drinks business HK at Omtis’ Fine Wines, Axel Heinz, winemaker at Ornellaia said that Italian wines “looked set to remain” on Asia’s fine wine scene.

“There has been an incredible increase in interest in Italian wines over the last five years. Previously, France dominated but fine Italian wine has really made its mark – perhaps helped initially to the escalating prices of Bordeaux but also because Italy has gained a good reputation for confidently good wines.

“It’ll be interesting to see what happens when Bordeaux is back in the market, but I’m quite confident we’ve established ourselves, not as a substitute but in its own right.”

Rather than “flooding” the Asia market, Heinz is adamant about remaining with the tried-and-tested markets where Masseto is in high demand.

“We’ve played the game right in sticking with the markets we’re comfortable with; traditionally Germany, Italy and the US and Japan and Hong Kong/China in Asia, rather than pursuing so-say, emerging markets when we don’t have that much to sell in comparison to other producers.”

The company’s drive in distinguishing the Merlot-driven Masseto from Bordeaux-blend Ornellaia has also been given an extra push with the building of a new winery just for Masseto which is set to commence early next year, subject to planning regulations.

“We would have loved to vinify 2017 as it would be Masssto’s 30^th anniversary, but we’ll look forward to 2018. It’s been three and a half years in the making so just to see [the building] completed will be a relief for us.”

Speaking of the decision to trade Masseto entirely on the Place de Bordeaux apart from retaining distributors in the US, Canada and Italy, Heinz is in full support.

“Our main objective was to make Masseto more present in the market place. Previously, we had had one single distributor in each place and allocations right up to the last bottle, so within two weeks it had disappeared from the market. Splitting the distribution like this meant that it was no longer such a well-kept secret and now the market is much freer. Our distributors know they can always get a case or two for their clients, so I think they’re selling more now than the allocation previously set for them.

“It was a tough and strong decision to take but Masseto needed more visibility. We’ve built ourselves a very solid and stable brand which has its own identity and can hold up to already very huge international demand.”