Hosting people? Want a new wine activity that you can enjoy with your friends or simply want to wow your guests with something new that you’ve learned about wine? I got you! I present to you, a vertical wine tasting.
What is a Vertical Wine Tasting?
So, vertical you say? Yes, dear reader, vertical tasting.
A vertical tasting is a wine tasting where you taste several wines from a single producer (winery) and a single label (wine name & style) but from different years (vintages).
A vertical tasting is very useful to see how a wine has evolved through the vintages. You can compare if the weather had an impact from year to year or if there was a change in the winemaking or assemblage (blending). In short, you will compare wine from vintage A to vintage B, C, etc.
Vertical Tasting Inspo
This is something that the wine pros do for the reasons I’ve mentioned above. But you don’t have to be one to have your own! You can even DIY and compare the wines.
I attended a vertical tasting of Masi wines and I am sure this anecdote will inspire you to have your own.
The place - Lennan’s Yard
The wine tasting was held at Lennan’s Yard. Let me tell you, the place is gorge, it has several areas with different vibes. We were at the Whiskey Bar which was dreamy. Think plush green velvet chairs, massive mirror… the place is giving Mid-century modern meets Art Deco in 2023 with an opulent twist. This place slaps! *Yes Karen, this is Gen Z slang, keep up*.
Masi Wines and Campofiorin all the way!
The vertical tasting was of Masi wines, concretely of the Campofiorin wine. Here are some interesting facts about the Masi Winery and its dearest Campofiorin:
Campofiorin is made from 3 grapes: Corvina, Rondinella & Molinara.
The grapes for the Campofiorin wine are from the Veneto region in Valpolicella - Which is in the North-East of Italy, close to Verona.
Campofiorin is a wine made with the Ripasso method. Ripasso translates to ‘re-pass or pass again’. Think about it like ‘re-fermenting’ a wine by adding the skins of grapes that have already been pressed, you are re-passing them. This is a very simplistic definition to provide you with the essential idea. The method is much more complex than that, let me know if you would like a more in-depth explanation of this method. If you want to learn more about how Campofiorin used this technique, you can read it here.
Since 2010, Ripasso is also a denomination of origin in Italy, DOC for its initials in Italian (Denominazione di Origine Controllata).
1964 was the first vintage of the Campofiorin wine, so it has almost 60 vintages under its belt.
The latest vintage of Campofiorin is the 2020 which will be released later this year.
For the 2020 vintage of Campofiorin, there are changes both in and out of the bottle. The assemblage sees a higher percentage of dried berries and also a longer drying process for these grapes. All of this will give greater richness and texture. The label boasts a rectangular label with a more prominent name of the wine. The bottle now has a ‘necklace’ on the neck with the Masi coat of arms and a capsule of lively red colour.
When a vintage is splendid, it is rated 5 stars and you can see this printed on the label, how cool is that?
The motto of Masi Wines is Nectar Angelorum Hominibus, which roughly translates to Nectar from the angels to the men. *If it’s good for the angels, is good for me!*
The wines at the vertical tasting
We tasted 5 Campofiorin wines, each one selected to showcase the special characteristics of each vintage. Listen, I’m not one who drops names as a hobby but *name-dropping alert*, I will this time because it was a real treat!
The tasting was guided by Giacomo Boscaini, who is a member of the family that owns Masi wines. He flew straight to Dublin for this tasting, we were absolutely delighted to meet him. By talking to him is easy to see the passion he has for his wines and his knowledge. *If you ever read this, Grazie Giacomo, è stato un piacere!*
We tasted these beauties:
Campofiorin 1999. Masi. Rosso del Veronese. 13.41% abv
To ensure the preservation of this wine and because of its age, this wine was re-bottled in January 2021. This is a practice that Masi wines have for vintages older than 15 years. They taste the wine to ensure is developing well, top it up from wine of the same vintage then recork it. This is a medium garnet wine with nose of jammy fruit and smoke. It has medium acidity, alcohol and body with a long finish. It has nice meaty notes.
Campofiorin 2007. Masi. Rosso del Veronese. 13.3% abv
This year was a good vintage, hence the 5 stars on the label. The harvest was slightly earlier than usual which had an impact on the yield (quantity of grapes), but the grapes were top quality. This wine is medium garnet in colour with notes of black cherries and black fruit. It has medium acidity and medium tannins. It is a lively wine with a long finish.
Campofiorin 2012. Masi. Rosso del Veronese. 13.1%abv
Also considered a 5-star vintage despite the high temperatures and little rain during summer that year which reduced the number of grapes by around 10%. This wine is medium garnet in colour with slightly more acidity than the 1999 and 2007 and nice fruity notes.
Campofiorin 2019. Masi. Rosso del Veronese. 13% abv
This wine is medium ruby colour and with notes of fresh cherries with a hint of oak. This is a lively wine with fresh fruit notes, will definitely age well.
Campofiorin 2020. Masi. Rosso del Veronese. 13.2% abv
This wine has a medium ruby colour with medium acidity and more smooth tannins than the 2019 vintage. It has notes of cherry with lots of potential for ageing.
DIY, vertical tasting
Now that you know what is a Vertical Tasting, get ready to host your own!
Buy at least 2 bottles of the same brand/winery/grape/style but from different years and see the difference for yourself. Remember to choose a wine of good quality -I’m not saying expensive, but quality in terms of terroir and winemaking.
I think Campofiorin is an ideal option for a DIY vertical tasting. This is not sponsored by Masi in any way, although if anyone from Masi Wines is reading this, I would happily receive a bottle of Campofiorin 1999 since it was my favourite *wink, wink*.
Campofiorin makes a good choice because it is a good quality wine at a very accessible price point (€15- €20 per bottle) where you will be able to taste the differences in the vintages (meaning from year to year). Bonus, the wines are available worldwide -you can even probably find them in the supermarket.
So next time you want to impress your friends or fancy a new wine experience, a DIY vertical tasting will make for a fun and entertaining soirée.
Let me know in the comments what you think about vertical tastings and for more inspo, check the video of the Campofiorin tasting on our social channels. Cheers!