Can you tell us a bit about your background and how this led you to the world of winemaking?
Every spring in my home town, Modena, there was a weekend with the family where we would bottle wine with added sugar. After a few weeks, the magic came to life; the wine became sparkling wine. This fact made me curious. I’ve always loved the countryside, so I decided to study agriculture and afterwards specialise in viticulture and oenology.
What motivated you to pursue a degree in Viticulture and Oenology at Bologna University? How did your academic background contribute to your career as a winemaker?
When I was studying agriculture in high school, I realised that the expression: “The wine is the poetry of the soil” by Mario Soldati was true. It’s an incredible and unique world where a bottle of wine can have a high value, unlike all the other products from agriculture. So, I decided to specialise in viticulture and oenology at the oldest university in the world in Bologna.
University gives you the fundamentals to start, but it’s essential for me to build experiences in vineyards and wineries, not just in my own country but around the world.
Your winemaking journey took you across the world – where did you go, and how did each of these experiences contribute to your winemaking skills and philosophy?
During university, I worked in Franciacorta, Italy’s most famous sparkling wine region. After graduation, I wanted to discover the southern hemisphere, so I landed in Australia in Clare Valley (Shiraz region) and then in Marlborough in New Zealand (Sauvignon region), where I found a different reality compared to Europe, a new world with better organisation and new winemaking technology. In some places, there was an organic and biodynamic viticultural approach. After that, I flew to California, working in Sonoma with a Scottish winemaker, lost in love with Burgundy, making wines of 100 points with new equipment but traditional philosophy of the old Burgundy style. Working in South Africa in Stellenbosch, a country with 350 years of wine history, felt like jumping against the old and new world of winemaking. Europe is probably less organised with less technology but with years and years of experience. I also had the chance to work in the Champagne Grand Cru region and in Germany in the Rheinhessen, making wines with a deeper character and stronger tradition.
For sure, what I realised is that you need good grapes to make good wines. Technology is not enough; you need a good terroir and the right way to grow your vineyard. After that, you need to bring the fermented grapes into the bottle in a less invasive way to let the grapes and the terroir express themselves.
Tell us about Le Marche and how you fell in love with it? What specific characteristics of the region, soil, and climate drew you in, making it the ideal place for your vision of MG09?
Le Marche is an incredible region with high potential that is mostly undiscovered. You can find everything: seaside, sweet hills, mountains, good traditional food, great wines. I was not born in Le Marche but have lived in Senigallia for around 20 years. I can say that this region can always offer more than what people are expected to find.
I decided to plant the vineyard for MG09 Sparkling Wine in the little medieval town Apiro, one of the highest areas of the Denomination Verdicchio Castelli di Jesi Classico DOCG, at around 450m above sea level. I needed a colder area with a relevant temperature differential between day and night to keep the elegant flavours and high acidity, which is essential for the long bottle ageing of sparkling wines. Every year in late spring, there are a few days when it is difficult for me to sleep because I’m worried about spring frost after the bud breaking, but this is part of our job. The clay of the soil gives structure and richness to the wine, and the limestone compound keeps the plant with a lower growing expression and less grape production, ensuring a better quality.
Can you elaborate on the production process behind MG09? What grapes does it involve, and how does this affect the flavour profile?
09 is the first harvest of the wine we made. The grapes involved in the Cuvée are 70% Chardonnay and 30% Verdicchio. Chardonnay is probably the most-grown grape for sparkling wines in the world; it gives classicism and elegance with citrus and nutty aromas. Verdicchio is more typical with apple and white flowers and a bigger mouthfeel (more like Pinot Noir), offering more structure, character, and Verdicchio sapidity. I decided to approach a modern blend with these two grape varieties because I found a better balance and elegance compared to the two separate wines.
We pick every cluster by hand in 18kg cases. After that, we cool the grapes in a refrigerating room overnight, and the day after, we press gently to have around the volume of one bottle of wine for every 2 kg of grapes (we don’t use the second pressing part). The juice, after decanting, gets racked into tanks and barrels where it ages on its lees until the blending of the Cuvée in the next spring. In the blend, we also add older vintages aged in part in barrels and in part in stainless steel tanks. When the temperature rises in spring, we prepare the yeast for the second fermentation, and we inoculate it into the blend after adding sugar. In the end, we bottle. From this point, the refermentation and the ageing in the bottle starts, which lasts 30 months.
MG09 is aged for thirty months on fine lees. What role does this ageing process play in enhancing the characteristics of the wine, and how does it contribute to its overall quality?
Ageing is part of the process if you want to produce high-quality wines. A wine with personality needs time to have a better expression and complexity. In these 30 months, the lees (natural yeasts) are involved in a process called autolysis: the cells die and slowly start to release mannoproteins and the typical flavours of this sparkling method. This is the oldest method discovered from Dom Perignon in the Champagne region.
How does it feel to have MG09 recognised and recommended by renowned establishments like Osteria Francescana? What do you believe sets MG09 apart in the world of sparkling wines?
When Beppe Palmieri, the Sommelier of Osteria Francescana, mentioned my sparkling wine, I realised that the MG09 project was going in the right direction. After him, lots of other well-renowned restaurants were attracted by my project of creating artisanal Italian sparkling wine using the classic method.
The world of sparkling wine today seems to be just Prosecco (Italian method) or Champagne. In between, there are a lot of other interesting classic methods of sparkling wines around Italy and the world, each one with its peculiarities. The Cuvée Marco Gozzi is my idea of a classic method in Le Marche. To get the right balance, I chose a high-altitude vineyard and blended different vintages of Chardonnay and Verdicchio to find a unique wine with a unique balance.
Are there any other wines that you’d like to tell us about? What makes these wines particularly special?
What comes to my mind is a magnum of Champagne Le Mesnil Grand Cru of my year of birth (1984). The bottle was conserved in perfect conditions, and even if 1984 wasn’t one of the best vintages, the wine was more than alive with incredible complexity, freshness and length with tiny silky bubbles. I need to thank the director, Gilles Marguet, for giving me the unique opportunity to taste this wine.
Puligny Montrachet Jean-Louis Chavy is one of the best expressions of Chardonnay, with its citrus and buttery flavours and a great balance between freshness and structure.
Romanée Saint Vivant de la Romanée Conti is a unique wine offering a very clean and spicy fruit aroma with a hint of incense. It’s difficult to forget its depth and elegance.
Mouton Rothschild — I’ve never tasted such finesse in a Cabernet Sauvignon wine. Great aromatic of red-black little fruits with tannin-like cashmere.
Barolo Monfortino of Roberto Conterno is an austere nectar, dark like ink and never tired of ageing.
As a Consultant Winemaker, you work with traditional family wineries and individuals passionate about wine. What is your mission in helping them bring their unique projects to life, and how do you approach each collaboration?
First of all, I have to understand the producers’ idea of the wine. This helps me to define the style of the wines. Our mission is to put their idea of wine from their terroir into bottles. In general, my approach is to be as non-invasive as possible in the process, putting only the best fermented grape juice in the glass. In order to achieve this objective, you have to focus on two aspects. On one hand, you have to take care of the vineyard to get very good fruit; on the other hand, you have to preserve this quality through all processes that lead from the grape to the wine bottle, respecting the raw material and working consciously in a clean and organised way.
About the agronomic part, I work with collaborators on the study and the design of new vineyards, and we provide assistance with specific cultivation operations. When possible, we like to keep the genetics of the old winery vineyards and propagate it to new vineyards. We don’t like losing the genetics of plants that are over 50 years old. I’ve also had the good fortune of assisting winegrowers in the complete design of their new wineries and in choosing all the cellar equipment.
How would you describe your winemaking philosophy to others, and what are some of the essential aspects you consider when creating a wine?
There isn’t a recipe; every situation is different, and only experience and insights can help you follow the process, from the timing of the harvest to the fermentation and ageing process. The passion for wine is the secret to feeling that you are not working every day but enjoying winemaking. For me, the most important characteristics of wine are elegance and balance.
I like travelling in wine regions to keep myself open to new ideas. Professional growth never stops; by nature I have to go into things in depth, to understand my passion in detail.
What is it about winemaking that you are so passionate about, and how do you hope the wines you create impact those who drink them?
Winemaking is different every year; each vintage is the son of the weather and vineyard conditions. I love to adapt myself to what nature gives us; for sure, we don’t get bored.
I would like people who drink high-quality wines to understand the passion and work behind a bottle of wine. Not many people can imagine how long, complicated, and full of unexpected things the process is.
Wine gives you the opportunity to enjoy great food and great people much more than other drinks.
What are your plans/Dreams for the future, both in terms of producing MG09 and your role as a Consultant Winemaker? Are there any new projects or regions you are excited to explore?
I’m happy with the quality production achieved in MG09 Cuvée Marco Gozzi. It makes me feel that I’m making something that I like; it’s my weekend work. Maybe in the future, I could increase the production a bit because the wine is never enough compared to the demand.
About my professional work, I feel satisfied. It’s an honour for me to work and help different people and wineries around my home country.
I liked my time in California, in South Africa and in all the other countries I visited. I don’t have any borders, so I’m ready to fly again for new wine projects around Europe and around the world.
To find out more about Marco Gozzi and MG09 Sparkling Wine, visit the links below…
MARCO GOZZI
37 Cartesio Road
60019 Senigallia
Ancona
Italy
Web: www.marcogozzi.it / www.mg09.it
Tel: +39 3381170390
Email: info@marcogozzi.it / info@mg09.it
Instagram: @mg.marcogozzi / @mgmetodoclassico
Facebook: @marco.gozzi.180 / @MG Metodo Classico
LinkedIn: Marco Gozzi