April 2023 - Cà Maiol - the historic estate at Desenzano del Garda, in the heart of the Lugana zone - is officially presenting its new brand image, with the goal of highlighting the uniqueness of its house style and establishing itself as an icon for Lugana and Valtènesi Chiaretto, because it is a custodian of the genius loci of this terroir, and one of the protagonists in the history of both denominations as well as of their future. The restyling of the logo and of the packaging takes as its cue the keystone - the fundamental architectural feature of a building, which stands at the summit of an arch and “locks” the other stones together - and transforms it into a distinctive trademark.
This new image arrives at the completion of a program of growth in terms of quality and methods in both the vineyards and winery over the last six years. It was in fact in 2017 that Cà Maiol became part of the “enological mosaic” of Santa Margherita Gruppo Vinicolo: for the winery, the objective was to consolidate its position at a global level as a leading player in the region; for the Group, it was to reinforce its role in scouting out zones in Italy with great potential and that also shared its vocation and attention for white wines.
On the one hand, we intervened to begin more informed management of the vineyards, avoiding the use of synthetic chemical products, stimulating the activation of the indigenous microflora in the soil and practicing conservative pruning, which allows one to respect the vines’ lymphatic vessels and limit the number of large cuts. This new sustainable approach that we adopted, apart from safeguarding the environment, enabled us to improve the quality of the grapes and lengthen the life of the vines.
On the other hand, we carried out an important operation to modernize the winery, whose size was doubled compared to the existing one. Today, the vinification facility at Cà Maiol represents the state of the art for winery technology in Lugana. The grapes are transferred by gravity - fundamental for a delicate variety like Turbiana. There is the possibility to vinify each individual vineyard separately, allowing the wine to express all of its goût de terroir and authenticity. There are two production lines - two separate grape hoppers and two Pellenc destemmers that allow one to devote the same care and attention to the production of both Lugana and Valtènesi Chiaretto, whose harvest periods coincide. Then there are the new Willmes presses, the truncated-cone-shaped tanks and the central one (containing 2,000 hl) for blending, and the technological equipment that facilitates the tasks of the workers. For Cà Maiol, innovations in the winery represent instruments that not only highlight the quality of the estate’s viticultural patrimony but also the hard work that is carried out in the vineyards throughout the year.
Now, a cycle is coming to an end: after the interventions in the vineyards and winery, Cà Maiol is presenting itself with a new brand image, which conveys the essence of the terroir and speaks to an international audience of young wine lovers.
The new logo, which is lighter and more recognizable, recalls the shades of color of Lake Garda at Sirmione, near the Scaligero Castle. The new design of the packaging includes the shape of the bottles - more harmonious and lighter, also to reduce the emissions of CO2 when transporting them from the winery to tables all over the world - and the labels, whose shape recalls that of a keystone and aim to be essential, elegant and memorable.
Alessandro Marzotto, General Manager of Cà Maiol, says: «The process of transformation at Cà Maiol started off with our work in the vineyards, with safeguarding the local area and respecting its unique character. We then concentrated on the vinification facility where, with skill and expertise, we transform the grapes into precious wines. And now we are presenting the new image of Cà Maiol, which succeeds in combining our two souls. On the one hand, there is the historic nature of the brand, which gives us competence and authoritativeness, represented by the keystone that can be seen in the historic cellar building that dates back to 1710. On the other, there is our modern, contemporary spirit, which can be seen in the new design of the packaging and in the new colors we have used. Ever since we acquired Cà Maiol, we have had great faith in these wines and these zones, Lugana and Valtènesi. The transformation undertaken by Cà Maiol has contributed - and will continue to contribute - to achieving results that are even more satisfying in both quality and economic terms, as well as to consolidating our role as a proud ambassador for the two denominations in Italy and around the world».
