La cantina Dal Maso
26 November 2018

Dal Maso cellar

The winery is composed by 3 floors and its fulcrum is the spiral-shaped staircase in the center of the building. Besides cement,, the materials used in the costruction were wood, marble and klinker tiles.
The main materials used are: cement, wood, marble and klinker tiles.
All the floors have a fir-wood ceiling: the wood tone is different for each floor, starting from the darkest in the barrique cellar to the “vinsantaia” where the tone is clearer, very light and luminous. The choice of this color palette derives from the fact that in barriques cellar for example, there is the objective need to minimize the reflection of the minimum natural light that enters from the small windows placed in the upper part of the walls. In fact, the wines must be protected from light and a darker wood helps to stem the problem. The need changes as we go up till the “vinsantaia” where the roof is very low: a light color of the wood helps to have a greater feeling of openness.

Ground floor

This floor is used for the storage of the wines, for the tasting room and the small wine shop.
The tasting room has become over the years the heart of the new winery: it is animated by events and tastings open to wine professionals or wine lovers. The philosophy of the Dal Maso family was to recreate in this place a feeling of openness and transport towards the underlying vineyards: that is the reason why the family opted for the large windows overlooking the “Riva del Molino” vineyard.
The floor of the ground floor, like in the other two floors, is made of klinker tiles: Luigino and Nicola Dal Maso have always considered and experienced the winery as a place of work, not just as a representative place, and consequently the choice of tiles had to fall on a highly resistant material.
The temperature in this floor reaches peaks of max. 18 ° C: thanks to the conditioning system, it’s possible to regulate seasonal thermal excursions to make them “harmless” for the wine.

The barrique cellar

The barrel cellar was built 8 meters below the ground level, an ideal place to age some wines. This area houses the barriques and the larger barrels used for red wines and in recent years it also houses the bottles of “Durello Metodo Classico”.
The temperature range is from a minimum of 12 ° C up to a maximum of 18 ° C. This floor is not equipped with air conditioning system but thanks to the depth and insulation of the structure, the temperature is naturally maintained in line with the needs of aging of wines. The humidity is around 75%.

Vinsantaia / fruttaio

The last floor of the cellar is reserved for the drying of the Garganega grapes and the aging of the wine “Vin Santo Doc of Gambellara”.
The whole floor is characterized by a fundamental element: the air. The air circulation is created in a natural way thanks to the openings reminiscent of the old “pigeon houses” and thanks to a small cupola that overhangs the staircase and which is opened or closed according to the need to increase or decrease the amount of air.
In this area of the winery, and only in this area, the seasonal thermal excursion is essential for the drying of the grapes and for the aging of the Vin Santo in special barrels called “caratelli”. Summer temperature makes peaks of 37 ° C and in winter it goes down to -2 ° C.
The roof is made of roof-tiles, a material more natural than others and one of the best for thermal insulation.

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