MAZZAROSA DEVINCENZI

Cavaliere di Obbedienza del Sovrano Militare Ordine di Malta

 

The wine cellar Mazzarosa Devincenzi has a long history and is one of the most ancient structures, and probably the only one, of this kind in Abruzzo. It was studied and realized by Senator Devincenzi (1846-1903) that had before varies assignments in the parliament of the Reign two Sicily and subsequently in the Reign of Italy. He was very interested in agriculture and surely had chance to observe what was going on in other countries such as Engand in which he spent a few years in exile and France. Once he finished his publics assignments he dedicated entirely to his farm, constructing the wine cellar and planting vineyards of several qualities, he was the first to import in Abruzzo the Cabernet. He also was the first to introduce in Abruzzo the Tuscan way of wine-making. The wine cellar that you see today was constructed with techniques and futuristic ideas for the time. The true wine cellar is isolated from the outside by two lateral corridors that serve to dampen the excursions of temperature, so that in summer you will find always a cool temperature inside. The Wine to be aged and preserved properly should not suffer temperature excursion. and obviously at the time there were not air conditioning devices. Moreover in order to facilitate the labour he invented a water elevator that lifted the grapes to the floor above the cellar, from where, series of carriages on tracks, carried them over the vats letting them fall down from one appropriate trap door. That alleviated the labour enormously and the hard work of the peasants who were instead used to pour the grapes in the vats lifting them up with the bins on their shoulders. Practically it has been one of the first attempts of industrialization of the wine-making process. The wine cellar is separated from the earth by an interstice in order to keep it dry. His fatigue gave him great satisfactions as he won many prices all over Europe.