Every Thing About MASSENA

ESTABLISH

Massena was established at the turn of the century by Jaysen Collins and Dan Standish. Growing up amongst the old vines of the Barossa inspired a collaboration in making wines of character, balance and a reflection of the sense of enjoyment in the whole winemaking process. The search for amazing vineyards continued year after year which culminated in welcoming Stonegarden custodian Glen Monaghan into the Massena collective. Our wines are made with a view that each wine has a context. With food, with friends, for no reason whatsoever, they are there to be enjoyed.

VINEYARDS

We source traditional Barossa varieties Shiraz, Grenache and Mataro from dedicated growers in the deep red soils of the North Western edge of the Barossa. These include the sub regions of Greenock, Stonewell and Moppa. These rare vineyards host dry farmed, low yielding vines up to 150 years of age.

DADDS BLOCK

Planted in 2001 on a spare parcel of land owned by the Dadds Family, this vineyard sits on the outskirts of Nuriootpa. The Dadds block is planted to Mataro, Saperavi, Primitivo and Tannat over 10 acres on a mix of white sand, red and yellow clays and brown loam soils. With extremely low vigour and on a gentle southerly slope, this vineyard is run sustainably and produces grapes that have an amazing balance of fruit flavour and acidity.

STONEGARDEN VINEYARD

The Stonegarden vineyard was established in 1858 on the Eastern edge of the Barossa, outside the town of Springton. Originally planted to fortified varieties such as Muscat and Grenache, it also has original plantings of Shiraz and Cabernet and a section of old vine Riesling. The metamorphic base to the soils, an elevation of 400 metres and meagre rainfall provide some of the most sought after grapes in the Barossa and produces true wines of provenance.

WINEMAKING

Massena is all about making wine from great vineyards and the way we go about it reflects this simplicity, with minimal intervention in the winery.

Hand harvesting allows some whole bunch inclusion and the vineyard’s indigenous yeast is used in all ferments.

White wines are whole bunch pressed and fermentation is carried out in either temperature controlled stainless steel tanks or seasoned french barriques. Long ferments on lees give extra complexity, mouthfeel and texture.

The red wines are made quite traditionally, with open top fermentation, gentle extraction and basket pressing followed by ageing on lees in new and seasoned French oak barrels. Extended time on skins post ferment is used to build tannin structure and a savoury profile.

Massena wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered and have minimal sulphur added.