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Via Maria 10 in the Italian town of Reggio Emilia is, by its own account, the smallest winery in the world. It is 200 square metres in size and is located on the roof of owner Tullio Masoni's house. He fertilises his Sangiovese vines with eggs, bananas, seaweed and nightingale droppings and claims that they are affected by the noise of the city. A former investment banker, Masoni had inherited a vineyard near Reggio Emilia but sold it. He later regretted this decision and planted the rooftop vineyard. He sells the 29 bottles produced on it each year in a local art gallery. Masoni sees his wine as an art project and has set the price at 5,000 US dollars per 0.75l bottle.
The trellises for the vines were made by a sculptor, the oak barrels designed by artists. "My grapes reach for art as soon as they are born," says Masoni, asking that his wine bottles be treated like works of art, that they never be opened and that the wine not be drunk. "My wine is a form of artistic expression, a philosophical provocation, something you keep in your living room to chat about with your friends and tell them about the crazy guy who planted a vineyard on his roof," Masoni says.
(al / Source: drinksbusiness; Photo: Facebook/Via Maria 10)