From luxury automotive to wine: Michele Marsiai launches the Amistà boutique winery in Piedmont

It’s a short step from luxury automotive to a boutique winery in one of the emerging Piedmont wine territories: or at least it was for Michele Marsiaj, a Turin entrepreneur, third generation of a family that, since 1947, has been producing (with the holding Marsiaj & C., owner of the Sabelt brand), seats and seat belts for high-end and racing cars (primarily Ferrari), which, in 2019, gave life to the Amistà project, 12 hectares in the splendid hills of Monferrato, a world heritage site recognized by UNESCO. In the cellar’s basket, two labels, the Nizza Docg and the Nizza Riserva Docg (created with the super consultancy of the Tuscan oenologist Luca D’Attoma) and a signature Vermouth. There is also a hospitality project, with a refined countryhouse intended for international wine lovers.
Marsiaj, who boasts the physique du rôle of the classic Piedmontese gentleman – tall, elegant and with a décontracté attitude, frequenter of the international jet set (his cousin, Gregorio Marsiaj, is the husband of the top model Eva Herzigova, ed.) – tells WineNews , that he launched himself into the wine adventure for two main reasons: the first is a deep-rooted love for the land (“I was born and raised in the hills around Turin – he explains – I remember that as a child I crushed grapes with our farmers” ), the second, and main, desire to create a long-term project intended for his son Jacopo Marsiaj, a student at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo and in love with the countryside. Thus, in 2017, Marsiaj unleashed a team of experts in the territory of the small DOCG Nizza Monferrato (among the last denominations born in Italy, in 2014) in search of the best plots of land.
The research identified a small winemaker who has always cultivated his Barbera grape vineyards organically (currently a 5% shareholder), with plants ranging from 30 to 90 years of age, and the Amistà project officially began in 2019: to date there are 12 hectares of vineyards, but the goal is to gradually expand, reaching a maximum of 50 hectares in the years to come. “One of the things I’m most proud of is having given legs to this project during the pandemic, when most startups were virtual and online” declares Marsiaj.
The production choice is clear: to aim for excellence, a distinctive trait that Marsiaj brings with him from his experience in the world of luxury automotive, in which production is essentially tailor-made, and in which, he explains to us, “the leather for the seats they come from Made in Italy brands of the caliber of Poltrona Frau and Cassina”. Therefore extreme care of the vineyard and the product, and the exceptional consultancy of an internationally renowned oenologist such as Luca D’Attoma, who, for the first time, has worked in Piedmont. “I convinced him by showing him the vineyards – explains Marsiaj – I spent an entire day with him, before buying them, we explored them inch by inch, and he gave me his “blessing”. Since then I have given him carte blanche in the cellar.” The approach is immediately attentive to the environment, so much so that 2024 will be the first 100% organic harvest, without going beyond the use of the most advanced technology, also thanks to devices that allow constant monitoring of the vineyards. But Marsiaj aims higher, and would soon like to certify the entire company, with a view to total sustainability. Amistà concentrates – the only producer in the area to have made this choice – on only two types of wine, the Nizza Docg (with an average annual production which today stands at 25,000 bottles) and the Nizza Riserva Docg (around 3,000 bottles), from extremely refined and minimalist packaging, which reflects the stylistic approach of the winery. The reference markets are primarily the United States, followed by Asia and Northern Europe, with distributors selected with a “cherry picking” perspective, given the limited production.
But that is not all: “considering the low yield of our vineyards, which is around 50 quintals per hectare (definitely lower than those required by the Nizza Docg specifications), we also wanted to make another product. Despite being a great lover of gin, I wanted to focus, as a good Piedmontese, on Vermouth – explains Michele Marsiaj – a drink that has been part of the tradition of our aperitif since the end of the eighteenth century. Nowadays those on the market are mostly intended for mixology, but I wanted to focus on a Vermouth to drink in purity. Here too I wanted to aim for excellence: I contacted Revel Chion, the oldest Piedmontese distillery, which in the past also produced grappa for the Savoy family. At first they were hesitant, since they had never made Vermouth, then I convinced them. So, together with them, with an expert of the caliber of Fulvio Piccinino and Luca D’Attoma, we created this pure Barbera Vermouth, without the slightest addition of caramel or white grapes”. A niche production with which, this year, Amistà became part of the Turin Vermouth Consortium. To conclude, a luxury hospitality project could not be missing: a small and refined countryhouse welcomes wine lovers, buyers and international journalists: “especially Americans – says Marsiaj – for whom a visit to the vineyard and cellar cannot be separated from an experience of 360 degree hospitality”.