Giovanni Gava is the winemaker for Cantine Maschio in Treviso, Italy. He has extensive experience in sparkling and semi-sparkling wine production. He earned his Enotecnico diploma from the Scuola Enologica di Conegliano in 2004 and his degree in Enology from the University of Padua in 2007. Since 2008, he has served as a technical enologist at Cantine Maschio, part of Cantine Riunite & CIV SCA, overseeing cellar management and production processes from vineyard to bottling. He is also a tasting commissioner at Valoritalia Srl and a board member of the Consorzio di Tutela del Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG. Media Inquiries: Huiru Guo hguo@colangelopr.com | https://www.cantinemaschio.com/en/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
If there’s one word that defines our company, it’s “bubbles.” Every wine we produce is sparkling. In the 1970s, Bonaventura Maschio recognized their potential early, helping shape a style that would become widely embraced—wines tied to celebration, conviviality, and shared moments.
Another word often used today is “sustainability.” We prefer “respect”—for the environment, for people, and for a responsible economic model. Our focus is on building a truly sustainable production process, driven by the people behind it. Our employees and partners are central to that effort, and their work is reflected in every glass.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
A dream: to produce a wine (sparkling wine, out of professional habit) with zero environmental impact. In the vineyard, this means working with vines that do not require treatment with pesticides (but are not GMOs!), and in the winery, it involves a circular economy where a byproduct can become a raw material for another production process.
To produce alcohol-free wines, develop a yeast that, during fermentation, does not produce alcohol but allows the wine to fully retain its characteristics.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
The newest release in Cantine Maschio is Maschio 0, a dealcoholized sparkling wine.
To produce wine like this, you have to start in the vineyard, first identifying the most suitable grape varieties, then testing and refining the processes in the winery: the primary fermentation and subsequent treatments for this new type of product must be followed meticulously. Some key concepts need to be revisited, and everything must be re-evaluated.
The dealcoholization and subsequent preparation of Maschio 0 encapsulate the results of these experiments: working with this alcohol-free base is, in fact, extremely complex and presents new—albeit highly stimulating—challenges. Alcohol is the element that holds the entire structure of the wine together; without alcohol, everything must be in perfect balance. Stay tuned, this wine review is coming soon!
Bonus Question: If you could create your own superpower, what would it be?
I would like our iconic products, Maschio Prosecco and Maschio Zero, which sell over 700 million bottles worldwide, to convey messages of peace. Let’s replace the roar of cannons with the popping of sparkling wine bottles and a toast to life.