Vinea Marson
Heathcote , Victoria
Brands
Vinea Marson, Jozza by Vinea Marson
Winery Overview
Owner/Winemaker Mario Marson spent some 17 years in the Yarra Valley under the tutelage of John Middleton at Mount Mary Vineyard before making the leap to his own label, Vinea Marson. Established on Cambrian soil at the foot of Heathcote’s Mount Camel Range in 2000, Marson quickly gained a reputation for producing some of Australia’s most authentic Italian varietals.
From Vinea Marson’s two estate vineyards, almost 30 clones of Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and Barbera are planted alongside regional stalwarts shiraz & viognier, producing wines of elegance and complexity since 2003.
More recently, the Heritage Range has been added to Vinea Marson’s Italian stable, with indigenous varieties from Friuli & the Veneto including Friulano, Malvasia d’Istria, Prosecco & Picolit produced from the cool, crisp Alpine Valleys of north-eastern Victoria, paying homage to the Marson family’s winemaking roots with complex blends, skin contact and sparkling wines.
Now joined in the state-of-the-art winery by daughter, Assistant Winemaker Madeleine Marson, the Vinea Marson label is highly sought after in premium establishments throughout Australia.
Seeking Distribution in
Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam
Winemaker Bio
With more than 40 years’ spent working in the Yarra Valley and in central Victoria’s celebrated Heathcote region, owner/winemaker Mario Marson is one of Australia’s most experienced winemakers. Winemaking had long been a tradition in the Marson family, from the suburban Melbourne backyard to the family farm in Friuli that Mario first visited as a child meeting grandfathers who has made wine for decades. Mario pursued his passion for wine, gaining qualifications in Agricultural Science from La Trobe University and Applied Science (Wine Science) from Charles Sturt University.
For 17 years Mario was winemaker and viticulturalist at the renowned Mount Mary in the Yarra Valley, working alongside the late Dr John Middleton. A formative experience, these years gave Mario a valuable understanding of both the technical and creative skills required to produce premium quality wine. The embrace of a very European style of winemaking as well as multiclonal plantings and sustainable vineyard management, showed the importance of allowing the terroir to speak for itself.
Mario sees the education of the winemaker as an ongoing pursuit. Regular trips to Piedmont, Tuscany and Friuli and vintages undertaken with Paolo de Marchi at Isole e Olena and Lessona, and in Burgundy at Domaine de la Pousse D'Or have refined his approach to viticulture & winemaking. Such experiences have proven invaluable in the development of Mario's Italian & French style wines which constitute some of the most celebrated & authentic in Australia.
Madeleine Marson - Assistant Winemaker
Instrumental in establishing the family’s award-winning Cellar Door and growing the family’s marketing and trade presence from 2014, Assistant Winemaker Madeleine Marson turned her attention to the winery in 2017, completing a vintage in the Yarra Valley before heading back to pursue her love of Italian varieties at the family winery in Heathcote.
In addition to managing winery operations, Madeleine is completing a Bachelor of Wine Science at Charles Sturt University and is passionate about sustainability. She is currently completing a research project on the impact of climate change on the production of Sangiovese in Tuscany as the 2019 Victorian Wine Show Travel Scholarship recipient. In 2021 Madeleine was the recipient of Victorian Government’s Young Farmer Scholarship to further develop Vinea Marson’s vineyard sustainability initiatives – which see annual plantings of cover crops, undervine straw & revegetation of Australian natives.