Vigneti Massa was founded in 1879 in the Colli Tortonesi hills of southeastern Piedmont, but it was modern pioneer Walter Massa who revitalized the estate by championing indigenous varieties and low-intervention farming. Renowned globally as the "Maestro of Timorasso" for saving that white grape from extinction, Walter applies the same terroir-driven dedication to the region's historic red grapes. The estate's flagship red cuvée, "Monleale," is exclusively sourced from three historic old-vine Barbera plots surrounding the village of Monleale: Bigolla (planted in 1965/68), Fontana (planted in 1978/84), and Campolungo (planted in 2002). These steep vineyards sit at elevations of 250 to 280 meters on a complex matrix of limestone and clay soils, providing the optimal drainage and high-altitude cooling needed to craft an intensely complex, age-worthy red wine.