Our history – 25 years of Maso dei Sapori and the birth of Sulis

Our story didn't start from a carefully planned project. It began in Mezzana, with two very young people, a great desire to do something, and the decision to try and build something of our own.

We are Max and Elisa.

When we opened Maso dei Sapori, Max was 23 and Elisa was 21. We were young, enthusiastic, but had very little experience. We didn't yet know how important that little shop would become in our lives.

From that moment on, we dedicated practically every season to work. The opening periods were always intense, filled with long days, customers, suppliers, orders, problems to solve, and the satisfactions that gave us the strength to continue.

But even when the shop closed, for us, the work didn't end.

Learning in order to choose

Over the years, we used the off-seasons to go directly to the producers, meet the people behind the products, and truly understand what we were selling.

We visited wineries, distilleries, dairies, and cured meat producers. We tasted, listened, asked questions, and tried to understand the differences between one product and another.

We wanted to learn about a wine before recommending it, understand how a grappa is made, recognize a good cheese, and know how speck or cured meats are produced and aged.

Year after year, this research became part of our job.

We didn't just want to fill the shelves. We wanted to be able to choose.

Today, after 25 years, we feel we have reached a very high level of selection. Behind many of the products in our shop are years of knowledge, testing, visits to producers, and relationships built over time.

Naturally, we continue to search, taste, and learn. This is likely what has allowed us to grow.

Maso dei Sapori has grown along with us

In these 25 years, the shop has changed, we have changed, and our family has grown too.

Arianna and Davide have arrived, and they have inevitably grown up alongside Maso dei Sapori, experiencing our seasons, the work, the busy days, and the many joys that this business has given us, firsthand.

For us, Maso dei Sapori has never been just a shop.

It has become a part of our family life.

There are customers we met many years ago who keep coming back when they visit Val di Sole. We have seen families return year after year, children grow into adults, and people walk in for the first time only to return season after season.

And that is probably one of the most beautiful things about our work.

The choice to invest in Mezzana again

After more than twenty years, we could have simply continued on the path we already knew.

Instead, we decided to take another risk.

We deeply believe in the potential of Mezzana and the Val di Sole and chose to continue investing in our town.

From this choice, Sulis Acqua di Vita, our second shop, was born.

The name Sulis recalls an ancient Celtic deity linked to water, springs, rivers, and waterfalls. A name we liked precisely for its symbolic connection to water and the history of our valley.

Sulis stems from the same experience as Maso dei Sapori, but with a different personality: alongside typical products and fine food and wine, we wanted to give more space to gift ideas, souvenirs, housewares, natural products, and items related to the mountains and Trentino.

Two shops, the same family

Maso dei Sapori and Sulis are different, but behind both, it is still us.

Max, Elisa, Arianna, and Davide.

A family that chose to live and work here, investing most of their lives in the tourist seasons and using the remaining time to better get to know what they offer their customers.

After 25 years, we definitely have a few more gray hairs and much more experience than those two 23 and 21-year-olds who started this adventure.

But one thing hasn't changed.

The desire to look for good products, get to know those who produce them, and be able to tell the customer why we decided to put them on our shelves.

Today we are proud of the quality level reached, but we also know that this work never ends.

There is always a new producer to meet, a winery to visit, a cheese to taste, a grappa to discover, and something new to learn.

This is our story.
And it is a story that, after 25 years, we are still very eager to continue.