Proprieta Sperino

The Winemaker

In the middle of the 19th century, Casimiro Sperino, doctor, senator in the first Italian Parliment, dean of the Medical School at the University of Turin and founder of the Royal Academy of Medicine, founded Italy's first free hospital in Turin, dedicated to caring for the poor and the homeless. He quickly discovered, however, that the doctors made the poor pay 'under the corruption', he left the city and medicine to dedicate himself to viticulture at his property in Lessona. His son, Felice Sperino, also a doctor and professor in Turin, inherited his passion and dedicated himself to the development of viticulture in Northern Piemonte. He wrote books and articles on the disappearing indigenous varieties and was a pioneer in the battle against phylloxera, writing widely and researching American rootstocks. In the absence of an heir, his property passed to his relatives, the De Marchi family, who were doctors and lawyers in Northern Piedmont. For them, viticulture was always secondary to their chosen careers and by the 60's, the combination of a lack of labour and low profitability convinced them to abandon viticulture. When Paolo De Marchi, the grandson of the family that inherited Proprieta Sperino, began working at Isole e Olena in 1976, he always dreamed of revitalising viticulture at Lessona. The splendid hillside sites that were once planted to vines are now covered in trees and scrub. As a result, replanting is a difficult and expensive task. But given the history of the place and the potential to produce a great Nebbiolo, the effort is well worthwhile.