In 1900, Antonio Scarpa founded his winery in Nizza Monferrato. Today, 125 years later, his vision still lives on – among the hills of Monferrato and the Langhe, and now, in a brand-new project rooted in Tuscan soil – carried forward in a story of patience, quality, and loyalty to the land. Ours is the story of one of the oldest wine estates in Piedmont. A story that spans two world wars, the birth of Italy’s wine denominations, the rediscovery of Barbera, the renaissance of Monferrato, and our arrival in the most prestigious crus of Barolo and Barbaresco. A century and a quarter told with no shortcuts, harvest after harvest, vintage after vintage. With one enduring belief: that time is the noblest of all ingredients.
The year is
1900. Italy is still a young kingdom, stepping into a new century with a mix of
ambition and uncertainty. In Turin, the first automobiles are being designed;
in Milan, electricity is lighting up theatres and workshops, turning the city
into a forge of modern ideas. While the big cities grow at an industrial pace
and steam trains cut across the plains, the hills of Piedmont still move to the
rhythm of the fields – of toil, and harvest.
It’s in this
world that Antonio Scarpa, born on the island of Burano, arrives in Nizza
Monferrato and founds his winery. He’s twenty-one, has a background in commerce
and an eye on the future. But what holds him here is more than wine: it’s the
untapped potential of this land – and the encounter with Ernestina Ottavia
Deantonio, who would become his wife in 1908.
In the heart
of Monferrato – still far from enjoying the international reputation of the
Langhe – Antonio builds a modern winemaking facility, equipped with bottling
lines, aging barrels for red wines, as well as tools for crafting
traditional-method sparkling wines and Vermouth. Scarpa is among the first to
believe that quality is the key to the future. Not by chance, in 1940, he bottles
his first Barolo – a historic moment that seals Scarpa’s bond with the Langhe
and still allows us today to produce Barolo beyond the formal borders of the
appellation, by virtue of our historic roots.
Meanwhile,
rural Piedmont faces the century’s trials: two wars, the rise of mechanisation,
waves of emigration. Barbera – long seen as a humble, everyday wine – begins to
gain new ground in the eyes of more forward-thinking producers. Scarpa is one
of them: he believes in its natural strength, but above all, in its potential
to rise.
In 1949, with
no heirs, Antonio hands the winery over to Mario Pesce, a young oenologist from
Nizza, trained between Alsace and Burgundy. Pesce is a visionary, but also a
man of method. He brings to Scarpa a new culture of selection: staggered
harvests, green harvesting, separate vinifications, long aging in large oak
casks. But he also brings something subtler: the idea that wine can be a
message – a way of telling the story of one’s land in a clear, lasting voice. Under
his leadership, Scarpa becomes a laboratory of elegance and a beacon for the
Monferrato region, just as Italy’s wine world begins to establish its first
official regulations.
Pesce is the
one who envisions a distinctive visual identity for Scarpa, redesigning the
bottle along the lines of great aging formats and creating the iconic borgognotta
that still holds our most celebrated wines today. He also opens the doors of
the winery to the outside world, hosting dinners and tastings for foreign
guests – when wine tourism was still little more than a concept. For him,
quality lives not only in the glass, but in every detail: from the vineyard to the
table, through a culture of true hospitality.
Beyond
Monferrato, Italy is changing. It’s the era of the economic boom, of Turin’s
bold design, of the first artistic movements that reshape the way we see both
matter and memory. In Piedmont, the culture of “project” begins to echo in the
gestures of farming – in the will to restore dignity to landscapes and the
wines that come from them. Scarpa keeps working, steadily, holding onto the
belief that wine can – and must – endure.
Mario Pesce
brings his nephew into the fold: Carlo Castino, a young oenologist trained in
Alba.
It’s thanks to him that, in 1969, Scarpa acquires the Poderi Bricchi – a
pivotal moment: twenty-five contiguous hectares between Castel Rocchero and
Acqui Terme become the beating heart of Scarpa’s philosophy. Here, in 1974, La
Bogliona is born: a Barbera d’Asti Superiore that redefines the variety’s
potential.nThree years in large oak casks, then into bottle. No shortcuts, no
rush. Only time.
In the years
that follow, Castino strengthens Scarpa’s identity, planting native varieties
across Poderi Bricchi – not only Barbera, but Ruchè, Brachetto,
Dolcetto, Timorasso – and beginning a careful process of vineyard zoning.
In 2007, the
legacy passes into the hands of winemaker Silvio Trinchero – a pupil of the “Scarpa
school.” Under his guidance, Scarpa begins a carefully paced expansion, putting
down roots in Verduno – in the celebrated Monvigliero cru – and in the Canova
vineyard in Neive.
Alongside the
great reds, the idea of hospitality becomes a central part of our story. The
Scarpa Villas, nestled among the Monvigliero vines, welcome travelers from
all over the world; our historic cellars in Nizza host tastings, events, and
exhibitions in the Tasting Room, Wine Lounge, and Scarpa
Gallery.
Each experience is designed to share, in the most genuine way, what Scarpa has
always been: a way of inhabiting time.
In 2025,
Scarpa celebrates 125 years. An anniversary that proves, once again, that
longevity isn’t just a matter of age – it’s a daily choice. That true modernity
doesn’t lie in chasing change with every season, but in learning how to adapt
while staying true to a vision – and bringing it to life, year after year,
harvest after harvest.
Today, that
vision stretches beyond the borders of Piedmont, reaching toward new
challenges, new landscapes, and new great appellations. To mark this milestone,
we’ve chosen to bring Scarpa’s signature to another iconic land of Italian
wine: the heart of Montalcino.
A step that reflects our idea of wine – turning heritage into experience,
giving voice to terroirs through emotion, and respecting time without ever
losing touch with the present.
The story continues.
