The Italian agronomist and ampelographer Conte Giuseppe di Rovasenda (1824-1913) came from an ancient noble family. The picture on the right shows the "Castello Vecchio" in Rovasenda. He was trained for a diplomatic career, but after a short time he gave up this activity and devoted himself completely to agriculture and in particular to viticulture and the study of vines. He made his first studies in 1860 in Sciolze, a small commune in the province of Turin, on his uncle's estate. Initially, he collected various grape varieties from Piedmont and constantly supplemented them with varieties from France, Germany and Spain. This developed into a comprehensive collection of grape varieties, all of which were planted on a hill called "Bicocca" in the town of Villonovetta near Turin.
In 1877, his work "Saggio di Ampelografia Universale" was published, describing in detail 3,666 grape varieties from this world's largest collection of grape varieties near Turin, with many details such as morphology and ripening time. Rovasenda created a network of academics, researchers, breeders, owners of vineyards and other collectors. He also worked closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Royal Academy of Agriculture of Turin, of which he was an honorary life member. Rovasenda donated the entire collection to the "Reale Scuola di Viticultura e di Enologia" (Royal School of Viticulture and Enology) in Alba. See also under winegrowing personalities.
Castello Vecchio: di Paolo Caccia Dominioni - Opera propria, CC BY-SA 3.0, Collegamento
