The Italian agronomist and ampelographer Conte Giuseppe di Rovasenda (1824-1913) came from an ancient noble family. The picture on the right shows the medieval family castle "Castello Vecchio" in Rovasenda. He was trained for a diplomatic career, but gave up this activity after a short time and devoted himself entirely to agriculture and in particular to viticulture and the study of vines.

He undertook his first studies in 1860 in Sciolze, a small municipality in the province of Turin, on his uncle's estate. He initially collected various grape varieties from Piedmont and constantly added to these 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.
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Markus J. Eser
Weinakademiker und Herausgeber „Der Weinkalender“