Pietro Stara è autore del libro “Il discorso del vino” (ZIC Milano, 2013), con cui ha vinto, nel 2015, il premio per la saggistica edita del Centro Pavesiano – CEPAM e del libro “Il vino e la storia” (Sabatelli editore, Savona 2025). La sua ricerca si concentra sul mondo del vino, esplorando temi legati alla sua storia, alla viticoltura e all’enologia. Collabora con diverse testate giornalistiche, sia online che cartacee, approfondendo le tematiche relative al settore. Oltre al suo impegno nel giornalismo, insegna antropologia culturale e sociologia dei consumi, come docente a contratto, presso l’Università di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo.

Pietro Stara

Pietro Stara, autore di "Il discorso del vino" e "Il vino e la storia". Scrittore ed esperto che esplora cultura, storia e filosofia del vino.

Pietro Stara - Autore | Il discorso del vino, Il vino e la

The history of grignolino: roots and legacy of a great Piedmontese grape Dive into the enigmatic world of grignolino with this compelling historical investigation by renowned researcher Pietro Stara. Using an "evidential paradigm"—a detective-like approach—Stara uncovers the mysteries and complex identities of a grape variety that has shaped Piedmontese viticulture, yet whose history has often been overlooked. A historical enigma unfolds The journey begins in the 13th century (1249), tracing the grape’s earliest footsteps back to the monks of Sant’Evasio in Casale Monferrato. At the time, it was known as "Berbesino" or "Barbesino". It wasn’t until a 1614 inventory of the Casale Castle that the name "grignolino" finally appeared in official records. Key highlights of the research: The identity quest: discover how 19th-century ampelographers like Demaria, Leardi, and the traveler Giorgio Gallesio solved the puzzle of its many synonyms, confirming that the "barbesino" of Alessandria and the "grignolino" of Asti were, in fact, the same soul. The etymological debate: the book tackles the fierce disputes linking grignolino to barbera, debunking myths through the rigorous historical analysis of scholars like Senator Desana and Dalmasso. A sparkling past: in a surprising revelation, the text explores grignolino’s role as a pioneer of Italian sparkling wine. Long before its current still-wine reputation, it was crafted using the Méthode Champenoise, winning prestigious awards and ranking as a top choice for spumante production as late as 1924. The white mystery: the investigation even touches upon the elusive "white grignolino," a rare variety mentioned in historical texts and immortalized in the famous 1858 wax fruit models by Francesco Garnier Valletti.

1. History, mathematics and abduction

2. The nineteenth-century ampelographies and Grignolino, or Barbesino

3. Grignolino - TABLE XXI

4. Giorgio Gallesio. The travel journals

5. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries

6. Aldo di Ricaldone and the erroneous attribution of barbesine grapes to ancient Barbera

7. Desana and the refutation of the theses proposed by Father Coppo and then by Giovanni Aldo di Ricaldone

8. A viticultural sub-lexicon

9. A white barbesino or a white Grignolino?

10. Grignolino and the traditional method

11. Documentary appendix

12. Bibliography

7 Desana and the refutation of the theses proposed by Father Coppo and then by Giovanni Aldo di Ricaldone I now report a large part of the explanations, reasoning and documentary material that prompted Senator Desana1 to refute the etymological and philological research of Giovanni Aldo di Ricaldone and, before him, of Father Coppo. There is no doubt that in addition to the difkculty of tracing ancient nominal clarity, Desana relies on his arguments by referring, in a specikc and decisive manner, to the way of naming grapes by winemaLers and the people who lived in those lands, as Demaria and :eardi testiked in their studyq the words said, their synonymic use, commercial agreements, the papers found served, knally, to build a reference frameworL in which the Barbesine represented, either as a better Nuality variant or as eNuivalents, Grignolino. Origins of a name In 9ovember 16'' Desana gave a conference at the Rotary Club of Casale which was then reported in article form both in La Provincia di Alessandria and in Il Coltivatore e Giornale Vinicolo Italiano di Casale. The conference started from DalmassoPs 1. The debate reports what Maolo Desana expressed in Storie di vini e di uomini, in Gabriele Serrafero, Maolo Desana, Gente e vini del Monferrato, Rotary Club Casale 7onferrato, Casale 7onferrato, 1651, pp. 68-12E 

DHSA9A A9D TUH RHFOTATI 9  F TUH TUHSHS MR M SHD4 B5 study and focused on the history of Miedmontese viticulture. At the end, he highlighted some problems related to the recognition of the denominations of origin of some Miedmontese wines, whose applications were being examined. In particular, he focused on the zarbera of Alba, Asti and 7onferrato, emphasi"ing the importance of determining how long the name of a wine had been used in a generali"ed way by producers, as established by the law on controlled designation of origin. The publication of the conference provoLed the intervention of the ancient canons of the Casale Chapter of SantPHvasio, giving rise to a discussion among scholars. To summari"e the issue, one of the scholars who contributed to the debate was Mrofessor Mietro Giordano  dalengi, who, in a 16'2 article, emphasi"ed that Senator Desana was examining the Ynatural right to use the geographical denominationY for the various types of zarbera. Furthermore,  dalengi cited the opinion of other experts on the historical delimitation of 7onferrato, a topic of great relevance for the recognition of denominations. Giordano then focused on the origins of the grape variety and its name, citing an article by Father Angelo Coppo who, starting from a conference held in Casale, had identiked documents dating bacL to the thirteenth century, preserved in the Chapter Archive of the Cathedral of Casale, in which vines called YBarbesineY, YBerbesineY and YBarbarossaY were mentioned. Giordano confronted another expert, Mrofessor G. Dalmasso, who had studied grape varieties, also mentioning white and blacL YBarbesinoY. Father Coppo, in his article, had highlighted that, although many ancient texts did not mention zarbera, there were much older testimonies indicating the use of the term as early as 1EB'. Coppo had in fact found parchments containing land lease contracts stipulated by the Casale Chapter, which spoLe of Ygood barbesine vinesY. According to Coppo, these mentions 

Roots and Evidence of a Great Piedmontese Grape Variety - The History of Grignolino