Castello di Neive

Neive owes its name to an important and noble Roman family "Gens Naevia", or "Naevii" and became a municipality around the end of the 12th century. An old castle, perched on the top of the hill, existed even then, but was destroyed in 1274 during a military reprisal.

Castello di Neive and its 150 acre estate are owned by the Stupino brothers and sisters – Anna, Giulio, Italo e Piera. They were all born in Neive, and so were their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.The history of the company began when their father, Giacomo, started to capitalize on both his experience as a surveyor and on his knowledge of the area, and to purchase, whenever possible, vineyards and land in extremely favourable locations. In the small cellars of their home, they began the first production of wine for domestic consumption and to sell in bulk.Messoirano, Montebertotto, Basarin, Valtorta, I Cortini;: the number of vineyards acquired by Giacomo grew and with it also the production and the ambitions of the family. In 1964 they purchased the castle with its spacious cellars, with more farmsteads in Santo Stefano and Marcorino, plus more land from the castle’s previous owner, Count Guido Riccardi Candiani.

This is was a turning point which urged the family to renovate the castle’s cellars, to reorganize the vineyards neglected by the previous owners and to produce wine according to modern methods. When Giacomo died, in 1970, Giulio end Italo oversaw the transition from tenant farming to direct management of the land, with the precious help of Talin Brunettini, skilful cellar man with a knowledge in agronomic techniques. It is at this time that Castello di Neive began to bottle its wines and to introduce them to the rest of Italy and abroad.

In 1978 another rewarding step: thanks to the collaboration between Italo and some experts from the University of Turin – professors Italo Eynard and Annibale Gandini – Castello di Neive started a clonal selection programme of Arneis, a grape long forgotten and abandoned because of its scarce productivity and lack of knowledge in white wine vinification. Arneis wine owes its rediscovery to this joint effort by the company and the University. In the past few years, Italo has devoted himself fully to the direct management of the company, under the name "Castello di Neive Azienda Agricola": a devotion which seems to follow a ‘premonition’ contained in an old photograph: one depicting Mentor, Italo’s grandfather, presenting a grapevine to his young nephew.

Neive owes its name to an important and noble Roman family "Gens Naevia", or "Naevii" and became a municipality around the end of the 12th century. An old castle, perched on the top of the hill, existed even then, but was destroyed in 1274 during a military reprisal.

Castello di Neive and its 150 acre estate are owned by the Stupino brothers and sisters – Anna, Giulio, Italo e Piera. They were all born in Neive, and so were their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.The history of the company began when their father, Giacomo, started to capitalize on both his experience as a surveyor and on his knowledge of the area, and to purchase, whenever possible, vineyards and land in extremely favourable locations. In the small cellars of their home, they began the first production of wine for domestic consumption and to sell in bulk.Messoirano, Montebertotto, Basarin, Valtorta, I Cortini;: the number of vineyards acquired by Giacomo grew and with it also the production and the ambitions of the family. In 1964 they purchased the castle with its spacious cellars, with more farmsteads in Santo Stefano and Marcorino, plus more land from the castle’s previous owner, Count Guido Riccardi Candiani.

This is was a turning point which urged the family to renovate the castle’s cellars, to reorganize the vineyards neglected by the previous owners and to produce wine according to modern methods. When Giacomo died, in 1970, Giulio end Italo oversaw the transition from tenant farming to direct management of the land, with the precious help of Talin Brunettini, skilful cellar man with a knowledge in agronomic techniques. It is at this time that Castello di Neive began to bottle its wines and to introduce them to the rest of Italy and abroad.

In 1978 another rewarding step: thanks to the collaboration between Italo and some experts from the University of Turin – professors Italo Eynard and Annibale Gandini – Castello di Neive started a clonal selection programme of Arneis, a grape long forgotten and abandoned because of its scarce productivity and lack of knowledge in white wine vinification. Arneis wine owes its rediscovery to this joint effort by the company and the University. In the past few years, Italo has devoted himself fully to the direct management of the company, under the name "Castello di Neive Azienda Agricola": a devotion which seems to follow a ‘premonition’ contained in an old photograph: one depicting Mentor, Italo’s grandfather, presenting a grapevine to his young nephew.

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