On 23 November 1953, on the premises of the Nursery School in Castelnuovo Don Bosco, 27 grapegrowers signed the agreement establishing the Cantina Sociale del Freisa. This pioneering initiative wrote the first page in the history of one of the very first grower cooperatives in the Monferrato, a wine-production area set between the Asti district and the Torino hill district of Chieri.

The purpose of the Cantina Sociale was to unite together the small—and in some cases, very small—grapegrowers, to provide them with a jointly-owned winemaking facility, and, in particular, to give them a just remuneration for their work in their vineyards. At thefirst harvest, in 1956, the growers formed long lines at the reception points, many ox-drawn caret and a very few tractors laden with grapes. Mechanisation of vineyard operations still lay in the future, and so all the procedures in both vineyard and winecellar were performed by hand. The winery produced Freisa, Barber, and Bonarda, sold in bulk or in demijohns.

The industrialisation and the economic boom of the 1960s resulted in the de-population of the rural areas, in particular around Turin. Because of its high amount of hand labour and necessarily lengthy production times, viticulture was abandoned in favour of the emerging metalworking industry. However, thanks to its cooperative structure, the Cantina Sociale del Freisa provided a safety net in the midst of the exodus from the countryside, helping its members to preserve their winegrowing traditions and to prevent the marginalisation of local native grapes, such as freisa, malvasia, and the very rare cari, an ancient variety classic to the Turin hills.

Beginning in the 1970s, the DOC system (Denominazione di Origine Controllata, or Denomination of Delimited Origin) was introduced into Piedmont, and the Cantina del Freisa was one of the first to adopt the new DOC regulations, which provided consumers with more clarity, more monitoring of the production process, and wine traceability, right to the wine’s point of origin. Consumers began preferring wine in bottles, which could now bear the name of the denomination. Thus emerged Freisa d’Asti and Freisa di Chieri; Barbera d’Asti and Barbera del Monferrato; Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco and, later, Albugnano.

In 1988, GiacomoAldoMusso, the newly-elected President, ushered in a radical renovation of the Cantina Sociale. Not only were the physical facilities, equipment, storage, and shipping modernised, but the viticultural production was totally re-calibrated, with growers now required to deliver their entire crop to the winery, which had the effect of stabilising quantity and encouraging the growers to aim for higher quality fruit.

The 1990s opened with programs of more careful attention paid to the vineyards. Zonation studies were gradually introduced to identify vineyard characteristics and quality potential. The best vineyards were catalogued according to climate, aspect, and soil profile, while the brought-in grapes were subjected to a stricter quality selection process, under parameters of technical data, visual, and sensory characteristics, all based on classification protocols aimed at higher quality. Harvest, too, began to be linked to data showing the progress of ripeness in the individual vineyard areas. In the meantime, overall vineyard extent was increased, through the addition of new grower-members in the hills of Chieri and Asti.

The 2004 union with Cantina Sociale di San Damiano d’Asti, gave birth to Terre dei Santi, a cooperative whose over 160 grower-members dedicate more than 320 hectares of vineyards in some of Piedmont’s most renowned hillside growing areas to the production of traditional native wine varieties. In the early years of the new millennium, Terre dei Santi strengthened its position in its area, re-structuring its retail outlets and upgrading the hospitality program at the Castelnuovo Don Bosco winery, the cooperative’s main production facility. In concert with its members and local organizations, Terre dei Santi plays a leading role in initiatives geared to promoting the growing areas and to communicating the social and tourism qualities of the Castelnuovo district, a part of the Lower Monferrato that wine-lovers and tourists are just beginning to discover and relish.

Today, Terre dei Santi represents the geographical and winegrowing centre of Piedmont, a crossroads of experience, expertise, and flavours of a land rich in cultures and traditions. The winery and its vineyards constitute the very quintessence of the entire region. Its commitment to absolute-quality wines complements its dedication to eco-sustainability in the vineyards, animated by a deep respect for nature and for those who work this precious land.