The history of Italian wine science has a precise date. And a place that would become synonymous with training, experimentation and quality. On 9 July 1876, a Royal Decree issued by Victor Emmanuel II established Italy’s first School of Viticulture and Oenology in Conegliano, entrusted to the vision of Antonio Carpenè and Giovanni Battista Cerletti. A few years after France (1870 in Montpellier) and Germany (1872 in Geisenheim), Italy also entered the modern era of wine from a scientific point of view.

150 years later (although the official inauguration took place on 15 January 1877 at the first headquarters in Via Caronelli), today the Cerletti Institute, which consists of a high school, an agricultural company, a winery, a distillery, Manzoni Museum and associated university research centres, has become a truly internationally recognised wine campus, in constant dialogue with the Conegliano Valdobbiadene area, to which it has contributed significantly in shaping its productive identity.

Among the protagonists of this story is Luigi Manzoni, geneticist and headmaster, whose work on varietal crossbreeding marked a turning point in 20th century viticulture. The museum dedicated to him, housed within the institute, preserves documents, instruments and materials that recount a period of advanced experimentation, which is still relevant today for its ability to connect science, climate and landscape. The Manzoni Museum, together with the historic rooms of the school, will be one of the focal points of the initiatives open to the public for the 150th anniversary, with openings and guided tours designed for a non-specialist audience.

Manzoni Museum

Celebrations will begin in May with a rich series of events

The celebrations, scheduled from 22 to 24 May, are part of the wider programme of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Italian City of Wine 2026, which recognises the school’s strategic role as an educational and cultural centre.

Alongside institutional events, the programme offers educational and cultural initiatives that showcase the school as a lively and dynamic place, not just an institution. These include a photographic exhibition dedicated to the history of Cerletti and its protagonists, concerts in monumental spaces and events designed to encourage interaction between the community, students and former pupils.

This context also includes the MINI Expo, hosted within the School of Oenology, which connects education and business through the participation of companies founded or run by former students. A symbolic return to its origins, which restores the image of a school capable of generating lasting skills and concrete benefits for the local area.

The 150th anniversary of Cerletti is therefore an opportunity to revisit, with a contemporary perspective, a long history of knowledge applied to the wine-growing landscape. A history that continues to influence the present and still contributes to defining the relationship between the hills of Conegliano Valdobbiadene and the wine culture that has made them famous throughout the world.