hemme, which is made primarily from Nebbiolo grapes, is produced in the Colli Novaresi and Vercellesi viticultural area.As in the case of all great wines, Ghemme boasts extremely ancient origins. In that respect, the discovery near Ghemme of the tombstone of Vibia Earina, a freedwoman of Vibius Crispus, a Roman senator of the time of Tiberius, provides an archaeological confirmation of indisputable validity that vines were cultivated in the district at least as early as the beginning of the Christian era. The Romans owned some vineyards in the district that were veritable models of "up-to-date" agricultural practice and where scientific rules were followed in every phase of winemaking from cultivation of the vines to vinification.
However, it appears that the winemakers preferred to emphasize quantity as opposed to quality. Pliny the Elder criticized some of them for selecting unsuitable terrains but he objected, above all, to the adoption of the "ad alteno" technique in which the vines were trained to trees. That approach assured heavy production but the final result was a wine that was sharp on the palate. The quantity of wine it produced led the town of Anagnum, afterward Ghemme, to select as the emblems for its communal banner a cluster of grapes and a sheaf of wheat.
Afterward, the monks assumed the task of promoting and applying good vinification techniques. The zeal with which they dedicated themselves to that mission produced fine results. Output was substantial and a large part of the production was sold on nearby markets, especially that of Milan. In succeeding centuries, careful attention was still directed at improving vinification techniques and in 1969 Ghemme received its Denominazione di Origine Controllata, that in 1997 was upgraded to Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita.
