A mosaic of art, viticulture and nature
History of Tenuta Le Fracce
In over a century of history, Le Fracce has built an enchanting mosaic of art, viticulture and nature, creating wines of distinctive character and superior quality in the heart of the Oltrepò Pavese.
In the mid-1950s, lawyer Fernando Bussolera purchased a residence at the foot of this hill, built in the 17th century as a monastic convent and, together with his wife Lina Branca, made it their home.
To the vineyards inherited from his father Giulio, Fernando combined new vines, including a vineyard area of 40 hectares and an estate in the plain of 50 hectares. To these a park was added, giving life to a real vineyard with a garden: 100 hectares of naturalistic wonders.
The passions of the lawyer Bussolera enriched the estate with an enchanting habitat of flora and fauna: a colourful garden of flowers and plants, tropical birds, flamingos, peacocks, golden pheasants, horses, rare and exotic animals such as cheetahs.
In the early 1960s the first labels of the estate were born: Le Fracce del Levriere, Le Fracce del Fagiano, Le Fracce del Cavallo, Le Fracce del Pavone and Le Fracce del Pettirosso.
Today the estate, home of the Bussolera-Branca Foundation, is a place where the interaction between man, art and nature draws a mosaic of rare beauty: the secular park – with ancient statues and hundreds of specimens of trees, even secular trees and flowering plants – hosts the collections of antique horse carts, buggies and vintage cars, of which the lawyer was a great lover, beside the cellars of Tenuta Le Fracce.
The Casa dell’Art Brut has recently been created in a historical home of the complex, inside a collection of 30,000 Outsider Art works – among the most important in the world – together with two important collections of books.
It is in this context of intense and constant cultural and naturalistic dynamism that the wines of Tenuta Le Fracce are born today.
