Regole per la Coltivazione delle Viti, secondo la pratica e le sperienze del nobile signor Conte e Cavaliere Giulio Cesare Agosti, Patrizio Beramasco

8vo. 190 x 145 mm., [7 ½ x 5 ½ inches]. 68 pp. Bound in original paste paper boards; with some minor soiling to the covers; otherwise, a very good copy.

Exceedingly rare study of Enlightenment methods for cultivating vines and making them flourish in the soil, climate, and topography of Bergamo and its surroundings. Little is known of Agosti accept that he was a member of the local elite, elected to the Accademia Economico-Arvale of Bergamo and that wrote an unpublished treatise on “raising, grafting, and cutting blackberries” which is in the archives of the City of Bergamo.

Agosti’s book is organized into sixteen chapters which include discussions of specific varieties of vines and how they thrive or not on the slopes of the Bergamo range. There is a chapter on the correct selection of vines; propagation techniques for producing strong, resistant vines; when vines should be planted; how to prepare the soil and best practices for planting the vine; how to experiment with new species of vine; and ways of protecting the vines from disease and how best to destroy vines which have become infected with disease.

Only recently has the Bergamo region begun to produce fine red and white wines, especially in the area known as Franciacorta, considered one of the most interesting wine-producing regions I Northern Italy.