Museo Casa della Donna Selvatica

The Casa della Donna Selvatica Museum in Neive interprets the life and work of Romano Levi and his sister Lidia, whose handcrafted grappa and hand-drawn labels became part of the cultural identity of the Langhe.

Why it matters

The museum approaches distillation through art and rural culture. Romano Levi worked as a distiller for more than sixty years and drew the labels that made each bottle distinctive; Lidia created herbal grappas. Their work inspired the figure of the Donna Selvatica, an image of the independent rural woman and a recurring subject in Levi's artistic imagination.

What to notice

The collection centres on Levi's hand-drawn labels and the imagery of the Donna Selvatica. It presents the visual language surrounding the family distillery as an artistic and anthropological record of Langhe rural life, alongside the tradition of small-scale grappa-making.

Context and history

The Levi family's distilling tradition is associated with the Alpine valleys of San Giacomo. Romano Levi ran the family still for more than sixty years, while Lidia selected herbs and produced herbal grappas. The municipal museum grew from research into this family heritage and the wider cultural meaning of the Donna Selvatica in the Langhe.