There are very few people lucky enough to claim that they managed to transform their greatest passion into a genuine career. Marino Del Curto is one of them.

It was back in 1988 – when Marino was a mere 36 – that along with his wife Grazia – he decided to follow a hunch and to incorporate within the fruit and vegetable shop he ran in Chiavenna’s historic centre an extensive and well appointed wine outlet – which was to become a key reference point for tourists and locals alike.

A “gamble”, as someone is sure to have pointed out over the years, that was soon to turn into a sparkling success story. What made the difference - as is common in these ventures – was the enormous passion that Marino always put into his daily workload. Anyone who got to know him at the “control helm” of his wine cellar would certainly be struck by his very congenial and generous nature¸ along with the vast expertise which Marino readily conveys. Addressing a bottle of wine, Marino does not simply describe its properties and lingering aftertastes, but digs a deal deeper. He re-invokes the very essence if the wine, its origins and the history of the vine, every aspect of the terroir in which it “grew legs”, the characteristics of the cellar in which it was refined, and above all else, the dreams which had inspired the very people who had produced it.

And today, at 67, fully 30 years after the inauguration of his wine cellar. Marino is preparing to pass on the “corkscrew” to his daughter Anna, just 23, yet eager to follow in the footsteps of her father. Brava. But a difficult act to follow indeed.