An unexpected photograph, an encounter with some of the pioneers of space exploration, and a collection of 2014 Roero wines bearing the insignia of the Apollo missions. Sometimes the most surprising wine stories begin far away from the vineyards. Silvano Nizza’s story takes us all the way to the Moon.
There are stories you never expect to discover when visiting a winery. Especially in Roero, a region that already has so much to tell through its landscapes, its wines, and the people who work every day to preserve its identity. Yet among the bottles kept by Silvano Nizza, there are a few that seem to belong to another world. And, in a way, they really do.
Lined up side by side, their labels display the emblems of the Apollo missions, the names of the astronauts, and the nicknames by which some of them were known. These are not simply commemorative bottles, but reminders of a rather unlikely encounter between Piedmontese winemaking and some of the people behind one of the most extraordinary adventures of the twentieth century: the exploration of space.
Silvano Nizza himself tells us how this unusual collection came about. And the amusing thing is that, at least initially, astronauts were not a particular passion of his.
“I knew practically nothing about the astronauts or those missions. I wasn’t even particularly interested,” he admits with a smile. Then, as so often happens with the best stories, chance intervened.
It all began with a photograph. Al Worden, an astronaut on the Apollo 15 mission, was photographed holding a bottle of Silvano Nizza’s wine. A seemingly insignificant moment that unexpectedly opened the door to a series of encounters and a truly unusual project.
Silvano subsequently had the opportunity to meet three Apollo astronauts through events organised in Italy to share the story of lunar exploration and showcase memorabilia from those historic missions. Together with the organiser, he came up with the idea of creating a series of bottles dedicated to the men who had taken part in that remarkable era.
The choice fell on a 2014 Roero, transformed for the occasion into a special commemorative collection. The labels feature the emblems of the space missions and references to individual astronauts, including some of the nicknames used among their fellow crew members. Looking at them, you encounter names that have become part of the history of space exploration, from Alan Bean to Edgar Mitchell, from Alan Shepard to Buzz Aldrin.
But there is another detail that makes this story even more remarkable: according to Silvano, the labels were produced with NASA’s authorisation.
“You can’t simply use the Apollo mission emblems on wine labels. I obtained permission, and they made the labels for me, with the different emblems and the astronauts’ nicknames,” he explains, showing us a collection he clearly treasures.
This is no insignificant detail. It turns what might otherwise have been a simple tribute to the history of space exploration into a tangible reminder of the personal connections that developed around those events.
And today, years later, the bottles are still there, carefully preserved. Some even bear the astronauts’ signatures. Needless to say, there are no plans to uncork them.
“I’m happy to have them. I keep them there, and they’re certainly bottles that will never be opened,” Silvano says, with the unassuming manner of someone who sees the collection above all as a wonderful memory.
Ultimately, this is what makes the story so fascinating. A wine born on the hills of Roero, expressing the character of a region deeply rooted in its agricultural heritage, becomes a meeting point with men who took part in one of humanity’s most ambitious achievements. Two seemingly distant worlds, brought together, if only for a moment, by curiosity and the ability to forge human connections.
Travelling through Roero, you continually discover that the true value of a place lies not only in what it produces, but also in the stories of the people who live there. Some are about family traditions, vineyards, and harvests. Others, quite unexpectedly, take you much further.
Silvano Nizza’s story reminds us that a bottle of wine can hold something far greater than its contents. Even a small piece of the history of space exploration.
And that sometimes, to discover a connection with the Moon, you don’t need to look up at the sky. You simply need to step inside a winery in Roero.
