Preserving and enhancing community heritage: Italy “Museimpresa” network grows to 160 museums

Every people in the world is accustomed to preserving traces of its past through the creation of monuments, works of art, documents, and material evidence. Within this mosaic of collective memory, there is also a place for corporate museums and archives which preserve and promote cultural heritage by making it accessible to communities: this is precisely the mission of “Museimpresa”, the Italian Association of Corporate Archives and Museums, founded in 2001 on the initiative of Assolombarda and Confindustria. Today, it is the national reference point for the enhancement of the historical and cultural heritage of Italian companies, bringing together more than 160 organizations across the country. Among its 2026 new members are the Historical Archive and the renowned cellar of the Meregalli Group, one of Italy most important and long-established wine and spirits distributors (representing prestigious brands such as Tenuta San Guido, Argiolas, Speri, Oddero, Nino Franco, and Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona, as well as major international names including Domaines Barons de Rothschild, Bollinger, Penfolds, and Francis Ford Coppola Winery, to name just a few of them).
Located at the Group historic headquarters, within a section of the ancient Convent of Santa Margherita in Monza, whose origins date back to 1298 and which once housed none other than the “Nun of Monza”, made famous by Alessandro Manzoni in his masterpiece “The Betrothed”, the archive tells not only the story of the company evolution but also that of Italy wine and spirits culture. The cellar preserves historic bottles, alongside documents, period objects, works of art, and a specialized library dedicated to wine, gastronomy, and the relationship between culture and territory. Over its 170 years of activity (celebrated this year, as Marcello Meregalli, president of the Meregalli Group, and Corrado Mapelli, General Manager and partner of Meregalli Giuseppe Spa, the Group holding company, explained to WineNews in an interview), the Meregalli family has contributed significantly to the spread of wine culture in Italy, introducing the Italian market to some of the world’s most important wine and spirits producers, while supporting the evolution of the sector through continuous work in selection, education, and knowledge-sharing.
Other wine-related members of the “Museimpresa” association include the Ricci Curbastro Agricultural and Wine Museum, a prestigious Franciacorta producer, Ferrari Trento, the leading Trentodoc winery run by the Lunelli family, and the Chiarli Historical Archive, a benchmark name in the world of Lambrusco. The food and beverage sector is represented by iconic made in Italy institutions, including the Giorgio Amarelli Liquorice Museum, the Amaro Lucano Museum, the Barilla Historical Archive, the Peroni Beer Historical Archive and Museum, the Branca Collection, the Campari Gallery, the Dersut Coffee Museum, the Gruppo Cimbali Espresso Machine Museum, the Private Museum of La Fabbrica della Pasta di Gragnano, the Lavazza Museum, the Giovanni Mucci Sugared Almond Museum, the Vito Forte Bread Museum, Spazio Strega, the Urbani Truffle Museum, and the Parma Food Museums, among many others.