At the end of May, we told you about shearing at our family farm, promising that soon it would be time to reveal something we had deliberately kept hidden at the time: the name of the breed to which we, in a way, also belong, ever since we chose to raise it. That moment has arrived: the sheep we raise belong to the Sopravissana breed, and today we want to tell you its story, which is much more than a simple technical entry in a livestock farming manual.
A breed born from an encounter between the Sibillini Mountains and Spain
The story of the Sopravissana began in the eighteenth century in Visso, in the heart of the Sibillini Mountains, in the province of Macerata. For centuries, the Vissana sheep had lived here, a hardy Apennine breed accustomed to transhumance between mountain pastures and the plains of southern Lazio. Starting in the second half of the eighteenth century, local farmers began crossing the Vissana with Merino rams of Spanish and French origin, in a selection process that continued for decades, becoming established between 1820 and 1830. A new breed was born, taking its name from its place of origin and the Merino blood flowing through its veins: "Sopravissana," literally, "above" the Vissana.
The result was a multipurpose animal, capable of producing quality wool, meat, and milk, which quickly spread far beyond the borders of the Marche region: Umbria, Lazio, Tuscany, Abruzzo, Molise, and as far as Apulia. It is no coincidence that this range almost perfectly matches the central territories of the former Papal States: for centuries, the summer mountain pastures and the plains of Lazio, where the flocks descended in winter along the transhumance routes, were administered under the same political and ecclesiastical authority, long before these borders became regions of the Italian Republic. In a sense, the Sopravissana passed through the history of Italy even before Italy existed as a single state.
A white, fine, almost-forgotten wool
From a textile standpoint, the Sopravissana produces a dense white fleece, with staples featuring a prismatic structure that covers the animal's entire trunk. Average production is around 6.5 kg of wool per year for rams and 4.5 kg for ewes, with a fiber fineness that has always been appreciated by Italian wool manufacturers, before large-scale industrial production of Australian and New Zealand Merino wool made Italian breeds less profitable and led to their gradual abandonment, as we have long explained when discussing our short supply chain project.
It is not difficult to recognize: the rams have strong, spiral-curved horns, while the ewes are polled, meaning they have no horns, with a slightly ram-like muzzle profile in males and a straight profile in females.
Why we chose this breed
When we decided to start our own farm for our short supply chain for Italian Merino wool, we did not simply want to raise sheep: we wanted to help preserve a piece of Italy's livestock heritage that is at risk of disappearing. The Sopravissana is now an endangered breed, supported by a small number of farmers who, like us, believe it is worth continuing to breed and promote it, rather than letting it disappear along with the memory of those who raised it for two centuries.
In the coming articles, we will tell you how this wool becomes the garments you wear: from our farm in Lazio to the Italian artisan workshops that transform it into yarn, and why protecting an endangered breed is not only an expression of our values, but also a business choice that is particularly important to us.
Welcome officially to our story, Sopravissana: it was time to introduce you by name.
