Grape Founders

Simona Campolongo
Co-founder, President and CEO of the company, Simona Campolongo is in charge of the microbiological and biotechnology sectors of Grape. She has a degree in Industrial Biotechnology and she takes care of microbiological analyses in grapes and wines. She obtained the PhD title in February 2011 with a thesis on Brettanomyces bruxellensis, a dangerous yeast of great oenological interest.
During the PhD and Post-Doc years, Simona worked in the research group of Prof. Luca Cocolin (University of Turin, DISAFA) where she studied the microbial ecology of wines, the development of strategies to control the spread of Brettanomyces bruxellensis yeasts in wines, and the optimization of rapid and cost-effective methods for its detection before the onset of wine alterations.
Currently, Simona is the main member of Grape and she takes care of the main strategic choices as well as of managing the administrative roles and the research and development laboratory.


Fabrizio Torchio
CO-founder of Grape. MD and manager of the wine sector from 2011 to 2020, Fabrizio got his Master degree in Viticulture and Oenology at the University of Turin in 2006.
During the PhD and Post-Doc years, spent in the research group of Prof. Vincenzo Gerbi (DISAFA, UNITO), he acquired wide expertise in the development of rapid analytical methods for the study of the secondary metabolites characterizing grapes and wines. He also participated in several research projects aimed at monitoring the shelf-life of sparkling wines and applying innovative techniques able to enhance the transfer of peculiar cultivar sensory features from grapes to wine.