Provino was founded in 2016 by Alberto Zambianchi and Jed Williamson. We want to ensure that the Italians don’t keep the best wines for themselves. Provino aim to introduce to the UK market, fine, artisan wines, that are exciting and distinctive. We aim to offer a real taste of Italy.
Meet the Team
Alberto Zambianchi
Alberto grew up on a vineyard in a tiny village called Scorzoletta, near Broni, a small town in Lombardia, Italy. Alberto worked alongside his father, collecting the harvest, producing the wine and delivering throughout the region.
With a strong sense of adventure, in 2002, Alberto took the opportunity to come to the UK on a short-term placement, helping Italian students at a college in Lancaster. The old city got its hooks in him, and he has been here ever since.
Being in Lancaster has not dampened Alberto’s enthusiasm for wine and wine-making. Linking up with a childhood friend, Andrea Calvi, Alberto founded Provino in 2013, importing Andrea’s wine to Lancaster.
Apart from his passion for wine, Alberto is a keen footballer, terrorising 5-a-side defences with his powerful shooting. A skilled musician, he can be found playing guitar in various hostelries around Lancaster city centre.
Jed Williamson
Jed has been with Provino since 2016. Not quite a history steeped in wine-making, Jed has a CV containing experience in the following – Project Management, Teaching, Teacher Recruitment, Window Cleaning, Knicker Cutting, and one disastrous day as a waiter. Feel free to ask!
A perfect business partner for Alberto, with a can do attitude, Jed has had a crash course in alcohol licensing, customs and excise, accounting, logistics, web design and gazebo erecting!
Jed is also an enthusiastic footballer, preferring to stay in defence, only so he can hit pile-drivers from long range. More recently, Jed has become a keen, if limited cricketer. He also enjoys cooking, determined to master the art of pizza making.
