The Garolla wine press from 1887 in the Carus Vini barrel cellar

The barrel cellar houses a historic Garolla grape crusher discovered on a Carissimo family property. Giuseppe Garolla invented the crusher-destemmer-centrifuge in 1887 after founding his Limena machinery company in 1877 and developing a copper-sulphate backpack sprayer in 1884.

An 1899 agricultural almanac described motorised and hand-powered versions. The machine separated berries from stems through rotating mesh tubes and beaters, crushed the detached berries and expelled the stems dry. Garolla’s business later produced presses, pumps, centrifuges, winery fittings, hail cannons and steam-powered threshing machinery, as well as equipment for olive processing. The historic machine at Carus is now retained for its industrial and artistic significance rather than used in production.