Capovilla

While we may not be expert distillers ourselves, we think we can get to grips with the philosophy of the Capovilla Distillery: the tastier the fruit, the better the final product.

That’s where Vittorio Capovilla began in 1986, taking the very best fruit from the four hectares of organically farmed land owned by the estate to produce what’s widely believed to be the best Grappa in the country. It’s a rule he continues to live by today, working from the distillery’s original location – the beautiful cellars of Villa Dolfin Boldu in Rosa, near Bassano del Grappa and close to Vicenza. He uses rare, old varieties of plums, pears, and peaches, among other fruits, grown on high hillside fields and distils his Grappa using small stills, built for him by a German artisan. His method of distillation is no less considered than his raw materials. He has chosen an artisanal, and impeccably high quality, distillation process known as the bain-marie method which employs a discontinuous distilling cycle. Slow and labour intensive, this method is famed for its ability to extract unparalleled aromas and flavours that are both highly refined and remarkably intense.

The Capovilla Distillery is also known for its low usage of sulphur dioxide. Its Grappa is low intervention craftsmanship at its finest, starting with an exceptional raw ingredient and, as Vittorio describes it himself, avoiding its ruin. The aim for Capovilla is not to invent, but to facilitate the noble expression of a “poor” product – pomace. As a result, the Capovilla grappe are sublime quality spirits at their most modest, hand bottled, hand labelled and handed to us wax-sealed and wonderfully humble.