Over a hundred years ago Jacopo Poli’s great-grandfather, Giobatta, travelled from one winegrower to the next in the Italian region of Venetia, pulling a handcart on which he had mounted a small still, thus enabling him to distil grape pomace wherever he went. Jacopo’s grandfather expanded the business and built a distillation plant from the steam engine of a locomotive in the small town of Schiavon situated near Bassano del Grappa. In 1956 Jacopo’s father, Toni, built a new distillery that is still in operation, which Jacopo expanded in 1983.

Since then Jacopo and his three siblings, Giampaolo, Barbara and Andrea have been managing the Poli Distillery according to the motto: “It’s really easy to make good grappa. Only fresh grape pomace and a hundred years of experience required.” Pomace is what is left over after grapes have been pressed, i.e. skins and seeds. It’s delivered still dripping wet, diluted with water and then distilled in basket strainers in distillation kettles using steam or a water bath.

And that is what makes Poli’s grappa so special. Because only freshly pressed pomace is processed, distillation time is limited to the grape harvest season in Venetia which lasts from the beginning of September to the beginning of November. And heating the individual kettles with steam is slower, gentler and takes longer than the modern industrial systems that are in continuous operation and now produce over 80 percent of all grappa.

At Poli this results in highly aromatic, yet mild grappa with notes of fruit, spices, herbs and flowers, depending on grape variety and maturation in tanks or barrels that were specifically used to store, for example, Sassicaia wine, Niepoort port wine, Clément rum or sherry from Williams and Humbert.

Information
Poli Distillerie, Via Marconi 46, I-36060 Schiavon (VI), Tel. 0039/0444/66 50 07

Museo del Grappa, Via Gamba 6, I-36061 Bassano del Grappa (VI), Tel. 0039/0424/52 44 26, http://www.poligrappa.com/