Our alembic: a treasure of history and tradition
In the heart of our company, there is a unique piece of history: our alembic. Built in 1934 by a Piedmontese craftsman, it is a bain-marie alembic "alla piemontese", a true jewel of engineering for the time.
A special alembic, like our grappa
Our alembic is as special as the grappa it produces. For this reason, when we had to renovate it, we chose not to replace it with a more modern one. We preferred to have it rebuilt piece by piece, exactly as it was, by expert craftsmen. We wanted to keep intact the unique characteristics of our grappa, those that derive both from the raw materials we use and from our alembic, one of the last still working in the world.
How does our alembic work? An ancient and ingenious method
Our alembic uses an ancient distillation method, the "bain-marie alla piemontese". Imagine a smaller pot (the caldaietta), made of copper, where we put the grape skins, and a larger pot, made of steel, full of water. The water is heated until it boils and the steam that is created, at low pressure, passes through the grape skins, extracting the alcohol.
A "emerged grape skins" system unique in its kind
Our alembic is an "emerged grape skins" system: the grape skins are placed on perforated baskets and the steam "envelops" them gently without ever submerging them. This method, combined with the low temperature of the steam, allows us not to "cook" the grape skins and to obtain a very pure grappa, free of impurities.
A special oven for a special alembic
Even the oven that heats the alembic water is special: it was patented in the 1920s and is built with refractory bricks in a way that allows us to use the already distilled grape skins as fuel, even if it is still wet!
Patient work for an exceptional result
Our alembic works "in batches": every hour, the process is interrupted to unload the exhausted grape skins and load the fresh grape skins. From about 250 kilos of grape skins we obtain from 10 to 18 liters of grappa, a true treasure of aromas and flavors.
From tradition to innovation: a perfect combination
Our alembic represents for us a link with tradition, a value that we try to preserve in every bottle. But we are not only tied to the past: in our work, tradition and innovation meet to create unique products, which contain the history of our territory and the passion of our family.
