Capovilla

Background

Vittorio Gianni Capovilla resembles a spry wood elf as he nimbly balances on kegs laden with one ambrosia-like distillation after another. How this man came to be the greatest distiller in Italy and perhaps the very best on the planet is one of slow evolution and passion built over much hard work and enterprise. At 76, he has the clear eyes of a man many years his junior and runs the distillery as he has from the very beginning in 1986.  Vittorio or “Gianni” to his friends, worked for many years as a Formula 3 race car mechanic in Switzerland.  His travels took him through Austria and Germany where he found most winemakers and farmers had their own home stills.  At the time, (and still today) Italy had one of the most tightly controlled alcohol production regulations in Europe which did not allow for much craft distilling.  In Austria alone, there are over 90,000 distilleries while in Italy there are less than 120.  As his fascination with distillation grew, he enlisted an Austrian artisan to create a custom double bain-marie alembic still and began experimenting with his own grappa production.  His sole idea was the creation of a quality artisanal grappa by using the highest quality organic fruit and the labor intensive double distillation method.  After 10 years of experimentation, he produced his first batch of grappa in 1986.  In 1988 he was granted a distillation license and the rest, as they say, is history.

the Distillations

Today, Capovilla Distillati releases around 60 micro-distillations each year. All are vintage specific regardless of varietal or aging environment. Most are made in lots of less than 2,000 bottles and some as few as 275. All the fruits and grape material are either organically grown on the 10ha estate in Rosa or sourced from vetted and certified organic farms. These artisanal distillations arrive in beautiful 375ml bottles each individually hand labeled and wax sealed with the official Capovilla crest.  The colors are chosen to represent the particular fruit or grappa in the bottle.  

The line includes grappas produced from the pomace of famous grapes by the likes of Gravner, Dal Forno, Soldera, and Conterno to name a few. The fruit distillations are impressive as well with often up to 6 heirloom varieties of cherry, apple, pear, or peach available at any given time.  The ultra-pure distillates are kept in stainless steel kegs until there is an order after which Gianni selects the keg that is at its peak to cut with spring water and bottle.  The decision of alcohol content is made as well at that time.   A few offerings are aged in 1st growth Bordeaux barrels for up to 20 years.  These are truly some of the most precious spirits on earth.

In 2006, Capovilla became a partner in a distillery on the island of Marie Galante off the coast of Guadalajara.  Purely a chance meeting with a friend whose idea was turned into reality.  The idea was to produce a single cane Rhum to the same standards practiced at the Capovilla distillery in Italy.  Again another success in the form of what is to many the best aged vintage PMG Rhum Rhum in the entire world.

LYRA Capovilla selections