Wine, etc. 

Distillerie Poli

Distillerie Poli is a small scale artisan producer of the finest grappa, located in Schiavon in the heart of Veneto. The Poli family have been operating their distillery for over a century since Jacopo's great grandfather, GioBatta (or Titta), a maker of straw hats by trade yet a lover of grappa by passion, built a small illegal still on a cart and went door to door distilling the pomace of grapes. In 1898 Titta’s son Giobatta transformed his father's passion for Grappa into a business. His still was made by modifying a locomotive steam engine. Giobatta was a rather enlightened and progressive man, he was the first person to own a car for miles around and his phone number was 2 (the number 1 belonged to the Tel. Ve., the local telephone company of that time). Giobatta’s son, Toni Poli, fused his father’s reputation for integrity with his own great creative energy and skill in the distiller's art. His children, Jacopo, Giampaolo, Barbara and Andrea Poli maintain the company's reputation for producing Grappas of extremely high quality.

The Poli still is one of the oldest operating in Italy today, only slightly modified by Toni Poli from the original still in 1956. The excellent quality of their products is a result of selecting only the best fruit to undergo distillation in a traditional pot still. The still itself is a steam-driven copper cauldron which is operated in a slow, discontinuous, or double, distillation cycle. This gentle process captures the very essence of the fruit. Production only occurs during harvest, from the middle of September to the end of November, when the distillation materials are at their freshest. It is with great passion that the master artisans of the family create unique products which have earned them a world wide reputation for top quality.

“Grappa does not exist. Grappas exist – affirms Jacopo Poli, – Each one is different because there are different regions of origin, vineyards, characteristics of the pomace, types of stills, distillation styles, harvests, ageing, etc… This is a group of factors that contributes to creating an infinite number of grappas, each one unique and inimitable”.

Osteria Pantagruel offers four grappas by Distillerie Poli:

A real classic Grappa di Bassano (40% vol.) with an ideal balance of aroma and taste, with beautiful hints of fresh white bread.

Grappa Moscato (40% vol.) has a chiffon-like smoothness, very accented aromas of flowers, fruits, pears, nutmeg and bread toasts. Quite an intriguing drink.

Grappa Poli Barrique, 1991 (55% vol.) could easily be called a High-End grappa. Vanilla, chocolate, cream, pipe tobacco… A nice treat for those who still has to be converted into a grappa lover.

An finally, there is a very particular grappa that deserves a separate attention of Italian wine connoisseurs. In 1994, Marchese Nicolo Incisa della Rocchetta invited Jacopo Poli to assume production of Grappa di Sassicaia. It’s a noble distillate of Cabernet Sauvignon and a small percentage of Cabernet Franc pomace from vines within the estate of the Tenuta San Guido. The distillation is initiated directly after the pomace is soft pressed from the skins. The pomace is placed in the cauldron and distilled with steam to yield the "cotta" or stew. This takes place over a period of about three hours at the end of which the raw material is spent. The cauldron is emptied and the cycle is re-initiated. The heads and tails are then eliminated so that the heart of the Grappa preserves the purest spectrum of primary aromas and flavors of the pomace from which it is derived. The finished spirit spends four years in French oak barriques, and before bottling is diluted with distilled water from 75% to 40% alcohol by volume, refrigerated for 48 hours at -6?C and then filtered. Grappa di Sassicaia expresses the elegant, finely-structured fruit and herbal aromas, an elixir redolent of sweet spice and almond, where the intensity of spirit mellowed by the toast and vanilla nuances of the oak.

Sergei Gusovsky

When using materials from the site www.pantagruel.com.ua place a link to osteria Pantagruel, Italian restaurant in Kiev, Ukraine.