Wines from Poli Distillerie

The distillery

Poli Distillerie is a grappa distillery in Schiavon, in the province of Vicenza, a short drive from Bassano del Grappa. The family's own account traces the Poli name to the Marostica hills, where a man called Gasparo lived in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The surname appears in records between 1527 and 1551, and over the following centuries the family moved from Gomarolo to Fontanelle, then to San Luca, and in 1885 down to the plain at Schiavon, where they still live. The distillery dates from 1898, and the family has made grappa there ever since.

The business is still owned and run by the Poli family. Jacopo Poli leads it together with his siblings Giampaolo, Barbara and Andrea. Distillation is done in copper stills in separate batches, a method that few producers still use, and it takes place only while the grape harvest is in progress, from early September to the middle of November, when the pomace is fresh. The family also runs a grappa museum in Schiavon and a second one in Bassano del Grappa, in Via Gamba near the old bridge. The collection holds grappas going back to a vintage of 1880, and a library of over 1,300 texts on the spirit.

The spirits

Grappa is a spirit made from grape marc, the skins left after winemaking, and the name is reserved for marc distillates made from grapes vinified in Italy and distilled in Italy. Poli makes young grappas, grappas from a single grape variety or from several, grappas aged in wood, and flavoured ones. The range on the distillery's website also includes other distillates and liqueurs.

Names that turn up often in the range are Poli Barrique and Cleopatra Moscato Oro, and there is a line called Uvaviva. Grappa from a family that has worked with marc for well over a century makes a calm end to a long meal. The distillery receives visitors by appointment throughout the year.

Founded

1898 (distillery, Schiavon)

Owners

Poli family