Wines from Villa de Varda

History

Villa de Varda is a grappa distillery in Mezzolombardo, in the Trentino part of Trentino Alto Adige. Its roots go back to 1678, a date the house gives as the start of its story. In the early 1800s Michele Dolzan began the family's distilling in the same cellars. Today the sixth generation continues, led by Cavalier Luigi Dolzan with his sons Michele and Mauro. Third party listings add that the title of nobility goes back to Giovanni Battista de Varda, a grappa maker and owner of vineyards, who received it from Emperor Leopold I in 1678.

The distillery

Luigi Dolzan created what the house calls the de Varda method, a way of working built around the grape skins. It has four stages. First, only the best grapes are chosen at harvest and the skins, still wet with wine, are pressed and prepared. Second, they are distilled in copper stills on a slow, discontinuous cycle overseen by the master distiller. Third, the grappa rests for six months in steel tanks. Grappa that will not be aged is brought to bottling strength with Dolomite spring water, then chilled, filtered and bottled. Grappa for ageing goes into wooden casks.

The spirits

Casks are made from spruce, oak, acacia and cherry wood, in a room where temperature and humidity are controlled, and each batch is tasted and checked in the laboratory. The range runs from clear young grappa to long aged versions. Retailers list about fourteen grappas, each made from a single grape variety, including Moscato, Teroldego and Muller Thurgau, and the house also sells wine.

Today

The distillery welcomes visitors with a tasting visit of about an hour and a half for two guests or more, priced from 25 euros. The family describes its grappa as a Trentino tradition kept in the family, and its own site states that it makes some of the finest grappa in the world, which is the house's own claim.

Founded

1678 (family date)

Owners

Dolzan family

Winemaker

Luigi Dolzan (master distiller)