Romano Levi - Cult Grappaiolo of Piemonte Distilleria Levi Serafino was built in 1933 in Neive, a village chosen for its proximity to the great vineyards of Piemonte. Serafino - himself the son of a grappaiolo - only saw one vintage before passing away, leaving his wife Teresina to operate the distillery until 1945. When she herself passed away during an air raid, her teenaged children Romano and Lidia had no option but to take over the distillery themselves. The two worked side-by-side, making grappa and infusing bottles with wild herbs for over sixty years. In this time methods of distillation changed everywhere else but here, where Grappa Levi is now the only grappa produced through direct-fire distillation. The proof of quality of the final product comes from the premium fruit that is used, and through strict adherence to decades-old recipes for distillation written by Serafino and Romano Levi. Pomace - vinacce - comes from the hills surrounding Neive which are home to great DOC/DOCG-producing vines of Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto and Moscato. Vinacce is supplied from producers including Bruno Giacosa, Dante Rivetti and Angelo Gaja. The vinacce is stored in underground concrete pits, and covered with a layer of sand to extract flavours and ferment before distillation.
Distilleria Levi Serafino is unique in using a direct flame to heat the copper still. Dried vinacce from the previous year s distillation is burnt to fuel the still, and in this way the distillery wastes nothing and uses no excessive energy in its operation. The once-distilled grappa passes through a 7-plate copper column and when cool is passed directly into the cask in which it will age. Casks from different species of timber are used, adding to the singular nature of each release of grappa. Typically acacia, ash, chestnut and occasionally durmast woods are used in the barrels. Each timber will have a different effect on the aroma and flavour of the grappa. The labels are reproductions of original artwork by Romano Levi, who for 63 years before his passing in 2008 illustrated and wrote every label by hand. Romano Levi had a continual character Donna Selvatica or The Wild Woman, drawn from childhood memories, who was his idealised notion of a liberated woman free of paternalistic societal pressures. Considering the political climate at the time, Romano s memories were extremely progressive: "As a child I used to walk to school, crossing the hills and vineyards. Among the vineyard rows you would often find the ciabot, which were tiny equipped shelters where the vinedressers and farmers took refuge in case a storm surprised them in the evening or in the morning if they had to be in the vineyard before sunrise. I used to pass by there in the morning and I would sometimes see beautiful scruffy-looking women come out of these shelters; women
who appeared to be a bit crazy, lonely and often living on the margins of society. They were mysterious, without constraints. They disappeared and then came back, they were both partly witches and partly fairies. They were free, as all women should be, to live the best part of their life. The original labels became collector s items, and now in homage, the reproduced labels are still applied by hand by his successor Fabrizio, who creates the grappa exactly the same way as it has been produced since the 40s, and signs each label with a red halo to denote that it s been produced with due respect to Romano Levi, the Grappaiolo Angelico. Romano Levi never actually named his grappa according to what was in the bottle, but simply by what was on the etichetta - the label - that was always produced by hand with pen and coloured ink. And while Romano Levi would create series of similar etichetta such as the Donna Selvatica Inferno (Wild Woman from Hell) which featured our character with raging red eyes, many etichetta were inspired by events of the day - maybe his muse was angry, maybe she was sad, maybe she was running over the mountains - these were all inspiration for what came to be on any label you were lucky enough to take home. There is still heritage with the name Paglierina for our first variety. Meaning straw-coloured, this was the name commonly given to the aged varieties, of which any age, cask type, or length of ageing might apply. And most importantly - regardless of what the muse was doing on that day.
We hope you enjoy. Varieties We now have 5 bottlings available: 1. Riserva Paglierina 2. Moscato 3. Camomilla 4. Riserva Bianca (W/S Exclusive) 5. Riserva Ambrata (W/S Exclusive) Riserva Paglierina 2006 2014 Grappa of the Wild Woman who Roams Over the Hills Created from pomace of Nebbiolo (Barbaresco), Dolcetto d Alba and Barbera d Alba. Distilled in 2008 and bottled in 2014, spending five years in 700 litre casks of ash, acacia and chestnut. ABV: 45% Moscato Grappa of the Wild Woman in Love with Moscato d Asti Produced from vinacce of DOCG Moscato d Asti, primarily from Dante Rivetti. Distilled once and aged 6 12 months in 220 litre barriques of different woods. ABV: 40%
Camomilla Gentle Chamomile Grappa of Lidia and Romano Levi Homage to the work of Lidia Levi, the sister of Romano, whose main occupation at the distillery was collecting herbs for infusing into the grappa that her brother made and bottled by hand. Lidia collected herbs such as mint, absinthe, tarragon and chamomile to infuse directly into bottles of the Levi grappa. This is reproducton of a Grappa Gentile from a recipe in her diary. Chamomile flowers are allowed weeks to infuse slowly into full-proof grappa directly from the still, before being blended and cut to bottleproof in tiny quantities. ABV: 40% Riserva Bianca 2006 2014 Grappa of the Wild Woman who Roams Over the Hills From the same vintage and blend of vinacce as the Riserva Paglierina, and aged 8 years in ash-wood barrels, which yield no colour or aroma, allowing the spirit to rest without the interaction of oxygen, humidity, and wood. Created from pomace of Nebbiolo (Barbaresco), Dolcetto d Alba and Barbera d Alba. Distilled in 2006 and bottled in 2014,
spending 8 years in 700 litre casks of ash. ABV: 45% Riserva Ambrata 2005 2013 Grappa of the Wild Women who Roam Over Hills in Pairs The flagship grappa from distilleria Levi, this is the same recipe as the Paglierina, bottled at 50% to preserve the fire of the stills in the spirit. Created from pomace of Nebbiolo (Barbaresco), Dolcetto d Alba and Barbera d Alba. Distilled in 2005 and bottled in 2013, spending 8 years in 700 litre casks of ash, acacia and chestnut. ABV: 45% Ordering Spirit People operates out of Hobart with distribution nationally. Order online at www.spirit-people.net To receive the password to the Trade Pages, please contact: - info@spirit-people.net - or call us at +61 423 142 486
Please see the official site of the distillery, or see langhe.net for more on Romano Levi the man.