Pietro Gallus Estate releases Australia’s First Aged Grappa: Grappa Stravecchia
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Located 30 minutes from Melbourne CBD in the rolling hills of Warrandyte, the picturesque Pietro Gallus Estate celebrates the sweet life through its winery, cellar-door, renowned restaurant Olivigna, and Grappa distillery. Founded by husband and wife team John Di Pietro and Anna Gallo, the 20-acre estate transports visitors to the Italian countryside with its abundance of Mediterranean flora and charm.
As the first of its kind in Australia, the Pietro Gallus Estate grappa distillery is run by head distiller Nathan Rigby. Rigby and his team use century-old techniques and Italian methods to create artisanal Grappa and liqueurs, changing the public’s perception of Grappa one tasting at a time.
As pioneers of Australian grappa, Pietro Gallus Estate has released its first aged grappa – a limited edition run of 1,000 bottles of Grappa Stravecchia.
Combining century-old Italian methods and modern distilling techniques, Pietro Gallus Estate takes classic recipes and reimagines them as new to create modern Australian made grappa with Barbera grapes grown in Victoria’s famous Yarra Valley wine region.
The aging process of grappa falls into two categories – twelve months or more in a cask is assigned the term ‘invecchiata’ meaning aged, while in excess of twenty-four months sees it classed as ‘stravecchia’ meaning extra aged. Pietro Gallus’ Grappa Stravecchia has been barrel-aged on-site in a combination of new French Oak and ex-Cognac casks for a minimum of 24 months, and preserves its natural flavours through its non-chill-filtration.
We loved tasting our way through Pietro Gallus Estate’s grappa range and we blown away by the Grappa Stravecchia with its intense plum and fig flavours, supported by dried apricot, prunes, vanilla, toffee, and oak spices. The grappa boasted a lovelysoftness on the palate and a fresh finish on the nose. Its limited release 500ml bottles will retail at $220, with on-site tastings for $25pp at Pietro Gallus Estates new Tasting Bar – which we highly recommend you do!
Location: 54-56 Brumbys Rd, Warrandyte South
Phone: (03) 9844 4676
