Romano Levi – The Last Poet of the Open Flame
High up in the Piedmontese Alps, where the rugged peaks touch the sky and the silence of the valleys is broken only by the whisper of the wind, lies the birthplace of a legend – the Romano Levi distillery. Its roots stretch back to the 17th century, when a branch of the Jewish Levi family in the Alpine valleys near the Splügen Pass began distilling the precious grappa from the pomace of fine wines.
But the true spirit of this house came to life in 1925, when Serafino Levi settled in the picturesque village of Neive, nestled amongst the rolling hills of the Barbaresco region. There, right in the heart of Piedmont, he established his distillery – a place that, to this day, is imbued with the magic of time-honoured craftsmanship . When Serafino died in 1933 and his wife Teresina in 1945, it was their children, Romano and Lidia, barely out of their teens, who took over the legacy. Romano was just 17 years old when, together with his sister, he took over responsibility for the small distillery – a destiny that would shape him forever.
What Romano Levi created over the following six decades was more than just grappa – it was art. He was one of the last distillers in the world still to distil directly over an open fire. With a single copper still, working ceaselessly over the flame, he distilled the fine pomace from the great wines of Piedmont. Every bottle was unique, for since the 1960s Romano himself had designed every label by hand – naive drawings full of poetry, often depicting the mysterious ‘Donna Selvatica’, the wild woman, leaping across the hills. Today, his labels are little masterpieces of ‘Wild Art’, coveted collectors’ items that embody the spirit of both an artist and a distiller .
Yet Romano Levi was not merely an artist – he was a philosopher of distillation. Luigi Veronelli, the great wine critic, called him the ‘angelic grappa producer’. His grappas, distilled from the finest pomace of Piedmont’s DOC and DOCG wines, possess an aromatic balance and depth that are second to none. Matured in small ashwood casks, they preserve the unadulterated essence of the vines and the soul of the Piedmontese landscape.
Today, the distillery is a living museum, an island frozen in time, where the spirit of Romano Levi still hovers over the copper stills. His legacy lives on in every bottle – a liquid poem of fire, artistry and the boundless dedication of a man who changed the world of grappa forever.
Contents: 0.75 Liter (€500.00* / 1 Liter)
Contents: 0.75 Liter (€526.67* / 1 Liter)
