Pietro Gallus Estate has released its first aged grappa – a limited edition run of 1000 bottles of Grappa Stravecchia. 

Combining century-old Italian methods and modern distilling techniques, Pietro Gallus Estate takes classic recipes and reimagines them to create modern Australian-made grappa with Barbera grapes grown in Victoria’s famous Yarra Valley wine region. 

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. 

Pietro Gallus Estate head distiller Nathan Rigby said: “This is the first aged grappa of its calibre made in Australia, making Grappa Stravecchia an extremely desirable product and a collectors item for passionate fans of Australian spirits.

“It has intense plum and fig flavours, supported by dried apricot, prunes, vanilla, toffee, and some oak spice, with a beautiful softness on the palate and a fresh finish on the nose. Its limited release 500ml bottles will retail at $220, with on-site tastings – which I highly recommend – also available for $25pp at Pietro Gallus Estates new Tasting Bar.”

As Australia’s first grappa distillery, Pietro Gallus Estate started its adventure into the Italian spirit in 2016. A discovery trip to Italy to learn the secrets of production from Masters Mario Pojer and Vittorio Capovilla, saw the team subsequently making a significant financial investment in a purpose-built still imported from Italy. 

Pietro Gallus Estate Co-Founder John Di Pietro said: “Although Pietro Gallus Estate’s Grappa offering is relatively young, we have a long family history with it as the first-generation children of Italian immigrants. Before travelling to Australia from Italy my wife Anna’s family was distilling Grappa as far back as the early 1900s, and when we met and married in Victoria in the 90s we dedicated years to absorbing our family traditions in distilling spirits.

“In only six years of operating we’re winning international awards against some of the oldest and most famous distilleries in Italy, and this proves that our product is of the utmost quality. We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to achieve so far and are thrilled to have produced our first aged grappa.”

Pietro Gallus Estate is located at 54-56 Brumbys Road, Warrandyte South, Victoria, Australia