Capovilla Gravner Ribolla Grappa - 2014

This is the most complex and beautiful grappa I have ever tasted. Vittorio Capovilla, an artisan in the true sense, turned his experience and engineering bent of mind as a racecar mechanic into the fruitful passion project of slow, small-scall alembic distillation. He works with a wide variety of raw materials of the highest quality from around the world-- you will also see his handiwork on our rum shelf, for instance-- including that most Italian of raw material, winemaking leftovers. In this case the leftovers are from ribolla grapes harvested by Friulian orange-wine producer Josko Gravner, and the resulting spirit retains the inevitable earthy woodsiness of grappa but is incredibly delicate, aromatic, complex and persistent. Truly excellent.