Romano Levi 2003 70cl / 50%

A bottle of Romano Levi grappa, produced at Distillerie Levi Serafino and bottled in 2003.

The label was hand drawn by Romano Levi, each is unique.

Levi Serafino distillery was built in the mid 1920s in Neive, northern Italy, and at the time it was one of many small, direct-fire stills producing grappa in the region. Founder Serafino Levi died in 1933 and his wife Teresina was killed in an air raid in 1945, leaving their children, Romano and Lidia, to continue distillation. The pair distilled grappa in an artisan fashion, producing just 6000 to 7000 bottles per year. Their small Malba still was heated by a fire built in the room below; pomace from locally grown grape varieties was used (with the spent pomace then fuelling the fire); Lidia selected herbs such as chamomile and arquebuse for infusions; and Romano's hand-drawn 'primitive art' illustrations adorned the labels, each one unique. The first handwritten labels were created in the early 1960s and often featured Romano's 'Donna Selvatica' ('Wild Woman') character, inspired by the women he would pass in the vineyards on his way to school. Romano Levi died in 2008, Lidia Levi died in 2010.

This Romano Levi 2003 sold at our online auction for £180