The rules of excellence - a Grand Tour into quality

What ties together the search for the best fruit distillation, hand-picked mountain plants, the orange groves at the foot of Mount Etna, the botanicals of the Portofino promontory, the painstaking care in the distillation of Calvados, Cognac and Armagnac, the best terroirs in Champagne, the ancient secret recipes kept in monasteries, the centuries-old whiskey distillation traditions and the rich terroir of tropical islands emphasized in the best rum? The leit motif bringing all of this together is a tension towards perfection, whether it be in the production of a liqueur or a spirit.

That's why we decided to call the new section of our Velier TV channel The Rules of Excellence – a polyphony of voices where leading distillers from every corner of the world talk about their journey into the essence of matter.

A TOUR OF ITALY

This great journey starts from top-level Italian products. Thanks to its biodiversity, Italy boasts an unparalleled variety of raw ingredients available to distillers and liqueur makers.

We start from Veneto with a man in love with his land and obsessed with quality - Gianni Vittorio Capovilla. For 45 years he has been fermenting and distilling wild berries and ancient cultivars to create unique fruit spirits. His passion for his work, so like a constantly evolving work of art, has led him to forage for all kinds of fruits, from blueberries and rosehips to figs and pears, always making new discoveries about the most suitable varieties for distillation. All his spirits are produced with no added sugar. Fermentation occurs with natural fruit yeasts and the five Müller batch stills, used for double water-bath distillation, have been specially forged based on Capo's specifications.

Our next stop is the Occitan valleys in western Piedmont. This is where the vermouth, spirit and liqueur distillery Bordiga carries on its traditions and love for the land with unique wild botanicals hand-picked by independent foragers. Founded in 1888 by Pietro Bordiga, this distillery has enjoyed immediate success which continues to this day - so much so that the historic Caffè Mulassano in Turin has its famous Vermouth produced with Bordiga's exclusive recipe. The basis for their products has always been quality raw ingredients - fine Piedmont wine, Alpine medicinal herbs and water from the Alps combine with the master distillers' skill and expertise.

Our tour of Italy's top-level products concludes with three stages crossing the peninsula from north to south.

We start from with Mount Portofino and the amazing clay colors of the land around it. This is where, on a conglomerate of lava from a volcanic eruption and sea pebbles graced by a unique climate, Portofino Dry Gin is produced. As the distillery's gardener Mario Pellerano explains, growing botanicals on the Mount means following Liguria's tradition of high-quality, heroic agriculture, which yields excellent raw ingredients.

We then move on to Tuscany near Volterra, where Claudio Gaiaschi pursues the purest essence of botanicals, passionately researching the best ways to extract the perfect distillate from each plant. He does so by growing, distilling, processing and capturing the soul of each raw ingredient. This is how his Essentia edible perfumes have become a must-have both in cooking and mixology.

The journey ends in the far south of the country at the foot of Mount Etna, ‘a muntagna as it's called by the locals. This is where, despite the steep volcanic terrain, very difficult to work, PGI Sicilian Red Oranges thrive. Here, Edoardo Strano has successfully met the challenge of growing orange groves, giving rise to Amara - an amaro born at the foot of a volcano from top-quality ingredients.

A TOUR OF FRANCE

Our Grand Tour into quality lands in France, exploring the country's long tradition in the production of spirits and liqueurs. For centuries, Cognac, Armagnac and Calvados have been synonymous with top quality, as well as the embodiment of France's uniqueness. Here too, utmost attention is paid to terroir and know-how, both essential concepts.

Our journey starts from Normandy. Aside from the picture-book beauty of the places, the clay-chalky soil is very well suited to growing apples and pears; this is where Christian Drouin produces his renowned Calvados.

The apples used in the production of cider and calvados come from his two family orchards located between Gonneville-sur-Honfleur and Coudray-Rabut, for a total of 35 varieties used. The cows grazing in the orchards contribute to ensuring a balanced production, fertilizing the soil and eating bad apples in September.

In this interview Drouin Export Manager Alex Mermillod tells us about how a great craftsman and a great fruit came together.