Inventing an Italian/Trentino style of whisky at Villa de Varda

In the beautiful northern town of Mezzolombardo lies an Italian grappa maker, Villa de Varda . However, since 2023 the Villa has had new tricks up its sleeve: both rye and single malt whiskies! I took a trip up there in April to see how their InQuota Mountain Whiskey is made. 

This is a place with 200 years of grappa making experience. Michele Dolzan with me on arrival - he represents the 6th generation of family owners. I also got to briefly meet 5th generation Luigi before I was shown around by Serena , one of the distillers. 

Coming here from the Netherlands, I was actually following in the footsteps of a Dutchman who helped inspire the Dolzans to start making whisky. Ronald Zwartepoort (of WhiskyPassion.nl and more besides) has long been connected to Villa de Varda. But you're here for the whisky, not the networking - so why did whiskymaking start here at the edge of the Alps?

THE STORY - GRAPPA & WHISKY

'100% Italian whisky' - that was the initial idea here at the Villa, back in 2017. There were other whiskeys in Italy already, of course, but there hadn't always been much focus on making something specifically local. 'We are inventing an Italian style [of whisky]', Michele tells me - 'there isn't one yet!'

For me, it's a great start. Some European distilleries are too focused on their points of inspiration - usually Scotland or Ireland - to produce something with a local character , even if their spirit remains high quality. In Italy, this doesn't seem to be a problem. Even with a smaller number of (smaller) producers, whiskey here is already being made with some view of a developing national style or framework. 

I also observed this during my visits to Strada Ferrata and Brennerei Psenner in the two days previous to this, but it's good to see that consistency - it's rare in the European whiskey world!

Villa de Varda cultivate their own barley and rye. They had to find the best barley strains for growing at the distinctive climate and altitude of Trentino - it all stays within Italy for malting too. This actually aligned very well with the experience of grappa making, where starting with good raw materials is apparently the real key to a good grappa. 

I thought that grappa- and whisky-making might not mix well, but there's actually a very practical side to the combination. Only 6 weeks a year are used for grappa distilling at Villa de Varda. While there is other work of course - preparation, bottling, etc. - and there needs to be some time off, this still leaves well over half the year free for whiskey making . Grains also produce far more alcohol per kilogram than grape skins, Serena explains - more than three times as much . Grains also have some fat content, unlike grape skins.

PRODUCTION - HOW MOUNTAIN WHISKEY IS MADE

Details

• 2000L steel mash tun
• 75C sparge, dropping to 50C (00:30) and then 20C (2:00)
• Unfiltered wort
• 6 day ferment using dry whiskey yeast from Germany
• 2 steam-fired Barison pot stills with mixers (820L filled)
• 1st cut, 40-50% (heads); 2nd cut 80% (tails)
• Vapors of 60-77% enter second pot still
• Serpentine condenser

Rye was actually the starting point for whiskey at Villa de Varda, not barley like you might assume: 100% malted rye is used. It was easier to find rye here among existing farms, making it easier to then grow their own. Maize is also grown locally, so maybe we'll see corn InQuota whiskey in future? It's not clear yet, apparently, but there is apparently a protected local variety of red corn which might be used…

Giving farmers a sufficient economic incentive to grow for Villa de Varda has been a challenge from the start, Michele tells me. There's so much pressure to use land for vines instead, as the area produces lots of wine (and grappa). The first barley crop for InQuota whiskey came in 2019 from land a little southwest of Trento, though more recently it comes from the Val di Nonna in the northwestern Trentino. 

Everything has come from fields between 750 and 1000m above sea level . In fact, that's key to the other term on InQuota labels: 'mountain whisky'. Both European and Italian laws specify when 'Mountain' and 'Dolomiti' can be used as product descriptions: only products sourced over 700m up and in the Dolomite mountains can do this.

Michele shows me some of the orzo antico used here. Only winter rye and barley are used here, both being harvested in June before heading off for malting in August. Their barley crop has to be cleaned to remove powdery dust from the maltings. There's no rush to get it distilled fast when the early autumn is peak grappa season! This year, a total of four hectares are being used for Villa de Varda's barley and rye production.

After all this work, they get a high-quality grain with a corresponding high price: apparently twenty times the cost of generic malts sourced from Germany!

Villa de Varda uses a small mill to produce their medium-ground grist ('nothing too floury… maybe 50%'). They don't use a wash filter in their mash tun, saying this would remove much of the cereal aroma . You often see this approach with Dutch distillers, and I wonder if there's an influence here from the Villa's Dutch connections…

Serena explains very clearly how chemical reactions work within the wash. As the sparge temperature slowly increases to 75C, alpha-amylase starts working to break starch molecules into maltose . As the water drops to 50C, beta-amylase starts working to further crack maltose into fructose and glucose . 19 brix of sugar can then be converted into 9-10% ABV in the fermented wash. 

When yeast is added, it's mixed in manually with large paddles . Within three days, the wash is already at 8%, but in total the fermentation runs from Tuesday to the following Monday, ready for the next batch on the following day. The yeast used was apparently the winner in a series of tests early in production.

At the end, about 10% of the total starch still remains, apparently - I strongly suspect this forms the final flavor of InQuota whisky, especially with unfiltered wort . Also, let me take a moment to thank Serena and say how impressed I was. Giving a clear and technical description of distilling in a third language? I was in awe!

The pot stills used here are traditional grappa stills , though Serena indicates that they only use the two central pots (in the photo above) for whisky. The column between them has eight plates, but only 6 are used for whisky . This little column both purifies the spirit and allows for cleaner separation of heads, hearts, and tails.

You can see here that the column in the picture above belongs to the second still…

AGEING - NEW TYPES OF WOOD

In their first year of production, Villa de Varda produced about 8,000 bottles , so the first batches were pretty small. They have around 100 barrels aging in total , produced between 2017 and 2024. Apparently more cask types are coming in future , beyond the current four expression lineup. Walking around, I spy two Ballechin casks, and even Glenfarclas barrels…

The old-fashioned spirit safe still in use at Villa de Varda…

Suddenly, I'm shown into a museum of local distilling, housed in one of Villa de Varda's older buildings! The black still shown here dates to the 1500s , making it one of the oldest surviving examples of a still anywhere!

Some barrels still age in this museum cellar space, but the Villa needs more space as they expand their range of barrel-aged spirits. Italian customs are inflexible and exacting (a theme which recurred frequently on this trip), so much so that the holes in this grill can only be a maximum 1cm wide . Much of this, Serena says, relates to the tight control of the grappa riserva category, which ensures spirits are at least 18 months old. 

Most casks used here are medium toast or medium char French oak . When I asked about Italian oak, I'm told it is apparently not very good! However, there is a sample of different woods used for barrel-making here, and I found this very welcome as a visitor. I love tactile demonstrators for visitors who aren't just gimmicks, and this reminds me of woodworking in my past. 

The acacia stave feels very dense and tight-grained. Apparently it lends a spirit dark aromas but also some quite delicate flavors . The color is strong - after almost a year in there, grappa can look almost black apparently! The strong color from acacia casks comes from aggressive tannins, which can easily overpower grappa according to Serena. By comparison, cherry apparently gives a slight red color , and spruce gives very little color at all.

The spruce stave feels lighter, and it's arguably the most important one here. The wood comes from Paneveggio and Val di Fiemme , where the next winter Olympics are due to be held. This is also where the wood for Stradivarius violins is sourced! Well, apparently the top part of the violins uses spruce wood for resonance, while the lower part uses oak from near Bergamo. Taken from the UNESCO Dolomite area , there are naturally restrictions on getting this timber, not to mention the violin-making demand. 

In 2018, a big fire reduced stocks of this wood, and it is still under threat from climate change induced storms and the invasion of bark beetles . While the tree won't go extinct from whisky-making any time soon, it's an important reminder of how whiskey producers need to work sustainably within environmental constraints (looking at you, Diageo).

Spruce wood is so resinous that it wants to caramelise too quickly when toasted, so the spruce is steamed into shape instead. Hence why these casks provide barely any color! Villa de Varda had to basically invent the process of cooperating a spruce wood barrel themselves. Only one or two barrels are made each year from this specific species, red spruce ( picea abies ) .

TASTING THE FULL RANGE

When we sit down to do a tasting of the Villa de Varda whiskey range, Michele openly cites Slyrs , Breuil , and Domaine des Hautes Glaces as influences on their whisky's development. Millstone is apparently a model for their rye whiskey especially, which confirms my suspicions of a Dutch whiskey influence. 

The name of Villa de Varda's whiskey range, 'InQuota' , refers to the phrase 'Andere su la quota' - to reach the summit, or peak. Their three varieties of single malt were first distilled in 2019 and bottled in 2023. All get eighteen months in new French oak before their respective finishes. But before that, I get to taste grains of malted and unmalted rye, both of which seem relatively plump for rye.

I smell samples of new make made from Vienna malt, Munich malt, and another Munich malt made the same day but from a different batch of grain. The Vienna smells very toasty, full of earth and cereal aromas with very little sourness. The first Munich is more aromatic and drying, more punchy on the palate, while the second is meaty and somehow akin to Shreddies with a resinous finish . 

They served me some rye crackers with fennel to have alongside their Mountain Rye whiskey (43.2%) . As mentioned above, rye was the starting point for InQuota whisky, with the oldest casks almost six years old now. There's no cask finish - just straight French oak maturation. This whiskey is non chill filtered, and in fact, chill filtration isn't allowed in Italy - nor is E150 caramel coloring . 

The rye InQuota has a light body and peppery palate . The nose is light, sweet, almost bourbon-cask-like. A tangy resin note zips across the palate before the finish develops, not too heavy or slow. For a 100% rye malt, it's a very approachable whisky. Serena describes it as a little acidic, and 'more shy' than some other ries. Apparently the idea was to preserve the relatively smooth character of the rye new make. The distinctive distillation method used here is surely playing a role in taming a 100% malted rye whisky, plus the fact that the aging isn't too heavy. 

This being my third visit to an Italian distillery in as many days, I seem to be noticing this as a common thread in Italian whiskeys: ensuring that wood does not overtake the whiskey . In this case, the InQuota rye really doesn't need to be any older, in my opinion. For what it's worth, Serena notes that grappa is very easily overwhelmed by wood flavors, hence why most grappa is unaged. While 90% of VDV grappa is in fact barrel-aged, this is relatively short, light aging compared to whisky. This not only chimes with comments Werner made at Psenner, but it makes sense as one reason why this could become a distinct facet of Italian whiskey . 

The Passito di Pantelleria (43.3%) expression is an Italian twist on a sherry cask expression. Passito is delicate , Serena explains. Made with white grapes, it's not as strong a flavor as some sherries. However, the grapes for this sweet wine are sun-dried by the beach , so it gets a maritime twist perhaps comparable to a manzanilla. 

To me, this dram has an almost bready smell, like under-ripe melon . You have to nose it slowly to really get the sweetness out of it. If you smell this for the first time, stick with it - and the passito sweetness will eventually come pouring out of the glass. 

Serena suggests more herbal tasting notes, and there is a little spice on the edge. It's easy-drinking, she says - 'When you drink this whisky, you don't have to think too much.' Honestly, the sum total of this whiskey is easy-drinking but maybe a little too light . A little edge of salt emerges, and it's a nice whiskey for sure. I just don't know that it delivers enough for such an interesting, rare cask.

Amarone (44.2%) also involves grapes being air-dried (for 2 to 3 months!) on grattici . Real amarone wine is a very strong, heavy red wine from just northwest of Verona, on the traditional route north through the valleys to Trento. A takeaway from both Brennerei Psenner and Villa de Varda - Amarone isn't just any old red wine ! Not only that, but it isn't actually fortified - it has to be under 17% ABV .

Immediately, this expression has a darker smell to it than the previous two whiskies. However, it's not what I expected on the palate - not too dry, with slow-developing herbal notes and a little orange tang at the end . There's really not the red fruit or tannin notes you might have come to expect from other amarone cask whiskies… showing that they might have used other valpolicella wines and not real amarone! 

In fact (Serena informs me), the tannins in real Amarone are very soft despite it being a strong red wine. Village Varda sources their amarone casks from Bertani , if you want to look. Overall heavier and warmer than the rye or passito expressions, the InQuota Amarone is the one to try if you're a real Scotch whiskey fan - but still with its own very distinct character. 

The Dolomiti Spruce Cask (47.6%) gets 18 months in these casks, following the initial 18 in French oak. This is not only the highest ABV of the four whiskies, but the specific ABV is a little in-joke, reflecting Luigi Dolzan's birthday. This goes beyond being an Italian whisky, Serena says - it's a Trentino whisky . 

Dolomite spruce trees are a local symbol; the smell of spruce is the smell of local forests. Michele tells me about how children playing in the woods come back covered in the smell of spruce . Using this wood for whiskey maturation represents something recognisably local which everyone from Trentino can be proud of.

The flavor of this dram is a nice shift away from the darker Amarone cask. More peppery, it's a rich whiskey - the cask is no gimmick. Serena suggests it has an almost balsamic flavor. A little resinous, maybe, but it's not harsh or strange at all - and I say that as someone who is not a fan of balsamic! If you add a touch of water, a more heady sweetness emerges. It was definitely right to have this whiskey last.

Returning to the Amarone for a moment, it almost seems bland by comparison. It's not, of course, but it just shows how rich an all-rounder the spruce cask is. Trying the rye again, it seems more herbal but otherwise unchanged. Overall, the spruce just seems to add a lot of depth, for which the higher ABV surely helps too. Remember that everything ages faster here - despite being at altitude in northern, Alpine Italy , Trentino is only really cold for a few months of the year, and even then it's far from freezing cold.