Vecchia Romagna

From the early 1700s, the Buton family began perfecting the noble art of distillation in France. The success of their spirits was such that they earned the coveted title of suppliers of the Imperial House of Napoleon I. When the regime fell, Jean, the most talented of the Buton heirs, decided to move to Italy. He decided to settle in Emilia-Romagna, where he found the perfect grapes, the right climate, and an environment full of culture and inspiration to refine his distillatory art. In 1820, with the help of a local entrepreneur, Jean set up an experimental distillery in Bologna. More than one hundred years later, in 1939, the company chose to enhance the product’s Italian personality and renamed it Vecchia Romagna Buton Brandy.

In 1999, the company was acquired by Gruppo Montenegro which, as a result of its commercial success and fully-renovated historic production facility, has breathed new life into the business, making it a flagship Italian liquor company. A 200 year-long success in which experience, creativity, and innovation have led Vecchia Romagna to create unique brandies with an immutable charm.

The first phase of the “Vecchia Romagna Method” is distinguished by the combination of two different distillation techniques.

In the discontinuous phase, the wine is heated for 8-10 hours in Charentais alembic stills. The heads and tails of the spirit are expertly cut, allowing only the “heart” of each distillation cycle to be collected in the barrels, resulting in a precious concentration of the aromas and scents of the original wine. The second is the continuous phase, also known as “column still” distillation. In this uninterrupted distillation cycle, a high alcohol content is obtained in a short period of time. Importantly, in this last phase, the steam evenly distributes heat, which provides the spirit with purity and smoothness.

The ageing process that follows is one of the most crucial moments in the production of the brandy. Resting in wood and the passage of time define the character of the spirit and enrich it with complex aromas and flavours. The large Vecchia Romagna ageing cellars in the heart of the Bolognese countryside house almost 4000 barrels, each custom toasted, crafted by the skilled hands of master coopers. A quiet, intimate atmosphere where, among the wooden and ethereal scents, one patiently awaits the brandy’s slow transformation.

The spirits are aged in two types of wooden barrels: the first are the barriques (400 L). The spirit rests for at least a year in these small French oak barrels, where close contact with the wood imparts an intense aroma and a subtle vanilla scent. The next step takes place in large Slovenian oak barrels (4000-5000 L), which allow a slower exchange with the wood and the spirit to preserve all of the qualities of the original wine, becoming refined and rounded.

The final phase of the Vecchia Romagna method is blending: the aged spirits are hand-picked and combined by skilled craftsmen. This  delicate game of balance ensures that Vecchia Romagna’s sensorial characteristics remain unchanged over time.  Finally, the selected brandies are combined in large vats and left to rest for at least three months before being bottled in the iconic triangular bottle.