Genziana Boroni

Genziana Boroni, drink the Mountain

At the entrance to the Val Rendena, on the road that leads to Madonna di Campiglio, there is the small village of Borzago, which is making news for reviving a time honoured and traditional distillate which, after along period of oblivion, is now making an astonishing comeback: gentian spirit. The credit for rediscovering and relaunching this elixir of life on the market goes to the Boroni family.

The passion and dedication of Giovanni Boroni were inherited by his children Cesare, Elsa, Ernesto and Giulio, who continued the family business maintaining the same hand-crafted methods and characteristics of their product. The company closed in 1972 due to family reasons, but, from 2000, my grandfather Giulio, with my grandmother Bruna and my uncles Giovanni, Patrizia and my mother Patrizia decided to reopen the business in response to requests from those who still remember ‘Genziana Boroni’, and to prevent a name with well over a century of history from fading away.

Genziana Boroni is obtained from the distillation of a fermented gentian root that, thanks to the accurate formula adopted for over 150 years by the Boroni Distillery, fully preserves all its medicinal properties. Gentian roots are harvested over 2000mt, in the mountains of the Adamello Brenta Nature Park, laid in jute sacks and carried downstream thanks to the strength and passion of our people. Harvesting is done by hand, from plants meticulously selected to safeguard their reproductive cycle. Every stage in the processing of roots and berries is conducted manually and is the result of a century of experience. The distillation process is a very delicate stage that requires continuous, attentive monitoring. The Boroni gentian is produced with the original wood-fired still.

This is not the straightforward dryness of the vine, but the mystery of the essence of roots, of the scent and flavours of the mountain, of pebbles smoothed by glaciers, with nuances of the nearby pines seemingly intertwined with the gentian roots themselves, and evocative sensations of snow melting just before flowering time and of hardy, uncut grass.

This grappa is colorless and brilliant in the glass, intensely expressing the typical scents of the root of origin, elegantly supported by a pleasantly appetizing alcoholic breeze. In the mouth it is dry, enveloping, balanced and long-lasting, with a typical bitter and spicy finish. Excellent at the end of a meal, but also as a tonic or while enjoying a good read.

GENZIANA BORONI

Grappa

ALCHOOL CONTENT

43%

USAGE

Serve at 12 ° C, in small tulip-shaped glasses.

Distilleria Giovanni Boroni

According to family memories and to references in books dedicated to the Val Rendena, the Boroni distilled gentian spirit in the early Nineteenth Century. The family began the artisan production of distillates in earnest in 1849, when the distillery was enrolled in the Trento Chamber of Commerce and Crafts. Further documentation testifying just how long the Boroni family has been distilling gentian root spirit is an authorisation to gather the roots issued by the Pelugo municipality in 1852. Cesare Boroni (the great grandfather) owned a small family-run distillery in the village of Borzago. Through continuous, patient and laborious trial and error, he eventually perfected the process to produce this unique distillate, and he handed these methods down to his son Giovanni. Giovanni significantly expanded the production activities of the distillery in the period around 1920, and even won second prize in the first expo dedicated to artisan production and small businesses from the Giudicarie area. The medal was represented in the label designed at the time, and it still appears today as a symbol of continuity.

Distilleria Boroni