Distillato di Mele Decio di Belfiore

  • Capovilla Distillati
  • Veneto, Italy

Method & Production

Made using an ancient apple variety from the Verona area, known as the “mela dei Romani” (apple of the Romans). It is a small, crunchy, Winter apple, that is green-yellow in colour. It is a Slow Food presidium, which means it is protected by an organization who assist groups of small-scale artisans to preserve unique and endangered foods, traditional methods, and/or ecosystems from extinction.


To make these fruit distillates, the first step is to put the apples through a fermentation (spontaneous, using indigenous yeasts) similar to that of winemaking. They then distil this fruit wine twice using a baine-marie method in custom-made small copper stills, this distills the fruit wine at a low temperature, very slowly. Though this method is time-consuming it extracts the maximum amount of flavours and aromas. The first part of the distillation contains toxic methyl alcohol and the last part of the distillation contains undesirable elements such as seed oils and other unpleasantries. These parts are therefore discarded and what is left is the clean and pure heart of the distillato. The distillates are left to age for a few years before being cut with fresh spring water which reduces the alcohol substantially.


Each bottle is unique, the label handwritten and sealed with a coloured wax, chosen to represent the original fruit.