The entrepreneur from Percoto in the province of Udine has transformed grappa from a cheap pub liquor into a high-quality product. Together with his wife Giannola, he expanded his small family business into a strongly export-oriented group. The company is currently run by Nonino’s three daughters Antonella, Cristina and Elisabetta.
Until a few decades ago, grappa produced in the north-eastern regions of Italy was considered a peasant liquor that might be used to warm up quickly. It was considered to be sharp and lacking in flavor. The Nonino family gave the starting signal for the change in quality and image.
First Grappa 1973
Benito Nonino, born in 1934, was enthusiastic regarding distilling at a young age and produced the first grappa, “Monovitigno Picolit”, in 1973. Instead of devoting themselves to producing cheap grappa like other traditional distillers, Nonino and his wife took cognac production as a model in the 1970s to improve their method. They stuck to the traditional production process but refined the art of distillation. Instead of cheap bottles, they chose ampoules made of hand-blown Murano glass with silver-plated cork lids.
With the increasing popularity of the grappa brand, Benito Nonino founded the Nonino Prize, which over the years, with a jury of high international level, has awarded writers, some of whom later received the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Nonino has grown into an international company. 35 percent of the annual turnover of 17 million euros is generated abroad. Nonino grappa is also well known in China and the USA and now wants to succeed in Eastern Europe. Exports to Austria are also strong.