In the beginning there was one woman: Maria Marzari

Montegalda, 1840.

This is where the story of Italy’s oldest artisanal distillery begins.

The founding father of the dynasty was Bortolo Lotto, a figure loved and respected in the region. On the ground floor of the Palazzone -- still the headquarters of the Brunello distillery --there is a bruso for producing liquor, an olive press for oil, and a mill for sulphur.

Three activities putting them comfortably beside Mother Teresa. He had only one son, who was adopted, and died prematurely.

In 1905 therefore the company was passed on to daughter-in-lawMaria Marzari, who, due to a bizarre twist of family relations, was also his great-niece. Among the first female entrepreneurs in the world of grappa, she refined the distillation technique learned from her father-in-law, setting to work in the still herself, soon gaining awards and recognition.

After being widowed by Rinaldo Lotto, she remarried with Giovanni Brunello, with whom she had seven children. The two boys, Giandomenico and Antonio, helped Maria with the work of the distillery. But she would need to wait until the end of the war for the boys to return to Montegalda to once again guide the destiny of the Distillery.