Rapa Giovanni

Rapa Giovanni is an artisanal Piedmontese distillery of excellence, born in 1880 in Andorno Micca, in the Valle Cervo, where the passion for local traditions is passed down intact, far from industrial compromises.

Its story comes to life through Giovanni Rapa, a sculptor and expert in herbs, who at the end of the nineteenth century began industrial production of Ratafià – a liqueur already mentioned in the 1600s by the nuns of the Monastery of Santa Maria della Sala, steeped in ancient legends and used to seal solemn pacts as far back as the year 1000.

The undisputed star is Ratafià, recognised as a traditional agri-food product since 2000. Macerated with black sour cherries – or precious variants such as walnuts, juniper, apricots, and lemons – cinnamon, cloves, cane sugar, and nutmeg, it offers an intense, bittersweet, velvety fruity bouquet. Ideal as a digestif or for refined cocktails, it embodies the authentic soul of the Biellese.

Among the specialities stands out Amaro Walser, an elixir from the alpine herbs of the Monte Rosa massif – gentle wormwood, relaxing anise, green bitter orange, sage, peppermint, and lavender – a legacy of the Walser community from the 13th century, faithfully reproduced since the end of the nineteenth century.