Distilleria Ceschia

Where Friuli's Hill Country Finds Its Spirit

The road into Nimis climbs through vine-terraced slopes that have been worked since at least the medieval period. This corner of northeastern Italy, tucked between the Tagliamento plain and the Julian Pre-Alps, produces two things with particular seriousness: Ramandolo, the rare passito-style wine from Verduzzo Friulano, and grappa distilled from the spent grape skins that the harvest leaves behind. Distilleria Ceschia sits on Via Foscolo in the heart of the town, and its address alone locates it inside one of Italy's most terroir-specific distilling traditions. For context on the wider Friulian drinks world, our full Nimis restaurants guide maps the producers and tables worth knowing in the area.

The Terroir Behind the Still

Grappa's character is inseparable from the grape varieties that precede it. In Nimis and the surrounding Colli Orientali del Friuli, the marc that enters a still comes primarily from Verduzzo Friulano and Schioppettino, two varieties with enough aromatic intensity and tannin to leave something worth capturing after fermentation is complete. Verduzzo Friulano, in particular, is one of Italy's more distinctive indigenous grapes: it oxidises slowly, retains residual sugar well, and carries floral and dried-fruit registers that survive the distillation process. Schioppettino, by contrast, is darker and more tannic, producing grappa with a spice-forward structure that sits differently from the lighter, more neutral styles more commonly associated with northern Italian distilling.

This is the critical difference between Friuli's grappa tradition and the broader Italian category. Where large commercial producers in Trentino or Veneto often work with neutral varieties or blended marc, the smaller distilleries of the Colli Orientali work with grape identities that are specific to their hillsides. The result is that grappa from this zone functions more like a terroir expression than a generic spirit category, something closer in spirit (if not in method) to what single-vineyard Calvados producers in Normandy have argued for decades. Ceschia, holding a Pearl 2 Star Prestige rating for 2025, operates inside that smaller, quality-oriented tier of Italian distilling.

A 2025 Pearl 2 Star Prestige Recognition

Italian craft distilling has its own recognition hierarchy, and the Pearl 2 Star Prestige award that Ceschia carries into 2025 places it in the upper segment of that framework. Awards at this level are not handed to producers for volume or heritage alone; they reflect consistent quality across a range, attention to raw material selection, and distillation discipline. For a distillery operating from a small town of a few thousand residents in Udine province, this kind of recognition is a meaningful signal of where the operation sits relative to peers across the country.

The Italian craft grappa world has diversified considerably over the past two decades. Producers like Nonino Distillery in Pavia di Udine helped establish Friuli as a reference region for quality grappa and pioneered the monovitigno (single-variety) format that is now standard across serious producers. Distilleria Marzadro in Nogaredo and Distilleria Romano Levi in Neive represent the Trentino and Piedmont poles of the same quality conversation. Ceschia's recognition places it inside that national peer group, operating from a terroir position that few Italian distilleries can replicate.

Nimis as a Distilling Address

Understanding why Nimis matters as a provenance requires a short detour into Friulian agricultural history. The town sits at the foot of the Monte Bernadia massif, at an elevation that moderates summer heat and extends the growing season in ways that concentrate sugars and aromatics in the grapes. Ramandolo, the DOCG that covers part of this zone, is one of the smallest appellations in Italy, covering fewer than forty hectares of classified vineyard. The grapes that go into Ramandolo wine are the same grapes whose skins and seeds pass through Ceschia's still. There is a direct line between the DOCG and the distillate that is more traceable here than almost anywhere else in Italian grappa production.

This connection between appellation viticulture and distillery supply is what distinguishes Nimis from other grappa-producing zones. In Montalcino, for instance, the distilling tradition runs alongside the Brunello DOCG but is rarely treated as its equal. In Friuli, the two are more integrated, partly because the indigenous varieties are so specific and partly because producers like Ceschia have spent years reinforcing that relationship. For a broader read on how Italian wine appellations interact with distilling traditions at the premium end, reference points like Aldo Conterno in Monforte d'Alba, Lungarotti in Torgiano, or Castello di Volpaia in Radda in Chianti show how estate viticulture and secondary production can reinforce each other. Ceschia occupies a similar position in its own zone.

Placing Ceschia in the Italian Spirits Context

Italian spirits production covers a wide spectrum: from the scale of operations like Campari in Milan to the micro-production craft end where Ceschia sits. The craft tier has grown significantly since the early 2000s, driven partly by renewed interest in indigenous varieties and partly by a generational shift in how Italian consumers approach domestic spirits. The entry of grappa into cocktail menus in Rome, Milan, and Florence has also broadened demand beyond the traditional after-dinner format.

Within that broader category context, Friulian distilleries have held a particular authority because of their proximity to the source material. Producers working with Ramandolo marc or Schioppettino skins are not competing on the same terms as a Barolo producer's grappa or a Prosecco-zone facility working with mass quantities of Glera marc. The reference set for Ceschia is closer to Poli Distillerie in Schiavon (Vicenza) in terms of craft orientation and regional identity, though the grape varieties and hillside character of Nimis give Ceschia a specific identity within that peer group.

For those building a broader picture of Italian premium wine and spirits production, estates like Ca' del Bosco in Erbusco, Planeta in Menfi, or Poggio Antico show how smaller, terroir-specific operations have built sustained reputations outside the major appellations. The model is comparable, even if the product category differs. Internationally, parallels exist with producers like Aberlour in Aberlour or Accendo Cellars in St. Helena, where provenance and production discipline combine to create a distinct position in a competitive field.

Planning a Visit

Nimis is in Udine province, roughly 25 kilometres north of Udine city, and most visitors arrive by car from the A23 motorway. The town is small and the distillery address on Via Foscolo is direct to locate. Given that Ceschia's website and phone details are not publicly listed in current reference sources, the most reliable approach for visit planning is direct contact through local tourism resources or the Friuli Venezia Giulia regional wine and spirits trail network, which covers producers in the Colli Orientali zone. Visiting during the autumn harvest period brings the added context of seeing the local viticulture that supplies the distillery, though the distillery itself operates year-round. The L'Enoteca Banfi in Montalcino model of pairing estate visits with food and wine programming is less established at this scale of Friulian production, so expectations should be calibrated toward a working craft producer rather than a visitor-centre format.

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of setting is Distilleria Ceschia?

Ceschia is a craft distillery operating from Nimis, a small hill town in Udine province within the Colli Orientali del Friuli zone. It is a working production facility rather than a hospitality-oriented destination, set in a region known for Ramandolo DOCG wine and indigenous Friulian grape varieties. The distillery holds a Pearl 2 Star Prestige recognition for 2025, placing it among Italy's noted craft spirits producers at the quality-focused end of the grappa category.

What is the must-try spirit at Distilleria Ceschia?

The distillery's strongest editorial case rests on its proximity to Ramandolo and Schioppettino marc, the two varieties that give Friulian grappa its distinctive aromatic and structural character. Grappa produced from Verduzzo Friulano, the grape behind Ramandolo, carries floral and dried-fruit registers specific to the Monte Bernadia hillsides. Given the 2025 Pearl 2 Star Prestige award, any expression drawing on these indigenous varieties represents the distillery's core argument for why Nimis deserves attention as a grappa provenance.