Died Benito Nonino, the man who reinvented grappa

Last night Benito Nonino, the man who reinvented grappa from a tavern liqueur into a fine product, passed away. He was 90 years old and, together with his wife, Giannola, had turned the small family business producing 'sgnapa' into a world-famous brand. Benito Nonino died at his company home in Percoto (Udine), where he was born on 6 February 1934. Benito and Giannola, an inseparable couple, had three daughters, Antonella, Cristina and Elisabetta, who work in the company, as do several grandchildren.

Passionate about the distillery business from an early age, he made the first "Monovitigno Picolit" grappa in 1973. A shy but proactive man, long confined to a wheelchair, even yesterday afternoon he asked to be taken to the distillery. With time and the growth of the brand nationally and across the border, Benito and Giannola set up the eponymous Nonino Prize, which has a jury of high international cultural level and which over the years has awarded more than five writers who would later receive the Nobel Prize.

"Benito Nonino has passed away in the affection of his loved ones. An extraordinary man who, together with his wife Giannola, was able to transform grappa into a prestigious product, taking the Nonino distillery to international levels of excellence with humility and simplicity. Thank you, for making Friuli Venezia Giulia great. Our deepest condolences to his family and all his loved ones'. This was written by the president of Fvg, Massimiliano Fedriga, on his social profiles. Among the first to express condolences for Nonino's death also the group of Forza Italia in the Regional Council of Friuli Venezia Giulia, composed by Andrea Cabibbo, Roberto Novelli and Michele Lobianco. 'Before Benito Nonino, grappa was considered a tavern liqueur. He, as a refined artist, made it into a refined product, maintaining its genuine and pure matrix. This is enough to explain how great was Benito Nonino, proud standard bearer of Friuli Venezia Giulia," reads a note released by Forza Italia. Nonino, the note stresses, was 'a pioneer of culinary excellence, which transcends the boundaries of gastronomy and becomes an element of culture, history and identity of a territory and a people. He was able to transform the classic small family business that produced 'sgnapa' into a world-famous brand'.

"I have fond memories of Benito Nonino ever since, as a young lawyer, I had the good fortune to meet him at work with his humanity and energy. It is right and proper to emphasise the debt of gratitude that Friuli owes to one of its great patriarchs, an entrepreneur who has become a symbolic name of a land with strong roots projected into the world. A hug goes in particular to his wife Giannola and his entire beautiful family, who, with their work of territorial, cultural and social promotion, have been and remain an essential part of the 'Nonino world' built around a product of natural and identity-based excellence'. This was said by the Dem deputy and former president of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Debora Serracchiani, recalling the figure of the Friulian grappa entrepreneur.