Grappa Defined and Refined | The Bolda Story

Italian Heritage. Aussie Spirit.

My grandfather, Vittorio Testolin, left war-torn Italy after the First World War to work in the USA. The year was 1921, just after American Prohibition had been enacted.

Vittorio settled and found work in Boulder Hill, Chicago. He worked as a metal worker for Pullman making train carriages.

Vittorio sent money back to his family in Calvene Italy, a town at the foothills on the rugged Dolomites near Bassano del Grappa.

On a trip back to Italy to visit his family, Vittorio was asked where he worked, he told them Boulder Hill, this was quickly Italianised to Bolda which has been the family’s nickname ever since. 

During his spare time, Vittorio would use scrap metal to illegally make grappa stills in the style used for centuries at home. These stills were used for grappa and moonshine.

Today, I use traditional techniques together with modern, computerised distilling equipment to make consistently satisfying Bolda Spirits in honour of my grandfather.

— Vic Testolin