St. Roch’s Génépy

The history of the St.Roch Distillery is strictly linked to the Levi family, who had been involved in the distillery business since the 18th century, in Campodolcino, province of Sondrio, Lombardy. It was only in the late 1800 that Angelo Levi and his son Guglielmo arrived in the village of Sant’Orso, Aosta. Here is where they created the eponymous Sant’Orso grappa and the wide array of liqueurs and spirits we still know today. In 1968, Natalia Levi, Guglielmo’s youngest child, and her husband Cesare Rosset founded the St.Roch Distillery. As of now, the St.Roch Distillery manufactures and sells about 120 products, among which Génépy and Génépy Blanc.

When thinking of the Aosta Valley, one thing that comes to mind is génépy, a type of wormwood, which is found at an altitude not lower than 1,450m, and is the base of the eponymous liqueur. St.Roch’s classic Génépy Artemisia is obtained by soaking the herbs for about six months, at the end of which period the gold-coloured liquid is diluted with water and sugar. It is subsequently bottled with a génépy plant inside for a decorative purpose. Génépy Artemisia Blanc, on the other hand, is obtained by laying the herbs on a mesh placed above the alcohol in an airtight chamber. This method allows the alcohol vapours to extract the aromatic components from the plants, but not their pigments. The final product will be clear and colourless.

Génépy is a liqueur with digestive properties and an alcohol content of 42%, prepared in accordance with century-old recipes. The smell is delicate and elegant with the distinctive aroma of high-mountain herbs. The taste is aromatic and persistent. In the Blanc version, the herbal part is milder. Both Génépys can be enjoyed straight-up, neat or used for GenerAle, a cocktail prepared with Génépy, ginger ale and ice. For those with a sweet tooth, the St.Roch Distillery has created a new variation on the traditional pairing génépy-chocolate: Bàcio (lit. “kiss”), which combines the velvety sweetness of profiterole cream with the distinctive aroma of Génépy Artemisia.