about us
FROM THE HEART OF THE MARCHE REGION TO THE WORLD
Collesi high-quality distillates and Italian craft beers find their ideal microclimate in Apecchio, a small medieval village on the border between the Italian regions of Marche and Umbria. Here all the excellent Collesi brand products are born and from here, they are shipped all over the world, meeting the taste of an admiring international audience and collecting prestigious prizes and awards. An adventure in quality, tradition and experience that comes from the passion of its founder, Giuseppe Collesi. In the cultivation and production process of the beers and distillates, everything happens in harmony with nature’s rhythms and according to the most-advanced sustainable technology. The Collesi plant operates with “zero emissions”, thanks to its photovoltaic plant with 32 kW of power, its pellet-powered steam generator and the decision not to use hydrocarbons and LPG. An environmentally friendly system designed to protect the environment and the well-being and safety of people.
The stages of success.
2000: THE DISTILLERIES
The family-owned business is founded on one of Giuseppe Collesi’s ideas. It was 1997 when he decided to open a distillery in the heart of the Marche region in Apecchio, the historic hill town where he had always lived—an uncontaminated and generous natural environment at a 700-meter altitude that ensured ideal climatic conditions and excellent raw materials. The distillery opened at the end of 2001 and already in 2002, the accolades and awards began to arrive. Today, Grappa Collesi is a brand of excellence and their Distilleries are the first and most established in Marche.
2007: COLLESI BEERS
The Tenute Collesi Brewery was born from the passion of Giuseppe Collesi who is bringing the Collesi Beer all over the world. The experience is that of the master brewer of Collesi, the Belgian Marc Knops who conducted the operations from the first moment to make the Collesi craft beer balanced and of great appeal, in line with the Belgian Trappist beers. They are all high fermentation, unpasteurized and with natural fermentation in the bottle. This process keeps the aromas and aromas of every single ingredient alive. The construction work for the Collesi Brewery begins in 2005, the first cooked beer dates back to November 2007 and to March 2008 the marketing. The national and international awards were not long in coming and as for the spirits they arrived very numerous.
2016: GIN AND VODKA
From the deep tradition of craftsmanship and the ceaseless search for the quality of the Tenute Collesi Distilleries, two great innovations are born for the spirits sector. A highly ranked Gin and Vodka, made strictly in Italy.
2018: COLLESI BEAUTY
Giuseppe Collesi, rediscovering ancient traditions, becomes aware that beer can be an effective natural ingredient for beauty products. Since ancient times in fact, Babylonian queens and Roman empresses would immerse themselves in regenerating beer baths that were known also in Egypt and Mesopotamia for their therapeutic and cosmetic properties. Millennial rituals that became a source of inspiration and that transformed advanced cosmetics. Collesi Research Center develops a production technology with an exclusive patent. This sophisticated process preserves all the functional principles of Beer and its ingredients: Barley, Malt, Hops, Yeast and the residue of its craft production. With Collesi, the vital energy of Beer remains intact from nature to the skin.
2018: COLLESI HOME FRAGRANCES
The Collesi Home Fragrance line was created thanks to the dynamism of Giuseppe, and it evokes his desire to return to his origins but with his typical enthusiasm for something new. The whole line, from the fragrances to the diffusers, is the olfactory story of his world. The heart and soul of the new brand is the enduring bond with his father, an accomplished distiller. Giuseppe’s path is continuously evolving, but never accidentally. The olfactory project is simple: to use the ability of the distiller to give life to fragrances that evoke precious memories and offer unique experiences for the five senses. Evocative sensorial experiences to embellish the spaces of your home.
COLLESI – ISO 9001:2015
Fabbrica della Birra Tenute Collesi Srl – ISO 9001:2015.
ISO 9001 is the reference standard for those who want to submit their production process to quality control cyclically, starting from the definition of the requirements, expressed and not, of the customers and coming up to the monitoring of the entire production process / path. ISO 9001 certification is voluntary and is a way to qualify the company, now recognized worldwide.
Collesi's Story
From spirits to Italian craft beer, the story of Giuseppe Collesi.
When I was a boy, I studied technology in Città di Castello, but my true passion was something else. During my free time, I used to help my parents around the restaurant of our family’s agriturismo. I waited on tables and the thing I loved most was recommending my father’s homemade grappa to our clients. They would fall in love, because I knew how to portray it.
It was a product I felt so deeply about. The fragrances, the nuances of flavor, the techniques used to prepare it. So in 1997, I had an idea—to open my own distillery in the heart of Marche, in Apecchio, the historic hill town where I’d always lived. My friends told me that I was crazy. Real Italian grappa is made in Friuli, in Veneto and in Trentino. But I didn’t let that discourage me. The distillery opened at the end on 2001. And as early as 2002, I started to win prizes and awards, and today, Grappe Collesi is known as a brand of excellence and the first and most famous distillery in Marche.
A story of ideas, adventures and success.
I had always loved adventures and I was ready to live a new one. During a prestigious tasting at the Senate of the Republic, with 45 ambassadors from all over the world, I saw the Belgian ambassador, an old friend of mine. He was the first to give me some input and said, ‘Why don’t you open a brewery?’ It was a phrase that inspired me. At my disposal were extraordinary raw materials: the fresh water from the Monte Nerone reservoir and high quality barley, cultivated in the ancient family estates. Plus, I had the know-how of a Belgian brewer that I had invited to Apecchio. I was ready to launch this new venture: creating a high quality Italian craft beer inspired by the traditions that had been passed down for centuries. And this time, my friends didn’t say a word.
I started building the Birra Collesi business in 2005. In November of 2007, I brewed my first beer and in March of 2008, I started commercializing it. And as for the grappa, I didn’t have to wait long before the many national and international prizes started coming in.
The reasons for this success? As for the spirits, I’ve always tried to do my best in terms of a unique sensory experience that would express the link between land and tradition. A link that also shines through in our family crest, which I wanted to print on both our spirits and our Collesi Craft Beers. The crest was created in 1870 by my great-great-grandfather, and first mayor of Apecchio, just after the Italian unification. It has a tower, which symbolizes our village, surrounded by three stars, which have certainly brought me luck.”
Giuseppe Collesi