THE BEST STORIES ALWAYS BEGIN WITH ONCE UPON A TIME…
THE BEST STORIES ALWAYS BEGIN WITH
ONCE UPON A TIME…
Once upon a time in Leadville a young boy, his name was Francesco Diemoz.
Francesco was a miner in the silver mines.
Many miners at that time had emigrated in search of fortune to Leadville, Colorado. Francesco was one of them.
He started from a small mountain village called Allein, a village located in the Great St Bernard valley.
He said goodbye to everyone at the end of the summer and on October 15, 1910 he landed at Ellis Island in New York in the new continent.
From New York to Leadville in Colorado it was a long journey, overcoming the Appalachian Mountains, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and finally Colorado.
It was a heroic journey; first on horseback, then at the bard of the first railway lines in the United States.
During this trip Francesco saw one of the first V-Twin motorcycles which later became the famous Harley Davidson motorcycles; he saw one in the suburb of Chicago.
But this boy discovered much more… he discovered the Moonshine.
Here he met a certain Wilson. Wilson was a Moonshiner, at the back of his hut he distilled a strange mixture obtained from the corn fermantation. He was amazed by this technique that Wilson adopted, he tasted some of this Moonshine and after spending a night camped on his property continued the long journey to Leadville.
Francesco worked in the Leadville silver mines until the communication arrived, in his wooden shack called “Box 523”, that his native country needed his support. So it was that this twenty-nine year old left for the old continent to serve his country during the First World War.
What happened during the war, Francesco, he never told anyone.
Francesco finally returned to his small village in the Great St Bernard valley. Here he opened a small store. He sold cigarettes, salt and wine. Under the counter, however, instead of pomace he had Moonshine. His cellar had become a small distillery.
It was a dark, cold cellar, heated only by three goats, a couple of rabbits, and his alembic.
Distilling the pomace was a normal practice at the time and was distilled in the winter months.
Producing moonshine was much more profitable because at any time of the year a distillate of about 40% vol similar to grappa could be obtained.
In his small shop, he began to serve the first experiments of his Moonshine with local herbs and local fruits to make the taste more pleasant, especially for his wife Zenobia.
Life in the mountain village was not easy at all, the winters were long and already from the middle of November the snow covered the Great St Bernard valley. Francesco, like many men in his valley, he smuggled to increase his incomes.
He loaded his backpack with 10 liters of his Moonshine and a hundred cigarettes, tied a pair of wooden skis to his feet and set off for the Menouve valley or the Great St Bernard pass.
The pass road was not recommended because if the authorities intercepted you, they fired a few warning shots forcing you to stop and forcing you to leave part of the cigarettes and the precious distillate. This was life in these remote valleys, where the law was second only to survival.
Thus was born, even if not authorized, the Saint Bernard Distillery.
75 years have passed, we have decided to compile a couple of documents and make this predecessor legacy official and legal.
We are sure that Francesco would have laughed and told us:
“It was the longest dream I’ve ever clung to, it took a little longer than expected … but it was worth it”.
Once upon a time in Leadville a young boy, his name was Francesco Diemoz.
Francesco was a miner in the silver mines.
Many miners at that time had emigrated in search of fortune to Leadville, Colorado. Francesco was one of them.
He started from a small mountain village called Allein, a village located in the Great St Bernard valley.
He said goodbye to everyone at the end of the summer and on October 15, 1910 he landed at Ellis Island in New York in the new continent.
From New York to Leadville in Colorado it was a long journey, overcoming the Appalachian Mountains, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and finally Colorado.
It was a heroic journey; first on horseback, then at the bard of the first railway lines in the United States.
During this trip Francesco saw one of the first V-Twin motorcycles which later became the famous Harley Davidson motorcycles; he saw one in the suburb of Chicago.
But this boy discovered much more… he discovered the Moonshine.
Here he met a certain Wilson. Wilson was a Moonshiner, at the back of his hut he distilled a strange mixture obtained from the corn fermantation. He was amazed by this technique that Wilson adopted, he tasted some of this Moonshine and after spending a night camped on his property continued the long journey to Leadville.
Francesco worked in the Leadville silver mines until the communication arrived, in his wooden shack called “Box 523”, that his native country needed his support. So it was that this twenty-nine year old left for the old continent to serve his country during the First World War.
What happened during the war, Francesco, he never told anyone.
Francesco finally returned to his small village in the Great St Bernard valley. Here he opened a small store. He sold cigarettes, salt and wine. Under the counter, however, instead of pomace he had Moonshine. His cellar had become a small distillery.
It was a dark, cold cellar, heated only by three goats, a couple of rabbits, and his alembic.
Distilling the pomace was a normal practice at the time and was distilled in the winter months.
Producing moonshine was much more profitable because at any time of the year a distillate of about 40% vol similar to grappa could be obtained.
In his small shop, he began to serve the first experiments of his Moonshine with local herbs and local fruits to make the taste more pleasant, especially for his wife Zenobia.
Life in the mountain village was not easy at all, the winters were long and already from the middle of November the snow covered the Great St Bernard valley. Francesco, like many men in his valley, he smuggled to increase his incomes.
He loaded his backpack with 10 liters of his Moonshine and a hundred cigarettes, tied a pair of wooden skis to his feet and set off for the Menouve valley or the Great St Bernard pass.
The pass road was not recommended because if the authorities intercepted you, they fired a few warning shots forcing you to stop and forcing you to leave part of the cigarettes and the precious distillate. This was life in these remote valleys, where the law was second only to survival.
Thus was born, even if not authorized, the Saint Bernard Distillery.
75 years have passed, we have decided to compile a couple of documents and make this predecessor legacy official and legal.
We are sure that Francesco would have laughed and told us:
“It was the longest dream I’ve ever clung to, it took a little longer than expected … but it was worth it”.
