A 100% grape-based local distillery located at our family's winery, Rappahannock Cellars. Established in 2017, we produce award winning Vodka, Gin, and Brandy entirely from our wines which we produced on-site.

 

"THE BEST WINES ARE PRESSED FROM ONLY THE GREATEST GRAPES....AND THE BEST SPIRITS ARE DISTILLED FROM ONLY THE GREATEST WINES."

In 1906, our Great-Grandfather Paul Mariani (“Dida”, pronounced "did-uh", and Croatian for "Grandfather") immigrated to California from Croatia and began farming. His passion and hard work became a multi-generational legacy, eventually leading to the creation of the Mariani Fruit Packing Company; an enterprise still owned and operated by my uncle, Mark Mariani and his family today. In 1996, after learning of a budding wine scene in Virginia, my parents sold our California winery and headed east to build Rappahannock Cellars.

 

In 2015, we set out to create the next generation of products from our wines through the art of distilling: 100% grape-based spirits. For nearly two decades here at Rappahannock Cellars, we’ve continued to celebrate one of Dida’s most dearly held passions: wine. With the extension of Dida's Distillery to make spirits from those wines, we remain dedicated to our family's passion for agriculture and crafting outstanding grape products – something that we know would make Dida proud. ​

--Allan Delmare, Distiller