Dan Henroid | Department of Nutrition and Food Services at the University of California
Fabio Bacchi | HO.RE.CA, Bartales
Orietta Maria Varnelli is part of a very long and prestigious Italian story in the spirits industry: Distilleria Varnelli, based on the slopes of Monti Sibillini in the Marche region.
With her mother Elda and two sisters, she leads the family business started in 1868 from a brilliant idea of her great-grandfather Girolamo Varnelli, a keen herbalist, who invented the first specialty – Amaro Sibilla – which is still produced today accordingly to the original recipe and crafting process.
As the custodian of such a valuable tradition passed down from generation to generation, Orietta Maria is enthusiastically and dynamically committed to the utmost quality of products and to highlighting distinctive contents related to their local roots.
With her family she is an iconic protagonist of the Mediterranean culture of Anise-based liquors thanks to the flagship product – Varnelli Anice Secco – launched at the beginning of the 20th Century by her grandfather Antonio and father Girolamo jr..
Gold Medal awarded in 1950 as “the best Italian Dry Anise”, Varnelli Anice Secco is even considered unique by professionals and demanding consumers who love its peculiar and surprising features.
Consistently with her commitment in promoting Anise properties and related historical paths, Orietta Maria Varnelli is also a proud member of “Ordre International des Anysetiers” (www.anysetiers.org) founded in 1263 in Paris by Etienne Boileau, a guild inspired by the double aim of spreading the Anise Culture and of helping others in need. In 2012 she had an active role in fostering the establishment of the first American Chapter of Anysetiers – the Bailliage of Louisiana – which makes New Orleans the point of reference in the U.S. for a new interdisciplinary focus on Anise.
