Rochelt is a prestigious Austrian producer of high-quality eaux de vie made in the Tyrolean tradition.
The distillery started life in brothers Günter and Dietmar Rochelt’s cousin’s garage when they began experimenting with wild rowanberry distillation in the 1970s. It was another decade before Günter decided to build his own distillery and share his spirits with the world.
In the years that have followed, Rochelt has grown exponentially. Today, the high-quality eaux de vie are produced at a purpose-built distillery in the village of Fritzens, 16 kilometres east of Innsbruck. Every aspect of production is performed in-house, from distillation in four hand-hammered copper pot stills, to bottling, corking and hand-applying the iconic labels.
Today, Rochelt is headed up by Günter’s son-in-law, Alexander Rainer. Günter began training Rainer for the role of Master Distiller in 2003, and he took over the reins in 2008, one year before his father-in-law passed away. The distillery is a family affair, with Günter's wife, Daniela, and her daughters Julia, Annia and Teresa all working for the company.
Rochelt is fastidious about using high-quality fruit. The family has secured a network of growers across Austria and Switzerland. Each year, the distillery harvests approximately 10 to 12 of the 20 varieties of fruit they work with because they would rather forgo producing a spirit for a year than use fruit that isn’t deemed high enough quality.
Rochelt produces approximately 5-8,000 litres of eau de vie a year, which are aged in glass demijohns for several years before being bottled at 50% alcohol. Rochelt’s distinctive green bottles are inspired by traditional Tyrolean pincer bottles. Each variety of eau de vie has a uniquely different stopper – the majority of which are designed by goldsmith Otto Jakob.
