For Gianluigi \u201cGigi\u201d Torta, becoming master distiller of one of the world\u2019s best-known premium vodkas, Grey Goose, feels like the convergence of three separate strands of his life \u2013 tradition, food science and R&D. He talks to Australian Bartender about wheat, technology, consistency and why there can be no compromise when it comes to what goes into the bottle.<\/p>\n
From growing up in his family\u2019s flour mill to overseeing, Grey Goose master distiller Gianluigi \u201cGigi\u201d Torta brings a combination of to the role.<\/p>\n
The Italian-born food technologist grew up in a family of millers. The family home sat beside the mill and Torta was involved in the business from an early age.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was born and grew up in a mill,\u201d Torta says. \u201cMy grandfather Luigi started in 1932 as a miller, then my father and my mother continued the activity until 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n
It ultimately led him to study food science and technology in Turin then into his career in quality and manufacturing. For almost two decades, Torta has been with Bacardi, including years in R&D.<\/p>\n
He started as a quality laboratory technician at the Martini production facility in Italy, moved into manufacturing and worked alongside Martini\u2019s master blender, before shifting into R&D. In 2019, Torta relocated to Geneva, where he became part of the team responsible for spirits R&D, including process and technology work for Grey Goose.<\/p>\n
It was there he began working closely with Grey Goose founder and cellar master Fran\u00e7ois Thibault.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy experience in R&D makes a difference today, because technology is always something that we explore,\u201d Torta says.<\/p>\n
But there was another connection.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrey Goose is made with wheat. In our process, we have a mill, so we mill our own wheat. I combine everything, and that was a perfect fit for me to be a master distiller.\u201d<\/p>\n
It starts with the wheat<\/strong><\/p>\n
For a spirit often defined by its apparent simplicity, Torta is keen to draw attention to the agricultural and technical complexity behind vodka.<\/p>\n
Grey Goose sources soft winter wheat through two cooperatives in Picardy in northern France, with wheat travelling from farms within roughly 50 kilometres of its distillery.<\/p>\n
The company does not grow a dedicated Grey Goose variety. Instead, Torta says it selects high-quality wheat suitable for the bakery industry, looking particularly at protein and starch characteristics.<\/p>\n
Once at the distillery, the wheat is milled into flour. And this is where Torta says the process differs significantly from conventional grain neutral spirit production.<\/p>\n
Where other producers may separate valuable gluten and higher-grade starch fractions before fermenting the remaining material, Grey Goose retains the whole flour for fermentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe mill our flour and we use the whole flour in the fermentation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The process achieves an extraction rate of about 86 kilograms of flour from every 100 kilograms of wheat, according to Torta. Retaining more of the grain means keeping vitamins, fibres and proteins that then provide naturally occurring nutrients for the yeast during fermentation.<\/p>\n
For bartenders accustomed to discussing provenance in whisky, rum, agave spirits or wine, Torta argues vodka deserves the same attention to raw material.<\/p>\n
It is also one reason his background in milling has become unexpectedly relevant.<\/p>\n
Consistency without compromise<\/strong><\/p>\n
Agricultural ingredients, of course, vary. Maintaining a consistent premium vodka while working with wheat that changes from season to season is therefore a significant part of the job.<\/p>\n
Grey Goose manages the transition between harvests by holding stocks from the previous crop and progressively blending them with the incoming harvest rather than making an abrupt switch.<\/p>\n
Varietal selection provides another tool. Farmers supplying the wheat grow around 20 varieties of soft winter wheat, with varieties selected according to planting conditions and their suitability for the season.<\/p>\n
Crop rotation also plays a role, with wheat and sugar beet alternated rather than wheat being grown repeatedly in the same field<\/p>\n
Torta likens some of the thinking to wine.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do a selection and you keep only the best,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Inside the distillery, that variability meets an intensely controlled production system. The facility was designed specifically for Grey Goose and operates continuously, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.<\/p>\n
Torta says more than 500 quality checks take place across the journey of each bottle, from cultivation through to bottling.<\/p>\n
That number speaks to what he sees as his fundamental responsibility as master distiller: consistency.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe very precise and meticulous in the quality,\u201d he says. \u201cMy main activity today is to be the guardian of the quality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fermentation is checked multiple times each day. If markers move outside specification, production can be stopped and the batch restarted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want any compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Technology meets tradition<\/strong><\/p>\n
Torta\u2019s R&D background is particularly relevant as Grey Goose tackles one of the more difficult issues facing distillers: reducing the energy requirements of production without changing the liquid.<\/p>\n
At the beginning of 2027, Grey Goose plans to introduce a new electric distillation column to replace a column currently powered by natural gas.<\/p>\n
Torta says the change is expected to reduce CO2 emissions associated with that stage of production by around 40 per cent.<\/p>\n
For him, however, the environmental gain comes with a non-negotiable condition: the vodka still has to meet the same quality specification.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the big learning that is the legacy with Fran\u00e7ois: zero compromise. Never.\u201d<\/p>\n
The longer-term ambition is to push process emissions as low as technically possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cZero probably will be impossible, but as much as possible. This is my mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is a revealing distinction. Technology, in Torta\u2019s world, is not being deployed to reinvent Grey Goose. It is being used to find better ways of making the same Grey Goose.<\/p>\n
Premium in a changing market<\/strong><\/p>\n
That philosophy also shapes Torta\u2019s response to changing drinking habits.<\/p>\n
The global drinks industry is watching moderation, changing consumption patterns and the drinking behaviour of younger consumers closely. Grey Goose follows those trends, Torta says, but that does not mean reformulating the product in pursuit of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know perfectly the trend. We study the trend. We follow the trend, but there are a lot of consumers that are looking, moving to and searching premium products,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want any compromise on quality. We change our product to adapt to the trend? No.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, Grey Goose is backing the continued appeal of premium spirits and serves that allow the base spirit to show itself.<\/p>\n
During his Australian visit, one thing in particular caught Torta\u2019s attention: our enthusiasm for the Martini.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a couple of days, I saw Martini cocktails everywhere, and I\u2019m so happy because, of course, it\u2019s one of my favourite cocktails.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nominates both the Martini and the simple vodka soda as drinks where vodka quality can be readily appreciated.<\/p>\n
His own preferred Martini uses Noilly Prat vermouth. But his favourite Grey Goose serve is rather more niche: an \u201cAltini\u201d, made with artichoke and finished with a spray of g\u00e9n\u00e9pi<\/p>\n
Beyond the founder<\/strong><\/p>\n
Grey Goose turns 30 in 2027, and Torta is thinking not only about how it is made today, but how its knowledge is carried into the next generation.<\/p>\n
He worked alongside Thibault for six years, an experience he clearly regards as formative. But Torta is equally clear that his role isn\u2019t to imitate the man who created Grey Goose.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not Fran\u00e7ois,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Instead, he wants the conversation around the vodka to expand beyond its founder and give greater prominence to three pillars: people, raw materials and process.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, we must be transparent totally on our process because it makes the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
That means talking about the wheat, milling, fermentation and technology \u2013 the details that can sometimes disappear behind vodka\u2019s reputation as the quietest spirit on the back bar.<\/p>\n
And it means planning for whoever eventually follows him.<\/p>\n
Torta is 45 and hardly preparing to retire, but succession is already part of his remit.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrey Goose is not mine. It\u2019s not Fran\u00e7ois\u2019. Fran\u00e7ois invented Grey Goose. I\u2019m part of this journey of Grey Goose, but I need to ensure the succession.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is perhaps the most telling insight into how Torta views being a master distiller. His job is not simply to make today\u2019s vodka. It is to safeguard the knowledge, standards and people required to make it into the future.<\/p>\n
For someone who grew up watching one generation hand a milling business to the next, there is a certain symmetry to that.<\/p>\n
The technology will change. The energy source will change. Harvests will change. Eventually, the person guarding the process will change too.<\/p>\n
The objective, Torta says, is that it doesn\u2019t change the quality.<\/p>\n
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