This paper proposes the combined use of a conceptual modeling method and a referential control strategy to operate batch distillation columns. Using the pinch theory, the modeling method, which is valid for multicomponent mixtures, allows the derivation of a quasi-optimal recipe to guide the operation properly. The referential control implies the empirical determination of reduced-order models for designing and tuning feedback controllers dedicated to tracking nonstationary conditions in batch processes. While defining a feasible recipe implies adjusting the reference trajectory until the desired product purity and recovery is achieved, defining the feedback control system implies first the selection of an appropriate tray-temperature evolution and then the isolation of the dynamics associated with the manipulated variable from the main time-variable behavior desired for the operation. The effectiveness of this combined procedure is illustrated through rigorous simulations where the light component is recovered from binary and ternary mixtures of alcohols.