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Grappa Report

Grappa is an Italian pomace brandy made by distilling the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems left over from wine making. It traditionally contains 35-60% alcohol. Grappa making helps prevent waste from wine production. Grappa is commonly served after meals in Italy as a digestive aid. There are many types of grappa classified by aging techniques, grape varieties used, and added flavors. Modern grappa production has improved through the use of steam distillation and aging in wooden barrels.

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101 views12 pages

Grappa Report

Grappa is an Italian pomace brandy made by distilling the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems left over from wine making. It traditionally contains 35-60% alcohol. Grappa making helps prevent waste from wine production. Grappa is commonly served after meals in Italy as a digestive aid. There are many types of grappa classified by aging techniques, grape varieties used, and added flavors. Modern grappa production has improved through the use of steam distillation and aging in wooden barrels.

Uploaded by

KOBY LAPIDARIO
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Grappa

(Pomace Brandy)
Grappa is an alcoholic beverage: a
fragrant, grape-based pomace
brandy of Italian origin that contains
35 to 60 percent alcohol by volume
(70 to 120 US proof)

Grappa is traditionally produced in


Northern Italy and is also widely
consumed in places such as
Argentina, Bulgaria, Uruguay and
Galicia (better known as Spanish
orujo or aguardiente).
The flavor of grappa, like that of wine, depends on the type and quality of the
grapes used, as well as the specifics of the distillation process. Grappa is made by
distilling the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems left over from wine making after
pressing the grapes.

It was originally made to prevent waste by using these leftovers. A similar drink,
known as acquavite d'uva, is made by distilling whole must.

In Italy, grappa is primarily served as a digestive or after-dinner drink. Its main


purpose is to aid in the digestion of heavy meals. Grappa may also be added to
espresso coffee to create a caffè corretto, meaning "corrected" coffee. Another
variation of this is the ammazzacaffè "coffee-killer": the espresso is drunk first,
followed by a few ounces of grappa served in its own glass. In Veneto, there is
resentin "little rinser": after finishing a cup of espresso with sugar, a few drops of
grappa are poured into the nearly empty cup, swirled, and drunk down in one sip.
Most grappa is clear, indicating it is an unaged distillate, though some may
retain very faint pigments from their original fruit pomace. Lately, aged
grappas have become more common, and these take on a yellow or red-
brown hue from the barrels in which they are stored.

Grappa is also well known in Uruguay and Argentina, due to the significant
Italian immigration in those countries. It is served as in Italy, after the main
meals. In Uruguay, a local version called grappamiel has also been created,
which sees honey added to the traditional grappa. It is widely served and
mostly drunk in winter because it "warms" the throat.
TYPES OF GRAPPA

There are many types of grappa and it is classified


according to the following categories:
• age
• the type of aging technique used during production
• the grape or grapes from which it is obtained
• the vegetable essences used to flavor it.
Grappa is therefore classified in:
• Youth or white – bottled soon after production. It is not stored or
kept in wooden barrels. This kind of grappa has no color and it is
transparent, it has a delicate and typical aroma as well as a dry
and clean taste.
• Aged – bottled after having been aged for a period not longer
than 12 months in wooden barrels.
• Aged or old – bottled after having been aged for a period of time
from 12 to 18 months in wooden barrels.
• Flauvored – it is a grappa produced with aromatic grapes such as
Moscato, Gewürztraminer, Malvasia or semi-aromatic such as
Chardonnay or Sauvignon.
• Mono-varietal – it is a grappa produced with a single variety
of grape such as Moscato, Chardonnay, Cabernet, Prosecco,
Pinot. These grappa have strong characteristics related to the
aroma of the grapes from which they come from.
• Poli-varietal – it is a grappa produced with many varieties of
grapes. The name written in the label is simply grappa,
without any information from which grape it comes from.
• Aromatized – at the end of the distillation, this grappa has
been added one or more aromatic vegetal essences such as
fruits (raspberry, blackberry, etc.) as weel as officinal and
aromatic herbs (juniper, rue, licorice, etc.)
Tasting
Professional tasters distinguish among four
categories of grappa: young, cask-conditioned,
aromatic, and aromatized. Grappa tastings
begin with young grappas, then continue with
cask-conditioned and aromatic grappas, and
finish with aromatized grappas.

When the tasting involves more than one


grappa from the same category, the
examination begins with the grappa that has
the lowest alcohol content and concludes with
the product richest in alcohol. When two
grappas have the same alcohol content, the
tasting begins with the smoother and less
markedly flavored product, which the organizer
of the tasting will have selected beforehand.
After each tasting, and before sampling another glass, some tasters
recommend drinking half a glass of milk to refresh the taste receptors on the
tongue.

Various other food products can help stop taste-characteristics of one


grappa from "dragging" or carrying over to the next. Foods that are effective
in this role as well as providing an agreeable accompaniment to grappa's
own flavor include:

Salted pistachio nuts


With the introduction of "boutique" grappas, elaborate flute glasses have
been promoted; traditionalists continue to taste grappa in shot glasses.
History
Distillation is an ancient practice that can be traced back to the first century AD.
While the distillation of alcohol may have been carried out reliably by the School
of Salerno in the 12th century, fractional distillation was developed by Taddeo
Alderotti in the 13th century.

There is a legend that tells of a Roman soldier who first distilled grappa in the
northern Italian town of Bassano del Grappa using distilling equipment stolen in
Egypt ("Crisiopea di Cleopatra" 2nd century AD). However, the story cannot be
considered reliable as such equipment could not produce grappa. Distillation
useful for producing beverages was not discovered until the eighth century, and
it likely took about two more centuries for the technology to travel from its home
in the Levant and Persia to Italy (likely by route of the Crusades).
Around 1300–1400 AD, however, the
introduction of water as a coolant in
the distilling equipment made it
possible to produce a substantially
larger amount of distilled wine and to
distill pomace. Around 1600 AD, the
Jesuits in Spain, Italy and Germany
studied and codified the techniques
used to produce brandy or grappa,
and their methods were used until
recent times.
The Museum of Wine and Grappa
shows historical equipment used in
the early years of grappa distillation.
The modernisation of grappa distillation is relatively recent, probably in 1979 in
Northern Italy. Initially it was carried out by direct flame but soon the advantages
of a bain-marie or steam distillation to obtain a better product became obvious.
Modern refinements included the distillation of pomace under vacuum, the use
of varietal grapes and ageing in casks of various types of wood to improve the
flavor of the liquor. Oak is the most used, but some more expensive grappas are
aged successively in casks of acacia, ash and cherry-wood, an innovation
introduced by the Marzadro Distillery. In Sardinia, Grappa is colloquially known
as Filu è Ferru (iron wire), as most of the distillation was illegally home-made to
avoid customs and excise taxes. The illegally distilled liquor was bottled, sealed
and then buried in orchards, fields and pastures, awaiting sale. A bit of iron wire
was tied around the bottleneck, barely protruding through the soil; after some
time the wire would rust and disappear completely save for a faintly brown-red
stain to the topsoil on the spot where the bottle was buried. While the peasant
distiller could easily recognize the colored spot, the urban-schooled Guardia di
Finanza officers were generally unable to tell the difference.

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