Grappa, A.K.A. Italian Moonshine
A funny thing happened on the way across the manure-strewn barnyard - grappa became fashionable, and EXPENSIVE. But before we look at this phenomenon, let’s take a quick look at exactly what grappa is, and how it is made.
Grappa is what is also sometimes called “immature brandy”. Now this doesn’t mean that it’s a drink that sticks out its tongue at you (though after drinking some, you might stick YOUR tongue out at IT!), but rather a distillate made from grapes that has not been aged in oak barrels - this is why grappa is “water white” and Cognac, for example, is brown. The other major difference between grappa and other grape distillates like Cognac, Spanish brandy, Alsatian eauxs de vie, etc. is that these latter examples are made from WHOLE grapes. A wine is made from the grapes that are associated with these liquors, and then this wine is in turn distilled, and then often aged in oak barrels. Grappa is made from what in Italian is called “vinacce” (vi-NAH-che) which are the seeds, stems, and skins that remain after the juice has been pressed away for winemaking. These “vinacce” are then heavily pressed for a second time. From this point the process is the same for the production of any other distillate, exept for the aging part, at least traditionally - some contemporary grappas are aged for a time in barrel to smooth them out, but this is undoubtedly revisionist.
So, because traditional, un-aged grappa is made from the vinacce, where there are extremely high levels of not only tannins, but after fermention, some small quantities of wood alcohol (derived from the woody stems), grappa kicks like Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey
So back to the manure-strewn barnyard…Let’s face it, the very IDEA of making something like grappa is born out of one simple exigency: POVERTY. Grappa was fundamentally made by poor farmers who could not afford to waste ANYTHING, even the vinacce. The very idea of making grappa commercially and putting a $50 price tag on it is STILL laughable to many northern Italian countryfolk. Grappa as a drink was limited to 1 small glass as a digestivo after a huge winter meal. But what’s even funnier about $50 bottles of grappa is that it was just as often used by rural people as a medicine: to sterilize wounds, to put on a rag to be applied to the forehead to reduce fever, etc. just like we use 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol today. A bottle of rubbing alcohol costs about $1.49, and some might say that it’s just about as palatable as grappa…
Don’t take me wrong here, I’m not dissing grappa, just giving the drinker a big caveat emptor regarding price. Many ultra-premium Italian wineries produce grappas and slap exorbitant prices on them, trying to capitalize on the luxury brand image that they’ve cultivated to sell something that is a product of what most others sell off as fertilzer for dollars a ton. You don’t necessarily “get what you pay for” with grappa, though at the same time, go “downmarket” at your own risk.
One last word. There are some very famous “grappa” producers (like Nonino) that by strict definition, do not make grappas, but rather true “immature brandies” from very high quality WHOLE GRAPES. Some of these products are indeed worth the extra green, but some others are priced beyond the reach of anyone but the Johnny Walker Blue Label crowd. These products are indeed EXCELLENT, but are clearly not the last word in value. So my final prescription is by all means drink grappa, but like a ‘68 Chevelle with a 396 or a militarily-trained Doberman Pinscher, treat it with repect.
TOM CIOCCO
