Grappa is a uniquely Italian drink. Traditionally, made from pomace, the discarded grape seeds, stalks, and stems that are a by-product of the winemaking process, Grappa has been around since the Middle Ages. For generations, Italians have sipped this “firewater” after meals and even added a little to their morning espresso, to “correct” it. Once considered an acquired taste, popular only in Italy, Grappa, today, is making itself known around the world.

Distilleries from Australia to Oregon, as well as Italy, are trying their hand at making Grappa, with surprisingly good results. Grappa was originally made in Bassano del Grappa, a town of around 40,000 residents in Italy’s northern Veneto region. It is from this town that Grappa gets its name.

Grappa started as a by-product of the Italian winemaking trade, a rough drink made with what was available, potent enough to get the farmers through the cold winter months. It was good at warming you up, but not particularly tasty, similar to the grain alcohols of the Midwestern United States. Grappa, largely, remained a drink of the poor workmen and farmers until the 1960s.

Similar to France’s brandies and Cognac, and Portugal’s Sherry, Grappa is a distilled beverage. That means the mixture of grape pieces and alcohol is heated gently, allowing much of the mixture to evaporate, and leaving a potent concentration.

Today’s Grappa is about 40 to 45 per cent alcohol. That’s 80 to 90 proof. After distillation, Grappa is usually stored in glass bottles for about six months before it is distributed. The flavour profile of Grappa depends on the grape varietal used, and, generally, Grappa is potent and dry. Occasionally, a producer will add a little syrup to sweeten the lot. This sweeter Grappa is particularly popular in the American market.

Some of the famous grappas include Nonino, Mazzetti, Jacopo Poli and Nardini.

Some grappas like Mazzetti grappa classica is vacuum distilled in copper pot stills, in a steam flow, and it is refined in stainless steel tanks for at least three months.

Cocktails aside, grappa’s slowly improving reputation during the past several decades from hillbilly liquor to artisan spirit may be credited to better quality control and elegant packaging. Italian producers used better (less dry) pomace, improved distillation techniques and release singlevarietal grappas meant to reflect the raw ingredients. Then they put their grappa, which was traditionally known as cheap, rough and harsh, into expensive, delicate handblown glass bottles. Mazzetti signed an agreement with Swarovski, the prestigious Austrian manufacturer of cut crystal, to have its superb objects in their hand-blown Grappa’s bottles.

“We knew about Mazzetti d’Altavilla as one of the best known companies acting in the premium and superpremium segment,” Mr. Langes-Swarovski said that is why we have considered with interest the possibility of coupling our collections to a special series of their distillates”





Curtsey http://www.ambrosiaindia.com