The Italian grappa is famous all over the world, so that also the European Council, with a regulation, already in 1989 has ratified that only marc distillates produced in Italy can be called and denominated as grappa.
The history of grappa is lost in the mist of time, the official legend would make it go back up to a roman legionary of the I century BC, who, gone back home after stealing in Egypt a plant for the distillation of grape pomace, had applied the techniques learned to the marc of the vineyard of which he was assignee in Friuli.
But the distillation process probably has started between VIII and VI century BC in Mesopotamia, while the first evidences of a distillation applied to local vines, to obtain brandy or spirit, date back not before the XII century by the alchemists. The techniques to distil real grappa have been codified by the Schola Salernitana around the year one thousand.
The marcs are the skins of grapes, once they are separated from the must or the wine. In this moment, less than one third of marc is used to produce grappa, from the remaining part derives ethanol.
This fact has a huge influence on the final quality of brandy, because just the best marc, the ones considered more appropriate after a strict selection, can really make grappa.
The quality of grappa depends as first thing from the quality of marc used, and as second from the ability of the master distiller. This is an underrated figure until now, given that he is the firs builder of a high quality grappa. And in fact, according to the current regulations for selling liquors, on the label it is possible to quote both the master distiller and the distillation alembic used, a combination considered crucial for the characterization of the grappa created.
The alembics in fact fall into two main categories, continuous and discontinuous. The first ones work, as their name suggests, in continuation. Fed with marc, they return a fusel alcohol which is elevated to the rank of spirits through a second distillation. The second type, instead, works on various successive cooking, they load in the boiler (or cucurbit) the material to be distilled, the material is heated, the next step is the exhaustion of alcohol and aromatic substances contained, paying great attention in drawing only the “heart”, and in the end the boiler is unloaded. The best distillation occurs slowly, gently, using only old traditional alembics, where the steam passes through the spongy mass of pomace to extract the least volatile part and transmit to the steam its own aromatic substances.
The result of the distillation is aged in wood barrels that give to the grappa, through the transfer of tannins, its aromatic quality. Aging itself is not essential if you want to obtain a distillate of youthful boldness and aggressiveness, of course if you choose the path of a most noble and complex distillate, the organoleptic characteristics obtained depend on the type of wood, the time the brandy spends inside the barrels and on the climatic condition in which it stays.
Grappa has a long history on its back, especially in northern Italy and in Veneto, where this type of spirit is now a symbol of the territory, with over 40% of national production of grappa. Years of distillation, still using the traditional methods, make the quality of this fine spirit always very high and here in Veneto are also located the Italy’s most famous and ancient grappa companies and distilleries.
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