What is grappa?

Not a wine or a liqueur, but a brandy. Made by distilling the leftovers (skin, stems, juice) from a grape press.

and not sweet

I expect Grappa is an Italian word. According to Wikipedia it means "grape stalk" literally. The French version of the same thing is called Marc, (silent c), which means literally "grounds." (as in coffee).

Can be good, but can also remove paint sometimes.

-E

Neither. Grappa is a type of brandy (distilled wine).

It's a brandy distilled from the residue (pomace) remaining after the grapes are pressed.

You may be a little generous calling it a brandy but I guess that is the closest descriptor. Then, I don't really know how brandy is made (except for distilling wine), they may also include the skins, seeds and MOG.

Grappa is a variant of rocket fuel, mixed with nuclear waste ... only stronger.

FINALLY a good scientific explanation!

:-)

Thanks to all,

Jay

I'm with you, Ric. Despite having some nominally "great" grappas, I find them stemmy, harsh and fiery. Not my cup of whatever...

Mark Lipton

A spirit made from distilling the leftovers after pressing wine. It sometimes is called grape pomace brandy. It is called Grappa in Italy, Marc in France, etc. It tends to be a rather harsh firewater, but there are a few examples that are somewhat civilized. It often has the name of a wine region. At the moment I have no examples from Italy, but I do have some Marc de Champagne from Perrier-Jouet. It is more civilized than many, but I would much rather have a Cognac for the same price. Also brandy sometimes is distilled from wine in well known wine regions. I have a bottle of Vielle Fine Bourgogne from the Domaine des Comtes Lafon. It contains 45% by volume alcohol. This spirit is described as appellation eau-de-vie de vin reglementee par decret. I have not opened it yet, but I expect it to be much more civilized than most Grappa and Marc. Still, I will be surprised if I like it better than Cognac for the same price.

According to the fine folks who live in Bassano di Grappa, (25 Miles NNE of Vicenza, which is 45 miles E of Venice) it all started there, and they make some nice smooth grappas which really set you up fine after a heavy noon meal... :-)

None of the above. Grappa is a brandy, made from the leftovers after making wine. It's primarily an after-dinner drink. It's sometimes drunk straight, and sometimes added to coffee.

Grappa is the Italian name for what the French call Marc.

I like Grappa myself (at least some Grappas), although many Americans find its taste harsh and unpleasant.

Grapa can be realy good, but then I even like the Albanian version: Raki.

Rereading what I wrote, I'm sure that there are many who are not Americans that also find the taste of grappa harsh and unpleasant. ;-)

What I meant is that most Americans have no or little experience with it, and don't like it at all--as compared to Italians or French, to whom it isn't as unusual.

Many better Grappa's are made from singular grape varietals (much like Marc) and have a very strong aroma of the grape variety that they are made from. I've had many Grappa's made from chardonnay that are quite nice and smooth however even the best are quite firey.

Grappa is wonderful, particularly the ones made by Poli.

Their Torcolato is a wonderful drink, but rather expensive in the US.

"J J Levin" skrev i melding news:kekxi.45$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe12.lga...

I would be wary of calling grappa a brandy. IMHO, brandy is distilled wine, i.e. you'll be using the grape juice. Mosel in Germany produces "Trester" the same way - The residues after pressing the grapes (and that is real dry stuff :-) is stuffed in huge plastic sacks which are then filled with water. Fermentation starts (!) and you will utlimately have an alcoholic liquid which is then distilled by a normal procedure. Grappa or Trester starts as a rather raw spirit but, like whisky or brandy, benefits from ageing in wood. The finest are very good, indeed, after several years - you may have 10-15 year old ones. You will also have a strong influence from the grapes - so a Chardonnay or a Riesling grappa makes good sense! Anders

Grappa, of course, is the husband of gramma!

Grappa, of course, is the husband of gramma!