$80 Grappa

[Busboy]

OK, I realize that grappa is something of an acquired taste, and I've acquired a bit of a taste for it. And it has sort of an exotic appeal, and if I still smoked or you could actually smoke in restaurants any more, I'd be tempted to say that few things are better after dinner than a tot of espresso, a shot of grappa and a smoke.

But really, grappa is moonshine made with the scunge left over from winemaking, invented by peasants looking for a cheap buzz to get them through the slow winter months. It is firewater -- civilized firewater (sometimes) but hardly more refined than its kissing cousins West Virginia moonshine and Cretan raki. Eighty bucks a bottle? Clearly, in addition to being great cooks and winemakers, the Italians are marketing geniuses as well. (hmmm..this may explain Donatello's success, too).

[bostonapothecary]

OK, I realize that grappa is something of an acquired taste, and I've acquired a bit of a taste for it.  And it has sort of an exotic appeal, and if I still smoked or you could actually smoke in restaurants any more, I'd be tempted to say that few things are better after dinner than a tot of espresso, a shot of grappa and a smoke. 

But really, grappa is moonshine made with the scunge left over from winemaking, invented by peasants looking for a cheap buzz to get them through the slow winter months.  It is firewater -- civilized firewater (sometimes) but hardly more refined than its kissing cousins West Virginia moonshine and Cretan raki.  Eighty bucks a bottle?  Clearly, in addition to being great cooks and winemakers, the Italians are marketing geniuses as well.  (hmmm..this may explain Donatello's success, too).

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reading this i though you discovered berta grappas that are somtimes near 80 a glass... i've found berta grappa to be more worth its price than high end cognac... on the low end i stopped buying poli or any of the others at the sub 100 a bottle level. stock's grappa julia is great to mix and cook with and i use it to fortify liqueurs but castello de regine's grappa di merlot is the only thing worth bothering with... there only seems to be the low end and the super high end with grappa...

[slkinsey]

Well... saying that grappa is "moonshine made with the scunge left over from winemaking, invented by peasants looking for a cheap buzz" would be like saying that "bourbon is made from rotten corn, invented by back-woods shitkickers looking for a cheap buzz." And yet, there are plenty of bourbons for sale at well over $100 a bottle.

Grappa, like many things alcoholic, is an acquired taste. But I've always loved it and found it fascinating. There is a wide range in grappa from delicate and floral to the more firey and basic grappas. I even have several vrey nice bottles of wood-aged grappa. It's always very interesting to have a bottle of wine for dinner and then finish the meal with a grappa made from the same wine.

That said, I do agree that some grappas are prohibitively expensive. This is for a number of reasons.

First, many of them are packaged in extremely expensive fancy bottles (this especially true of the Jacapo Poli products).

Second, not only does importation raise the price of grappa as much as it does the price of other European distillates (ever buy a bottle ot single malt in Europe?), but I believe that importers selectively bring over mostly higher priced bottlings. I have brought back many excellent examples from Italy in the range of $25-30/Liter.

Third, it's not entirely accurate to say that grappa is made from "the scunge left over from winemaking." Grappa is distilled from the pomace (mostly grape skins but also including some minor amount of seeds and stems) leftover after the fermented wine is pressed plus whatever wine remains behind with the pomace. This is a decision the wine and grappa maker has to decide. Press the pomace dry and you get a high yield of wine and a low yield of grappa -- both of which are likely to be somewhat low in quality. Leave behind a wet pomace and you get a low yield of higher quality wine and grappa. The quality of grappa is particularly sensitive to the amount of residual wine left behind with the pomace. This impacts price because the best grappa is made with a wet pomace, meaning that the wine/grappa maker has decided to go for quality over yield -- which in turn means that he must (and can) charge more for his wine and grappa.

Fourth, it is significantly more difficult to make a drinkable unaged distillate like grappa than an aged one like cognac (try tasting some of that stuff right out of the still). This means that, among other things, grappa distillers have to go to a lot of expensive extra steps to make sure their products turn out right. For example, the pomace usually needs to be distilled on the same day the wine is pressed (or otherwise specially stored until distillation).

These things all cost money.

If the grappa you've tried has been too firey and unrefined-tasting for your palate, seek out a nice grappa di moscato -- they are usually delicate and floral.

Edited February 8, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[GordonCooks]

Grapes (corn, malt, barley, etc) are cheap - it's all about the labor.

[Mayhaw Man]

Grapes (corn, malt, barley, etc) are cheap - it's all about the labor.

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Not entirely.

Several things also add to the price.

1) Currently gas is crazy expensive-no matter where you live in the world. I am in New Orleans and, though it is home to a large chunk of the world's natural gas supply, we pay a ton for it. It adds greatly to the cost of distillation

2) My understanding is, and I'm sure that there are lots of exceptions, that grappa distillers, like many other "small market" spirit distillers, make limited amounts of their products and that demand versus supply has alot to do with it. They wouldn't be selling it for that much if someone wasn't stumbling up to the bar and plunking down the dough.

Also, just for the record, at the moment, anyway, corn is NOT cheap, nor are any grains. They are crazy expensive. I have no idea what the demand/pricing situation is with grape waste, but I'm sure that it's not cheap and with the explosion in interest in their by-products, I'm sure that they've gotten nothing but more expensive. Wood stock (barrels) are now extremely dear thanks to a demand from new small distilers and especially from a massive need from Japanese spirits manufacturers. Used bourbon barrels, for example, sold for $75USD just a year ago-they now go for, if you can find a supply, upwards of $300USD. While the spirit in them might be worth 8-10K (in my case), that still adds to the cost greatly.

Like most things, it's gotten more expensive to make the stuff, no matter how you look at it. Hell, even stuff like cheap vodka has gone up due to the cost of grains, fuel, storage, and transportation.

And just for the record, I am a big fan of grappa. But what do I know? I love raw corn whiskey if it's made well. I'm not too picky.

[chefboy24]

OK, I realize that grappa is something of an acquired taste, and I've acquired a bit of a taste for it.  And it has sort of an exotic appeal, and if I still smoked or you could actually smoke in restaurants any more, I'd be tempted to say that few things are better after dinner than a tot of espresso, a shot of grappa and a smoke. 

But really, grappa is moonshine made with the scunge left over from winemaking, invented by peasants looking for a cheap buzz to get them through the slow winter months.  It is firewater -- civilized firewater (sometimes) but hardly more refined than its kissing cousins West Virginia moonshine and Cretan raki.  Eighty bucks a bottle?  Clearly, in addition to being great cooks and winemakers, the Italians are marketing geniuses as well.  (hmmm..this may explain Donatello's success, too).

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nonino picolt is worth it.

we sell for $49 a pour

best grappa i've ever had.

i mean is louis xiii worth it?

is drc?

diminishing returns to taste the best, no?

[thirtyoneknots]

"bourbon is made from rotten corn, invented by back-woods shitkickers looking for a cheap buzz."

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YEEEEE-HAW!

[clumber]

The discussion of the value of pricey high end grappa and its inexensive cousins only help to emphasize my dilemma.

I would love to give grappa a try. Its hit or miss reputation keeps scaring me off.

I don't want to blindly grab a spendy bottle I will never enjoy/appreciate.

At the same time, I don't want to buy a "cheap" bottle and think that is what grappa brings to the table.

The smaller bottles of Nardini cross my path every so often, and I thought that might be a place to start. I assume that the Bianco and Riserva styles would be similar to Blanco and Reposado Tequilas. The Bianco being fiery and more "grappa"y while the wood would mellow, round and flavor the oaked versions. The Ruta also looks interesting also considering my fondness for bitters. (One of my favorite sodas as a kid was tonic water)

I have a decent brown liquor background and there seem to be plenty of $25-45 bottles of scotch/bourbon/cognac that give you a real good idea what your getting into. Sure, maybe the clouds won't part and the earth won't move, but you won't swear off the stuff either.

Do any of you have suggestions for a decent introductory grappa?

Edited February 12, 2008 by clumber (log)

[slkinsey]

Zardetto makes a pretty good grappa di prosecco that's reasonably priced.

The Nardini products are very reliable.

The Nonino products are very good. There is a grappa di chardonnay that is nice.

Zenato makes a grappa di amarone that I like.

Most people like grappa di moscato.

[Nathan]

Nardini is always trustworthy. maybe not the most exciting but there's something to be said for reliably good.