GRAPPA! Wow! Let's Talk About It, People!

Beer and Spirits
1

Yo Berserkz,

Today I took another milestone in my Berserkdom and tried my very first pair of grappas, The Poli Grappa di Sassicaia and Grappa di Moscato.

First of all, they are BY FAR the most headily aromatic spirits I have ever come across – so much so that I could get the nose right off of the new unsealed and unopened bottles as I brought the top closer to my face.

And those aromas are stunningly beautiful. Incredibly intense and floral, concentrated by the distillation of course, they could almost be colognes (or perfume, in the case of the Moscato specifically).

In terms of the taste, I wasn’t sure initially what to expect. I know that grappa is disrespected by spirit connaisseurs as cheap “fire water” and I’ve no doubt that’s how it got its start as I’ve already read statements on the “grappa movement” to create a more “international” grappa i.e. sweeter and mellower.

Instead of the instant heat of whisky and cognac, I got a much more mellow and very gentle mingling of heat, soft fruit flavors and a whisky-like finish that comes on strong. When that’s gone, the fruit flavors return and continue to linger on and on in the finish. Smooth is the operative word.

Holy geez, is this stuff dangerous.Now I know why there are so many stories of people visiting Italy, taking shots of grappa, and then waking up without any memory of what happened in between the grappa shots and the awakening. This stuff goes down ridiculously easy, so much so it’s easy to fool yourself into thinking that you’re not drinking a spirit at all. I barely get any alcoholic taste or heat as it is, I can only imagine how much softer it becomes when blended into a coffee or cocktail.

I really, really liked this. To the point where given my young experience with both, I would actually go with a grappa over a single malt whiskey (GASP!) if I had to absolutely choose between the two. (I might even choose it over cognac, armagnac or calvados.)

Don’t kill me yet, whiskey worshippers, I still recognize that the Highland Park 18 Year Old is the finest whiskey I’ve ever tasted and has impressively raised the bar so it’s not like I’m giving up on whiskey.

Also, I don’t think whiskey is competition for grappa, cognacs and brandies are. Time to look into some XO grappas and see if they have the complexity of a good wood-aged French spirit.

Damn but this hobby is expensive!

2

I love well-made grappa (and marc), particularly for their aromatics. Unfortunately, there is a goodly amount of poorly made grappa. I’m never had an"XO" grappa (sounds like someone may be playing off the old French/English brandy trade), but cask conditioned grappas can be lovely

3

You can have all the fire water you want. I won’t be buying a single bottle of the stuff

4

Grappa?

It is disgusting.

That’s all I got.

5

The last Grappa I had was in '95 at Niebaum Coppola at the end of a luncheon. I should have just used it to get my truck back home as I was low on fuel.

6

Your truck has you bamboozled :slight_smile:

In my (admittedly limited) experience, it’s all over the map. Can be firewater, can be really interesting. Can be heavier or lighter. Not so different from wine, come to think of it.

7

For US, I’m a big fan of the Araujo grappa even though it’s cabernet (not one of my favorite grapes for young grappa)

8

I just found one thing I just researched on the interweb thingy that may have explained my positive first impressions – the Sassicaia is barrel-aged to soften the fiery edges and Grappa di Moscato is usually sweeter and softer on its own and therefore considered a standard entry-level type of grappa as it doesn’t kill people on the way down and is apparently more designed for international than domestic sales by the Italian Grappa makers who distill it.

Based on the comments above, it seems I should probably stick with barrel-aged Grappas for now.

9

Stick to tequila instead.

10

Grappa = awesome.

I’ve been digging Berta for awhile now – when I can find it. They have both aged and not particularly aged versions that are all good. Jacopo Poli is another good producer as well.

11

There’s high end stuff and anything else is dreck. As different as night and day. Poli and Nonino are my favorite producers. They use grapes designated for the spirit. The dreck uses the leftover stuff from wine production.

12

Moonshine.

13

Notes on a few:

Grappa Nonino Merlot = OK, not great

Grappa Moscato Poli
A very nice, light (no color) grappa.
“Grappa Moscato (40% vol.) has a chiffon-like smoothness, very accented aromas of flowers, fruits, pears, nutmeg and bread toasts. Quite an intriguing drink. From http://www.pantagruel.com.ua/en/essays/e3149.html”

Storica Nera
Grappa
Domenis
Cividale del Friuli
Wonderful! No color.

14

Love me some grappa. Anytime anywhere.

For domestic, I actually find the Araujo very hot … but that won’t stop me. Just not my favorite.

Jason

15

Agreed. But if I drink an unaged digestif, most often it will be eau de vie.

16

I’d rather drink baijiu than grappa.

17

I love the Berta Grappas - easily one of the top two producers in Italy - for you naysayers - Berta ages their Grappas in oak ala Cognac/Armagnac and they are quite similar in style, just a bit softer, more delicate on the palate -

I also love the Nonino Grappas -

18

You can have my baijiu

19

Tran, I commented over on wine talk but please don’t mind my comment. The best grappa I’ve ever had was one infused with almonds, unbelievable, it didn’t seem like a novelty but an extremely well made drink.

20

Poli and Nonino are both delish. In my neck of the woods Ransom does a fine job.