Nonino- one of the best and expensive, they make Ornellaia and possibly some of the other aiais.
Poli - the second best and relatively well priced
Nardini- a classic producer, rough around the edges
Candolini and Piave are both more commercial and less interesting than Nardini to my palate.
I’m a fan of both Poli and Nonino. The Moscato would probably be the crowd favorite with the grapy, fruity aromas. These are actually uva rather than traditional grappa, so they don’t have as much of the lighter fluid flavors.
Kent,
Poli is a good producer, he makes also a barrel aged version (long aging, about 10 years I believe) which I like quite a lot and also the Sassicaia grappa.
It depends on the style you want to promote. Nonino is more on the soft and elegant side (I don’t know if you have Nonino avaliable anyway, but I find them too “elaborated”), while Poli is more “natural”.
If Nardini is available and you want more than one reference go also for the Riserva 15 anni, barrel aged and profound.
My favourite producer is a small one in Piemonte, which I doubt you can find in Australia, called Gualco, they make a few barrel aged grappa which are amazing, racy, sharp, definitely not on the soft side.
Grappa is the distillate of the pomace, the other is a distillate of grapes (full fruit) and it’s not Grappa, it lacks race, roughness, edges - oh well, some grape distillates can have good personality, very aromatic, but in that field I prefer real fruit distillates (raspberries, apricot, prune…) such as Capovilla, Pojer & Sandri, Louis Roque or Rochelt.
See if you can get your hands on the Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Eau de Vie. Not technically a Grappa since it is made from the pomace of the Clos des Goisses pressings, but very tasty. It is produced and bottled in Italy by Vittorio Gianni Capovilla.
The grapes are picked up right after Philipponnat is done pressing them and within 10 minutes all of the stems are removed. Yeast is then added to start fermentation before any oxidation sets in and the grapes are then driven to Italy where they are distilled in a steam pot. The end result is quite tasty. Yes, it has some heat as any Marc will, but it also has a wonderful grapey and slightly sweet flavor that is very attractive. Notes of dark, bready, chocolate and a hint of herbs only add to the enjoyment. I’m no expert in Marc, Eau de Vie, or Grappa, but it ranks up there with the best I have had.
that sounds interesting. It’s actually a Grappa, since it’s distilled in Italy, by one of the very best distillers in the world (try his rum agricole…) and it’s made from pomace…
Is it barrel aged or not?
Good to know. Since things started in France and then went to Itlay for Distillation I wasn’t sure if it technically qualified as a Grappa. I’m not sure if any barrel aging is done. I asked questions on the process all the way up to distillation and didn’t go any further. I will try to find out.
I should also mention that Capovilla also makes a Eau de Vie from Billecart-Salmon’s Clos Saint-Hilaire pomace. I haven’t tried that one though.