Grappa, the fiery spirit lives on
The essence of WINE
Once the crude, fiery drink of Italian peasants, grappa has now acquired top-shelf status alongside single-malt Scotch and great Cognac. And some of the very best examples of this husk spirit are proudly South African.
South Africa boasts a long and proud brandy tradition, but production of pomace brandy or grappa only dates back to 1994 when the wine industry was deregulated. In some ways this is a good thing, as it has enabled local wine and spirit lovers to embrace what they see as yet another example of ‘cool Italia’ – perhaps with an espresso after a good meal at a fashionable Italian eatery – largely unaware that grappa hasn’t always had a good image, let alone the prestige of premium spirits like Cognac or Scotch.
Closely related to French marc (the difference being that marc typically has more colour and a smoother mouthfeel from being aged in oak barrels), grappa is distilled from the skins, stalks and seeds of grapes – the by-products (dare I say waste products?) of wine production. Outside Italy, at least in countries like South Africa where European Union trade agreements are in place (or supposedly coming into place) to restrict the use of the Italian name, it is often labelled rather less sexily as ‘husk spirit’.
The origins of grappa aren’t terribly sexy either. Production dates back to medieval Veneto and Tuscany where wine was made for the wealthy and peasants had to make do with the leftovers or graspa, which they boiled into a cheap, potent and pretty crude drink. Commercial production began during the Industrial Revolution, thanks to the introduction of steam power and development of massive continuous column stills, capable of processing up to 200 tons of pomace a day. All too often stale, having been stored in huge containers for months on end, the result was firewater at best, potentially fatal at worst (the fermentation of the stems and seeds producing toxic wood alcohol which must be removed during the distillation process).
In recent times, however, top producers using the best possible grapes for their wines have increasingly seen it as a shame that so much of this exceptional fruit goes to waste. Instead, why not attempt to capture its true essence by distilling the pomace (the solid remains of grapes) as soon as possible after pressing? Hardly ever aged in wood, the resulting spirit is crystal-clear with the signature aromatics of the grape varieties or blends from which it was made.
No less important than the quality of the pomace, of course, is the skill of the individual distiller or grappaiolo, with even the slightest scent of petrol or mould indicating that proper care has not been taken. For this reason, the new generation of distillers use small stills that typically only distil one batch of grappa at a time, giving far more control when it comes to separating the vapours that condense first and last (the volatile ‘head’ and ‘tail’ full of impurities respectively) from the good stuff or ‘core’.
SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL, LOCAL IS LEKKER
Fondly referred to as the father of grappa in South Africa, former Meerlust winemaker Giorgio Dalla Cia describes his tiny Italian-made still at Bosman’s Crossing in Stellenbosch as “almost a toy”. Each 1 000. batch is heated up gently (never above 1000C) to avoid burning the skins.
"In the old days, grappa sometimes smelt like burnt bean soup. Awful!" Meticulous attention to detail includes distilling the grape skins within 48 hours of pressing ("or you lose the primary aromas through evaporation and secondary fermentation"), passing the grappa through calcium carbonate to neutralise any sulphur residue from the initial winemaking process, and cold stabilising it at -150C to separate any aromatic oils that aren't soluble at that temperature. "In the end, a mere 30L. of grappa are produced from the 1 000L. starting point, but this allows us to obtain a very clean product with no strange aftertaste - friendly, palatable and easy to digest."
Made in partnership with son George, Dalla Cia grappa is then bottled and labelled by hand. “The difference between us and the big Italian producers is that we are totally personalised,” says Giorgio. “What we do in a year, they do in a day, every day.”
He should know, his own family having started a distillery in Friuli, Italy, in the 1920s. “In the ’60s it got very big, processing 90 tons a day, seven days a week. Nevertheless, my family background was grappa, so when South African production became legal in 1994, I thought why not?”
Labelling their grappa as husk spirit (to avoid any trouble with the EU) and under the ‘G’ brand (“G is for grappa, Giorgio, George, G-spot, ‘Gee!’ when you taste it...”), the Dalla Cias initially started out with two blended grappas, a Pinot Noir/Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot, subsequently introducing a Reserve (Cab/Merlot matured in wood for six months) and most recently a Limited Edition Single Cultivar Pinot Noir, believing that the increasingly sophisticated South African market is now ready for it. “People are moving away from fish and chips and the Spur,” says Giorgio. “People have discovered good Italian food and the Italian lifestyle, including espresso. Just look at how the coffee culture has exploded over the past 10 years!
When I first moved here, the coffee was like dirty dishwater. Now many South Africans appreciate espresso at the end of a meal. It is very aromatic and aids digestion, and grappa is similar. “In Northern Italy,” he points out, “it is almost unthinkable to have an espresso at the end of a meal without grappa!”
He laughs that grappa does more than stimulate the gastric juices. “It also stimulates conversation! The combination of caffeine and alcohol makes you talk about politics, philosophy and religion, and then your tongue gets dry so you order another one, and by the end of the evening you have solved all the world’s problems – except unfortunately you have forgotten all these solutions by the next morning...”
As far as the Dalla Cia’s grappas are concerned, the Pinot Noir/Chardonnay is the most delicate with crisp celery and pecan nut notes and a clean finish, while the Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot is more robustly aromatic with notes of raisin and dark chocolate and a slightly savoury aftertaste (both R180). The Reserve (R215) is barrel-matured in second-fill French oak for six months, which imparts a little colour and some vanilla sweetness. “The wood makes it smoother and friendlier,” comments Giorgio, with a laugh. “Sometimes a little too friendly!”
Above all, he and George are most excited about their first limited-edition single-cultivar grappa, made using husks from Pinot Noir specialists Meerlust and Vriesenhof, that were painstakingly selected then distilled in separate batches from which only the very best were chosen to make a mere 800 bottles, individually numbered by hand (R419 a bottle, redolent of dried figs and honey, and very much aimed at connoisseurs and collectors). It’s a far cry from the three mass-produced Italian brands that used to be the only grappa available in South Africa. “Only good as mosquito repellent,” is how the inimitable Giorgio describes the cheap stuff, revealing that there are now over 50 good-quality imported grappa available locally of which his personal favourites include Capovilla, Nonino and Marzadro.
George estimates that the grappa market in South Africa is split roughly 50:50 between Gauteng and the Cape, with about 70% of grappa consumed in restaurants. For an authentic Italian dining experience, he recommends 95 Keerom and Carné (both owned by Italian chef Giorgio Nava), Mezzaluna and A Tavola in Cape Town, with dinner at Assaggi a highlight of any trip to Johannesburg.
One of the best places to enjoy Dalla Cia grappa, of course, is Pane e Vino in Stellenbosch, the restaurant run by George’s wife Elena that doubles up as a tasting room adjacent to the distillery. “It’s a very authentic Italian environment without being pretentious, and we’ve recently introduced a grappa tasting menu including grappa ice cream, grappa chocolates, a polenta and almond biscuit sprinkled with grappa and, of course, espresso and a shot of grappa,” says George who also invites people to visit the distillery to discover what grappa is all about. “We don’t consider educating people about grappa to be a duty but a pleasure!”
DALLA CIA DISTILLERY
Bosman’s Crossing, Stellenbosch.
Tel: 021 888 4120 (distillery)
or 021 883 8312 (Pane e Vino).
EMAIL: info@dallacia.com
WEB: www.dallacia.com
HOW TO DRINK GRAPPA
Traditionally, grappa is served after dinner as a digestive, although its clean, fresh taste also makes it suitable as a sundowner, aperitif or palate cleanser between courses (served chilled). It pairs particularly well with espresso, to which it can be added (at room temperature) to make a caffè corretto.
“Also good on a cold wintery morning,” reckons Dr Edmund Oettlé (pictured below) of Upland Organic Estate in Wellington. His recipe: good-quality espresso, sugar and a shot of grappa, half in the coffee and the other half neat!
