Question about Grappa

[Thomas]

Some grappe are produced just like fine brandy in the alembic method, using grapes--usually smaller producers.

The larger producers often use grain alcohol and certainly no alembic method.

Once, I tased 55 grappi over two days for an article I was (trying) to write. That was when I discovered that I don't much care for the stuff--only two out of the 55 appealed to me at all, and one of them had been produced from Concord.

Grappa came about during feudal times, when peasants could not afford wine. The landlord gave them the pulp after the press (the word for that pulp was "graspe") and they invented a powerful distillate from it. Medieval peasants got a lot of their calories from alcohol.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 04-30-2006).]