Stumbling Epicures

Dopo Mangiare – “After Eating” Pt. 1 – Grappa

Digestivo – Italian for “Alka-Seltzer”

Digestivo, the Italian version of the French digestif, is a strong liqueur taken after a meal with the intension of aiding in digestion and settling the stomach. Just like a French eau de vie or Scandinavian aquavit, Italian digestivos are distilled liqueurs. The most popular types of digestivo in Italy are grappa, amaro and limoncello. What’s the point of a digestive you ask? Well, after several antipasti (appetizers usually consisting of salumi – Italian for any type of cured and sliced meats), a primo piatto (first course usually pasta, rice dish or soup), secondo piatto (second course usually a meat dish), a contorno (side dish of vegetables) and dolce (dessert), your stomach needs something to deal with all that food, not to mention the half or even full bottle of wine you consumed. If you ask any Italian, they will claim the digestivo they drink after helps them digest what could be a marathon meal, especially if it’s a Sunday family gathering. Many Italians also drink espresso in this manner, but it’s not really its expressed purpose.

Not Your Frat Brothers’ Grappa

For many, grappa is a putrid, harsh, and clear substance that tastes mainly of liquor and perhaps a little bit of moldy wet sponge. That is mainly because grappa, until recently, was rarely more interesting than cheap vodka. In fact, grappa was historically a peasant’s drink. Under the system of the mezzadria, indentured farmers worked the land and paid their landlords with a portion of their crops which were often vineyards of grapes made into poor, bitter wines. There was no incentive to produce better wine since excess could be consumed or sold at the market.

Grappa is made by distilling the remains from winemaking. After every bit of juice is squeezed out of the grapes for wines, farmers distill the skins, seeds, and pulp of whatever else remains to make a sort of moonshine we know as grappa. Unfortunately, until the recent past, grapes were frequently pressed until mostly all of the juice leaked out. While this was good for volume, if grapes are pressed to hard their skins begin to release very bitter compounds, which in turn makes especially bitter grappa. However, grappa is now experiencing its own Italian Renaissance and with the pivotal 1990 vintage, passed a turning point.

Part of this has come from the better quality wine coming out of Italy. In the past few decades, the Italian wine industry has emerged as a world-class producer with a shrinking portion of the wine made by small-time farmers. The abolition of the mezzadria, increased wine education, and the early success of the Super-Tuscans have all made quality the new focus of many wine producers. And, since grappa from the remains of wine, also known as the pomace, better wine has equaled better grappa.

Perhaps nothing has done more for good grappa than lightly pressed grapes, but that is just the beginning. A new trend in grappa is the distillation of whole grapes, a practice familiar to Cognac producers but not practiced in Italy until recently. These grappas tend to be more full-flavored and of higher-quality than their pomace-produced counterparts. Producers are also becoming more specialized in making grappa. Nonino is well known among grappa lovers for producing the first labeled single variety grappa, or picolit, in 1973. Other producers have since followed this lead and have also experimented with other methods that are traditionally foreign for this rustic drink. Following consumers’ taste for new wood in wine, some grappa is now being aged in oak barriques. I find that the wood generally softens the grappa’s alcohol, making it smoother tasting.

The Connoisseur’s Grappa

If you’re looking to experience grappa for the first time or experience higher quality grappa, here are some suggestions for success. Look for Grappa from Fruili or the Veneto. These regions are in the north of Italy and since the best white grapes are grown in the northeast of Italy and the best grappa is made from white grapes, you’ll have a better chance finding high quality stuff there. Good grappas should taste subtle and smooth and can be quite fruity, floral, or even toasty, depending on the grape varieties and aging method. Excellent grappa can be a complex and refined drink. Like a vino di meditazione they are something to savor and think about.

As far as specific producers go, along with Nonino, I especially love the grappa by Jacopo Poli. A standout from Poli is the wood aged batch he makes especially for the legendary Sassicaia. Besides Fruili and Veneto, good grappa is increasingly being made from quality producers in Tuscany as well. Unlike with olive oil, which has nothing to do with the vineyard, if you like the wine of a particular producer chances are you’ll enjoy their grappa, too. When drinking grappa, you employ the traditional tulip glass, a whiskey glass or even a Cognac sniffer. Or, if your morning espresso just doesn’t cut it for you anymore, ‘correct’ it by sneaking a shot of grappa in, but good luck convincing your coworkers you aren’t an alcoholic!

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