I attended a Grappa tasting last night. Jacopa Poli, grappa distiller extraordinaire from Bassano del Grappa, Italy at the base of Mt Grappa, was in town to promote his beautifully packaged, high quality Grappas. I just returned from Italy and had the "pleasure" of tasting a couple of Grappas while I was there. Wow! Fire water. Well, Jacopa's Grappas are no different. A bit smoother, perhaps, but clearly not for the faint of heart.
A quick lesson in Grappas for those of you that aren't familar with this particular Italian digestif. Grappas are made from grape pomace, the skins that are left over after the grapes have been crushed for winemaking. The pomace is then distilled in a steam powered artisanal still for about three hours. The resulting Grappa is clear, strong and full of aromas and flavors. There are different varieties of Grappas, based on the wine grapes used in the distillation. LIke wine, Grappas have aromatic profiles. Florals, fruits, nuts, herbs, vanilla, wood, tobacco and coffee are all aromas that can be found in high quality Grappas. Not so long ago, Grappas were considered a peasant drink, made from leftovers, but a movement has been underway since the 60's to bring the quality of Grappas up on par with French Marc, and fine Grappas now sell for upwards of $100 per bottle.
Back to the tasting. I took my place at the bar, the sommalier set a placemat down outlining the Grappas we would be tasting and began to pour a small amount in each of 5 tiny cups. Sarpa di Poli - made from Cabernet and Merlot grapes, Pinot Noir di Poli, Moscato di Poli, Torcolato - from Vespaiolo/Garanega grapes and Miele, a liquor flavored with Honey. I brought the first cup to my nose and took a large whiff, like you might to smell wine, and quickly learned that the correct way to smell the Grappa is to gently waft some aroma towards your nose. Rather than the harsh shot of alcohol I got the first time, when I wafted, I could smell of the subtler aromas start to surface. I began to taste each one. Again, WOW, Fire Water!. As I sipped and chatted with my fellow tasters, I began to feel warm all over. Grappa might be nice on a cold winter's night. There were differences in each of the Grappas, the pinot was a little sweeter and smoother than the others, the moscato was spicy, the Miele was sweet and fragrant. I could get used to this...
The strange liquor laws in Colorado prevented any of the people from Poli from actually touching any of their own Grappas, only the sommaliers could pour them, but that left lots of time for Jacopa and company to chat up the crowd. Jacopa mentioned to the gentleman standing next to me that they were hosting a tasting in Aspen this weekend, and the gentleman began a long and rather pompous conversation about the only hotels he considers worth staying in while in Aspen (like there are dumpy hotels in Aspen). I was finishing up and poured the remaining Grapppa from my cups into one to dump into the spit bucket - I had a long drive and didn't need to explain the Grappa tasting to the police. As I handed my Grappa cup to the sommalier, the gentleman who had been talking to Jacopa grabbed my cup out of the sommalier's hand and downed the whole thing. I was speechless - maybe the Grappa made him do it.
Thanks to Jacopa Poli for sharing his Grappas and his decades of Grappa knowledge with me. It was a great experience. Now if I could only figure out the correct etiquette for drinking out of the spit bucket...
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