| A Gripping Grappa Tale The first time I tasted Grappa was in 1993 in New York . A team of us from Virginia had gone up to the PC World Expo to launch the world's first LCD data projector. We were celebrating our accomplishments one evening with dinner at a fine Italian restaurant in Manhattan. We were just regular folks from the country who became intoxicated when the voluptuous actress Suzanne Sommers sat at the table across from us. I noticed the blond hair flowing over her shoulders while other members of our party -- especially our West Coast Regional Sales Manager -- noticed some of her other features. Derrill, the Sales Manager from California, was a guy who wore colorful ties from Nordstrom and was something of a respectable Playboy. We all adored him, as did most women. After a wonderful main course, Derrill, the sophisticated one among us, ordered a round of Grappa for our team which the waiter served directly from towering bottles 3-feet tall with various fruits on the bottom. This was a great hit, the taste was impressive, and we became a bit more boisterous. Derrill tried for several minutes to signal the waiter to order an encore round of the elixir in the memorable bottles. With important celebrities in the restaurant to serve, it was hard to get the waiter's attention, so Derrill took matters into his own hands. He turned the spigot to the Grappa, which obliged by flowing freely from the bottle. The spigot broke, and the Grappa kept flowing, flowing and flowing onto the table, onto the floor and then across the dining room. As the stream widened into a flash flood, the level of liquid in the bottle descended steadily to the bottom, witnessed by astonished eyes then guffaws. Derrill's hand had been caught in the "cookie jar" by the waiter, and after much apologizing by the rest of us for our Playboy friend the bill was amicably settled. Although Derrill wasn't invited to an after evening soiree with the actress, he further endeared himself to us and permanently etched the word Grappa into our memories. As a fitting end to this episode, I plan to bring a bottle of Bluey's "Hair of The Dog" Grappa with me to New York City this December and present it to the restaurant's owner. The fellowship of the Grappa will continue as I present our Grappa to Derrill, in the same souvenir bottle he gave us a few years ago after his trip to Italy. |
| November 11, 2005 -- It's Veterans' Day, and I call my godfather in North Carolina to thank him for saving the world by fighting fascism during the Big War in Italy over 60 years ago. "To commemorate the freedom you won for us we're making moonshine with grapes," I tell him. This inspiration came from visiting his country home in the Carolina hills two years before and reading the local classified ads about stills for sale. I went to college in North Carolina, had tasted white lightning and liked it. "You probably drank grappa in Italy to celebrate your victories." "If I did, I don't remember," the 82-year old says. His preference is Jack Daniels. "Of course you wouldn't remember. It's strong stuff. That's why you have so much hair on your chest." I hope to send him a sample for Christmas. Grappa is a word of Italian origin referring to the distillate made from leftover grape skins after they are pressed during the wine making process. After pressing our Merlot grapes in September we were left with hundreds of pounds of grape skins and seeds. I filled a 32-gallon fermenter about halfway with skins, then scooped in handfuls of a purplish slimy combination of yeast and grape seeds. To this I added about 6 gallons of water and sugar to taste. The idea is to recreate a grape juice must, to restart fermentation and to make "seconds" wine. I didn't have enough sugar, so I drove down to Von's and purchased 3 5-lbs. bags and ended up stirring them all into the brew. (If I had saved the stems, that would have added more tannins to the brew .) I ended up with a decent variation of grape juice. A few hours later, a steady stream of bubbling sounds indicated fermentation was underway. A cap had risen by the next day. We were in business, and I went through the familiar routines of punching down the cap and checking this experimental brew thrice daily. I tasted this mixture the second day and was reminded of Port, and had visions of crafting a fine desert wine. But as the fermentation continued a few days longer the sugar was converted to alcohol and instead of a mouth-watering Port , I had created the Frankenstein of wines, a monster that could kill. Now, I am not very familiar with the taste of Mad Dog and the other varieties of $2 wine preferred by folks along Skid Row, but I believe I have stumbled upon a recipe. No matter. We're not out to create a drinking wine ... This is an experiment in recycling, to see if we can make something good from harsh, undrinkable, seconds wine. At the end of 5 days, I dumped the mixture into the press, and separated the liquid from the skins, yielding 8 gallons of seconds wine. Tiny particles of grape skins descended over a period of weeks to the bottom of the container forming a light purple layer as the wine sat in the garage waiting for the day to make its transition from ugly duckling to after-dinner delicacy. The day of reckoning was Veterans' day. By law, U.S. citizens of a certain age are allowed to brew limited quantities of beer and alcohol yearly. We are also allowed the right to bear arms, as stated in our beloved Constitution. But when it comes to distilling alcohol -- even for personal consumption -- that is a crime without a license. So instead of making Grappa in the garage, I drove my seconds wine to a facility for processing. Because of sanitary laws, Bluey was not allowed entrance. However, you can guess what the secret ingredient is of our "Hair of the Dog" Grappa. The first products of the distilling process are called "foreshots" which contain undesirable byproducts from a tasting point of view, but make excellent fluid for lamps. I put a sample of foreshots carefully into my mouth, swish it around and feel the burn before spitting it out. After the foreshots, alcohol with more desirable characteristics is produced. The resulting product measures about 180 proof, and is passed through a charcoal filter. Next, distilled water is added to dilute the mixture to 50% alcohol, which is possible to carry back in a plastic water jug without dissolving the plastic. The next step will be aging in a small oak barrel, which I need to order. I'll need to be careful handling the fire water around the house; if I spill a drop onto wooden furniture it will strip the finish. Check back with us next month to see how the taste is coming along with aging. November 14th -- Raw Grappa on the rocks is a good combination. Melting ice releases cool water into a cordial glass slowly diluting hot Grappa to drinking temperature numbing stiffness from 13+ miles of running and a day in the chair at the office as the wife and princess sing songs barely noticed as I sip. Leftovers were never this good. Second Grappa Batch (Dec. 23, 2005) Just in time for the holidays, a 2nd batch of grappa is made from Merlot pressings and rackings. Note the difference, in this case, real wine, which was extra, was used, and the difference is noticeable, giving us the base for a fine cognac. "You can really taste the fruit on the back-end," says the Distiller. To me, the nose is similar to kirchwasser, a popular European clear brandy made from cherries and a necessary ingredient in cheese fondue. We purchased a small, 1-gallon oak barrel for the first grappa experiment (the batch my father nicknames "the paint thinner") and after three weeks a taste reminds me of Jack Daniels. Shall we say, a young Jack Daniels that a little ginger ale could turn into a tasty drink. December 27, 2006 New York or Bust! In my carry-on luggage, I pack a bottle of 2004 freshly bottled Blue-Merlot Syrah, a water bottle filled with oaked "paint thinner" and another water bottle filled with fresh-from-the-distillery "the good stuff." The Princess and I fly to New York City for Grandma's 70th Birthday, and arrive just in time for the act at B.B. King's Lounge on 42nd Street, to meet my best friend from elementary school and his family listen to Vivian scream melodies about the man she met, the man she left, and the strong woman she's become. As this song repeats itself for two hours, I reach into my black computer bag and pull out a sample of the good stuff. Jon takes a wiff and approves. Then he tries the oaked paint thinner, and oohs and aahhs. The oak taste wins. This taste-test is repeated with brothers-in-law and mom herself, who has a plaque with her name on it at the Jack Daniels customer Hall of Fame in Tennessee. Even mom loves the grappa aged in oak. As for myself, if I wanted to taste grappa on oak, I'm thinking it would be easier to buy a bottle of Remy Martin VSOP, as I'm partial to the pastel colors of grappa aged on pomegranates, blue-berries and blackberries. Mom's Birthday Dinner is celebrated at La Cite restaurant on 51st Street, and we choose the wine course menu. As this is an all-you-can-drink affair the wine is poured liberally (now tell me why is liberal a bad word?) and I notice half-full glasses of wine being cleared from other tables which finds its way into the sink, down the drain and washed out to sea to come back as rain. But what if we could collect this leftover "garbage" wine (which included BV Cabernet and Francis Ford Cappola Merlot) and recycle it as grappa? We return to San Diego in time for the New Year, which is celebrated by opening a bottle of 2004 Reserve Syrah. 2006 gets off to a great start with a class taught by Lum on "Tasting New Wine." Please click on our 2006 link to find out what it's like sampling 25 new wines. |
The Grappa must be
diluted with water before
being placed in a plastic
container. Our new
household remedy for
clearing out clogged
sinuses during cold season
is to take off the cap and
inhale.
diluted with water before
being placed in a plastic
container. Our new
household remedy for
clearing out clogged
sinuses during cold season
is to take off the cap and
inhale.
A refractometer measures the
amount of alcohol -- when
measuring the Grappa, the reading
is at the boundary of the scale.
amount of alcohol -- when
measuring the Grappa, the reading
is at the boundary of the scale.
A sample of
"foreshots" is
contained in the
beaker. We could
have used this as fuel
for a lamp after
tasting.
"foreshots" is
contained in the
beaker. We could
have used this as fuel
for a lamp after
tasting.
Certain fruits add fine colors
and tastes to the "white
lightning." The above jar
shows Grappa combined with
raspberries. After one month, a
tasty after-dinner drink has
been born.
and tastes to the "white
lightning." The above jar
shows Grappa combined with
raspberries. After one month, a
tasty after-dinner drink has
been born.
A slight aroma of grapes
is gently inhaled from
the one-day old Grappa,
after a day that started
with a half-marathon
from San Diego to a spot
just shy of the Mexican
border. No thanks,
Motorin. No thanks,
Tylenol. Another shot of
Grappa, yes please!
is gently inhaled from
the one-day old Grappa,
after a day that started
with a half-marathon
from San Diego to a spot
just shy of the Mexican
border. No thanks,
Motorin. No thanks,
Tylenol. Another shot of
Grappa, yes please!
This small oak barrel provides
significant flavors to grappa. The
flavors are reminiscent of French
VSOP Cognac at its birth, or Jack
Daniels.
significant flavors to grappa. The
flavors are reminiscent of French
VSOP Cognac at its birth, or Jack
Daniels.
The Princess greets hip-hop artist
Eric Roberson after he warms up the
crowd at B.B. King's Dec. 27th in
New York before headliner Vivian.
"Hair of the Dog" grappa made its Big
Apple debut that evening. The
"oaked" version was a success.
Eric Roberson after he warms up the
crowd at B.B. King's Dec. 27th in
New York before headliner Vivian.
"Hair of the Dog" grappa made its Big
Apple debut that evening. The
"oaked" version was a success.
| Winemaker's Journal Making Grappa |