Last stage of the vendemmia - grappa making

The grape picking season - the vendemmia which started last month (article here) on most of the vineyards around Barga is now over for 2007. The svinata - moving the crushed grapes after they had started the first fermentation, from the wooden barrels to the glass demijohn took place earlier on this week (article here)  The grapes have almost finished their story in the winemaking process either being thrown away or used as fertiliser - but not always, as in some cantinas they will be used as the prime ingredient for grappa making. This time it is not fermentation that is the key to the alcohol making process but distilation. The crushed grapes are boiled in a sealed container, usually copper and the vapour given off is passed through a thin copper pipe that is cooled in running water. The thin trickle of clear liquid that comes out at the other end is grappa which can be 50 -70 % proof depending on the quality of the grapes or the experience of the grappa maker.

Grappa making filmed outside barga last year

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Blog posts on this article

1. Lake Angels Christmas baskets at barganews Dec 07 2007 / 1am

   […] The vendemmia has produced bottles of red wine (article here) plus some fine grappa (article here)  The oil harvest this year has been badly hit by an insect infestation of most of the olive […]
2. What a year for the Lake Angels at barganews Jan 15 2008 / 2pm

   […] ricavato una buona quantità di ottimo olio, dalla grappa distillata da Luigi (article here), dalla raccolta delle castagne fatte essiccare e portate al molini a macinare per diventare […]

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