Distillerie
Brandy's Italian cousin is
grappa, a drink produced by extracting the alcohol from vinacce, or
marks, the skins and seeds left in the fermenting tanks after the wine is
transferred to casks to age. "It used to be a poor man's drink, made to extract
everything possible from the grape," says Distillerie Bonollo's Luigi
Bellentani. "Good for keeping warm in the winter, and that's about it. But with
the new emphasis on quality over quantity in the wineries, we've got something
to work with."
Indeed grappa distillers do. The better Italian wineries have realized that they must increase exports to survive, and to do that they have embarked on ambitious programs to improve their wines, replanting the vineyards with better cultivars (strains of a given variety of grape) and improving cellar technique. Along with the improved quality of the grapes, one of the most important developments, from the grappa distiller's standpoint, is soft pressing: Since the grapes are never pressed dry, considerably more substance remains behind. In the case of white grapes these gently pressed skins are usually not fermented with the must, but rather bagged. Red vinacce, on the other hand, do participate in the fermentation, where they gain alcohol as they provide tannins and other compounds to the wine. In the past vintners pressed them when they racked off the newly fremented wine, but today they prefer not to (or just press them lightly) because the wine that's extracted tends to be overly tannic and bitter. In either case the Italian government requires that the vinacce be sent to a distiller (who will ferment the white skins), in part so it can tax the alcohol produced, and in part to keep home distillers from blinding themselves: In addition to the ethanol from the sugars, vinacce contain quite a bit of methanol, from the seeds. Distillers use distillation columns to separate out the methanol, and the grappa they make from the improved ingredients is at last coming into its own: Zesty, clean tasting, and with a heady fresh-fruit-and-berry bouquet.
Though it's traditionally a North Italian thing and the best known
distilleries are in the northeast (especially Friuli), Tuscany has become a
hotbed of grappa production and a visit to a distillery will be an unusual,
unforgettable stop on a daytrip into the country from Florence or Siena. This
is especially true from October through January, when the vinacce are being
worked: Unlike the wine that gets distilled into brandy, vinacce are solid, and
would burn if they were just heated. So they are steamed, and the resulting
water-alcohol slurry, called flemma, is distilled in a distillation
column like the one in the photo above. The steaming can be done either
continuously or discontinuously, and there are distilleries of both kinds
within a half hour's drive from Florence.
The Distillerie Bonollo's Greti plant, located just outside Greve, employs the traditional discontinuous technique, using a restored a turn-of-the-century still from Gorizia, a city in Friuli. The distillers put the vinacce in wire mesh baskets, stack the baskets in huge copper steaming cauldrons, seal the cauldrons, and stream the vinacce within: the Flemma condenses on the insides of the cauldrons, trickles into a holding tank, and is piped from thence to a pair of 12 foot high copper distillation columns, which allow the distillers to separate the grappa from the methanol-rich head and the impurity-laden tail. The Greti plant also has a vacuum distiller that works at lower temperatures, preserving the compounds that make a fine grappa's bouquet so enjoyable. You'll think you've stumbled into the den of a mad sorcerer as you watch (and smell) the steam billow forth when the distillers open the cauldrons to change their contents, and you'll be amazed by the tranquillity of the aging hall, with its massive casks and neatly stacked barrels, the red paint on the ends of their staves standing out sharply in the dim light.
While discontinuous stills are ideal for making small volumes of high quality spirits, say grappa from a specific winery or vineyard, they are simply uneconomical for production in bulk. Continuous stills process tons of vinacce per day, steaming them in monstrous conveyor-driven machines, and distilling the flemma in distillation columns that dwarf trees. The DETA plant at Zambra, near Barberino Val D'Elsa, is a meandering hour's drive from the Distillerie Bonollo's Greti plant. You'll notice there's much more steam, and that it's much dirtier and noisier; this is because the DETA plant processes the spent vinacce, extracting tartaric acid (used for everything from pastries to plaster), and then dries and separates the seeds from the skins in a 50-yard-long rotating drum that rumbles and quakes in the baleful red glow of the fire boxes (you won't want to stand underneath it). The seeds yield a prized oil, while the skins serve as fertilizer and fuel.
Bonollo's Greti plant is so clean because they send their vinacce to their Torrita di Siena plant, which is strategically located south of Siena, close to Montalcino and Montepulciano, respectively homes to Brunello and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Originally designed in the late thirties to provide the alcohol to power Mussolini's tanks, the plant changed hands several times before the Meneghini family decided to use it to distill grappa. When the Bonollo family bought it in 1974, they expanded it, and now use it to produce both grappa and brandy, which they sell to a number of bottlers, including some in France. This year they have also added cauldrons, to be able to produce specialty grappa for the wineries of Montalcino and Montepulciano. The Torrita plant is much larger than either of the distilleries near Florence, and also seems much older, perhaps because it is rooted in Fascist military architecture, blocky buildings with slab walls and tiny windows. The machinery inside is imposing, especially the twin drying-drums suspended close to the ceiling, and you'll be amazed by the heat given off by the distillation columns. It's almost frightening. You can taste the freshly distilled 180 proof grappa; it's remarkably smooth, and goes down quite nicely.
Vinacce are perishable, and consequently grappa production is a seasonal activity. Bonollo's Greti plant operates from November to late January, as does the DETA plant, which would rather you come while it's operating. The Torrita plant has a special demethanolization column that allows them to continue working vinacce until April, and it of course distills brandy year round. Since the Torrita and DETA plants are factories, you should call ahead to let them know you are coming; the Torrita plant's number is 0577-685210, while DETA's is 055-8073173 (when calling from outside Italy, you also have to dial the country code, 39). The Distillerie Bonollo's Greti plant is a different matter. Though the still is more impressive when the cauldrons are belching steam, the machinery retains its allure year round, as does the aging hall. The distillery also has the Centro Documentazione Grappa Luigi Bonollo, a museum and library with everything from a clandestine still to alcohol-related war booty taken from the Austrians in 1918.
A final note: though most of the Distillerie Bonollo's grappa goes to third parties, they do make the Consenso line, which is ruinously expensive and worth every penny. They also make a grappa from Lambrusco vinacce that is a surprisingly good buy. DETA also makes grappa and spirits for third parties, but sells its own grappa as well, in exquisite blown-glass bottles that make wonderful and unusual gifts.
If you go: the Distillerie Bonollo's Greti plant and the DETA plant make for a pleasant, somewhat different excursion from Florence into the Chianti region. Leave the city on the Chiantigiana (state road (S.S.) 222), and continue past Castello di Vicchiomaggio; the distillery is in a modern building to the right at the bottom of the hill, just after the sales booth of the Castello da Verrazzano Winery. To reach the DETA plant, return towards Florence and take the first left, towards Le Fornaci. When you reach the Cassia (state road (S.S.) 2) turn left, and then take the four lane Autopalio towards Siena. Exit at Poggibonsi and follow the signs for San Gimignano; the distillery is to the right, at an intersection, after about four miles (6 km). Once you have seen the distilleries, you can either continue towards San Gimignano, the city of the 14 towers, or you can wind your way back to Florence on the back roads. Bonollo's Torrita di Siena plant, on the other hand, is about ten miles (16 km) from the Val di Chiana exit of the A1 highway, and is a perfect stop if you are driving from Florence to Rome and want to see something truly unusual on the way. It also offers a wonderful change of pace after a visit to nearby Montepulciano.
Long before people drank spirits for pleasure, they called them Acqua Ardens, or the Quintessence (an alchemical term meaning "the true essence"), and considered them to be the most powerful of remedies.
So powerful that Taddeo di Alderotti, the great Early Renaissance physician who introduced the scholastic method of teaching medicine to the University of Bologna, explored the subject at length, explaining how to distill spirits, and then telling how they may be used to cure a myriad of ills.
As Dr. Gambacorta, a professor emeritus of anesthesiology observes, many
of the remedies suggested by Taddeo were still used until well into this
century, and some still are. Dr. Gambacorta recently discovered a
14th century transcription, in Italian, of Taddeo's chapter on cures
in Siena's Biblioteca degli Intronati. It's an important document, because it's
the first known reference to spirits in Italian, and because it shows that the
use of distillates in medicine was thoroughly codified early on. Taddeo
suggests, among other things, that spirits be used:
- Locally, as a disinfectant for wounds;
- With rosemary and sage, as a tincture for worms;
- With white wine and honey, to improve memory;
- As a rinse, for toothaches;
- In cold compresses, to cure ailments of the breasts.
The chapter has been transcribed into modern Italian and
reprinted, in a beautifully illustrated volume by the Casa Editrice Ascelpio of
Milano. Luigi Bellentani, of the Distillerie Bonollo, invited me to the
presentation of the volume a few months after I researched the travel article.
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Good Food & Drink,
Kyle Phillips
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