Grappa
Distillation is the process that allows the extraction from and improvement of pomace. The fresher and softer the pomace is, the better the final Grappa will be. Thanks to Benito Nonino’s constant innovation and research, the Nonino distillery owns 66 steam batch stills which offer appropriate distillation allowing for the elimination of the heads and tails and the pure selection of the heart of the Grappa. These stills, in action 24 hours a day from September to November, allow the Noninos to distil healthy pomace immediately after fermentation, at the same time as the harvest and to prevent the formation of methyl alcohol* and the subsequent need for demethylization.
Those distilleries which, unlike the Noninos, choose to distil the pomace after a lengthy sealed fermentation, will have to work with a primary product that has undergone secondary fermentations characterized by bad odours and flavours and which have a high concentration of methyl alcohol, necessitating the use of a demethylization column. This is why the Noninos have elected to distil the pomace immediately, despite incurring higher production costs, in order that they may ultimately obtain Grappa of supreme quality and purity.
* Methyl alcohol reaches high levels in pomace which undergoes a lengthy period in tanks or silos. The demethylization column is used in both artisanal and industrial distillation when the pomace, instead of being distilled immediately after fermentation, undergoes a lengthy period in tanks or silos. This type of column, besides eliminating the methyl alcohol formed in the pomace, “radically changes the organoleptic characteristics of Grappa because together with methyl, a great number of esters, acetals and other micro-compounds which pleasantly characterize Grappa itself are removed” (De Rosa/Castagner 1994).
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