Making the experience of super-luxury spirits crazily affordable and accessible!
Read more about the Spirits project.
- Suggested retail price: $159
- Thursday, October 1 (for as long as it lasts), we're pouring a one-ounce pour for $5
Grappa became fashionable in the late 1980s. Mark and I were tending bar at the time and to me, it tasted like rocket fuel. Guys would often come into the bar and confidently order a grappa after dinner. Mark and I took so many of them back. Despite their best efforts to choke it down while looking cool, too many guys just couldn't manage it. Eventually we adopted the rule that if a guy didn't have an Italian accent or wearing an ascot or beret, we would bring him a taste first. Rarely did it go much further than that.
I attribute this to two things. One, that the grappa we were pouring was terrible; and two, we didn't have the frame of reference to understand grappa. It's rather hard to get your head around a young grappa. Now that I understand it, I'm a big fan. The rocket fuel type of young grappa is very good in it's own right if you have an understanding and appreciation for it. There is an Italian tradition to pull out a bottle of such grappa at the end of the evening and to pour it into the empty coffee cups of your guests. After the many cups of stove-top espresso you have consumed, the grappa will clean out your cup and incorporate the aroma of coffee. When someone pours you grappa in this way in Italy it means two things. "Thank you for a wonderful evening," and "Get out of my house."
Today however, there are whole different categories of grappa available to us in America. Fine artisinal (over-used word I know, but apt) grappa and some made to age for many years are not meant for the coffee cup. Two broad categories of grappa are appealing to anyone, even the non-initiated. First, the new-age grappa are lower in alcohol than the old school grappa and from a cleaner cut of the distillation. They have less of the chemical / petrol smells and more of the grape variety.
Second, are the traditional aged grappa. These were always uncommon and much more expensive than the young white grappa that is most common. These spirits use long aging in ancient oak barrels to achieve the mellowness that makes them appealing to all-comers. This is the spirit we will open Thursday. Montanaro makes some of the best grappa you will ever have. Located in Piedmont, they make singular spirits, aged in hundred year old barrels. Check out this video. It speaks volumes of the quality and unique character of this tiny distillery.
Francesco Trussoni, from Gallo d’ Alba, is historically one of the most important figures in the history of grappa. In 1885, he created Grappa di Barolo, the first single grape Grappa in history. The company was taken over by Mario Montanaro and his wife Angela Trussoni in 1922. With their son, Giuseppe Montanaro, they perfected the production processes by adopting steam alembics. Their Grappa di Barolo, are considered among the most sophisticated of all spirits if Italy. Today, there are a total of six people working this distillery--SIX!
Here is a rare offering from Dr. Montanaro. This is not a grappa but a very old brandy. Brandy "1972" is a selection forgotten for more than forty years in barrels of an old distillery in the Val di Susa. It's distilled from local wines in an era long-past, bottled by a guardian of history.
Thursday, October 1, at precisely 6:30, we will open just one bottle. When it's gone, it's gone. I do hope you can join us.