Grappa In A Grocery Store?

You Don’t Get What You Don’t Pay For

Why spend so much for good Grappa? There’s a good reason, and quality, artisnal Grappa doesn’t really have to cost that much. Let me share something that you probably already know, but may not have applied to Grappa.

The Grappa Guy was in Venice yesterday, and wanted to have a “Taste” back in his hotel room for a nightcap. It’s a nice hotel, they just don’t stock Grappa in their bar. Asking hotel staff for a recommendation, they sent him to a grocery store. The store had Grappa, and a monovitigno (single grape) variety, from Veneto (the area surrounding Venice), that had been aged (invecchiata) in wood barrels (barrique). Everything sounds good, right? Just one problem, the Grappa was about US$10 for 500ml. A bargain, you might say. Until you tasted it. Off notes abounded, in the nose and the taste. What went wrong? The Grappa was a house brand, produced and labeled specifically for the particular grocery chain it was purchased at. I’m not going to name the grocery store, they were filling a need, perhaps $10 is all some folks can afford to pay for a bottle of Grappa. I’m not going to name the distiller, it’s the first expression I have tasted from them, I’m hoping future tastings will be more rewarding.

The lesson here, dear friends, is to buy your Grappa from a liquor store that has knowledgeable staff who can guide you through their stock. I have bought, in the USA (typically more expensive than buying in Italy), a very satisfying 750ml bottle of Grappa for US$22. It was from a store and knowledgeable staffer who was quite pleased to sell me affordable, high-quality Grappa.

My exploration in Venice, Italy today led me to the right kind of store to buy Grappa from. Details on that tomorrow.

Ciao!