Grappe

Our Grappe (previously labelled Aquavit) is distilled in Albany,  Western Australia from premium grapes grown in the Margaret River and Great Southern regions.

The Grappe is released in a limited edition at 40%abv. The 2006 vintage displays distinct influences from the underlying base of shiraz and cabernet sauvignon.  The oak aging imparts a light gold colour and pleasant secondary vanilla aromas which are complemented by a well structured bouquet, a complex pallet and a long and vibrant finish.

You can purchase Grappe online click here , or from selected discerning liquor stores.

What is Grappe?

People really enjoy Grappe (formerly Aquavit), but we are often asked "What is Aquavit or why isn't it Grappa?" and "What makes Grappe different from brandy or grappa?"

The answer is relatively simple - our Aquavit/Grappe is the result of our extensive worldwide research on grape spirit.  The term Aquavit is derived from "Aqua Vite" the latin for "water of life" which was one term historically used to describe distilled spirits.  We decided on the name "Aquavit" as an abbreviation from this historical term, however, after some market experience we found the name confusing to those expecting a herb infused spirit as made in northern Europe.  Grappe reflects the grape base used for the spirit. 

Grappe is not Grappa

Grappa is a spirit that is distilled from "Marc" which is the left over residue (waste material) from winemaking.  Often Marc includes the skins, the seeds and the stems.  These significantly influence the final spirit profile and quality. Grappa was traditonally and is often still considered a 'rough' spirit.  We do not think this view applies to many of today's grappas and and we respect the many great grappa distilleries in Italy. However, grappa was not what we wanted to produce.  To achieve our mission of only producing premium quaility spirits, we do not use any Marc in our process as this can introduce distinct bitter flavours to the final spirit.  Instead we select premium wines that are well suited to producing a young spirit that retains some of the underlying flavour of the source grapes.  For our 2006 vintage, we selected material produced from Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvingon grapes grown in the Margaret River and Great Southern regions. 

Grappe is not Brandy

In summary, the legal definition for brandy is spirit distilled from wine that has been aged for at least 2 years in oak.  Only specific grapes and wine are selected for producing brandy, as the spirit from these grapes is better suited to lenghty oak aging.  In Australia the grapes used include Sultana, Trebbiano, Palomina and Pinot Noir. The wines we use for Grappe are not suited to making premium brandy. The taste, flavour and mouthfeel of Grappe is so much different from Brandy that it is not possible to confuse the two. This is because many of the higher alcohols, volatiles and flavour congeners evident in Grappe are desirable in a young grape spirit but these same characteristics are not desirable or evident in a brandy.

Of course, being located in 2 premium wine growing regions, we also make a brandy... but you will have to wait until 2008 for this to be ready.