Great Southern Distilling Company - boutique whisky, brandy, gin and vodka all distilled in Albany Western Australia  
 

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 distilled twice in our traditional 1,800 & 500 litre copper pot stills, before being aged for up to 6 months in specially selected French and American oak barrique wine barrels. The Grappe is hand made in small batches and is bottled at the distillery.

 

Our careful selection of premium base material, the skills of our distillers, and a traditional hand distilling process, combine to produce a classic Grappe grape spirit.

 

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.

 

Country WA

UnitNormal PriceQty
1 bottle$10.60
2-3 bottles$15.25
4 or more bottles$14.60

Domestic Insurance

UnitNormal PriceQty
$2/$100 Insurance$2.00

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Limeburners - Single Malt Whisky - Barrel M 11

UnitNormal PriceQty
700ml 43% abv$120.00

Limeburners - Single Malt Whisky - Barrel M3

UnitNormal PriceQty
700ml 43% abv$150.00

Limeburners - Single Malt Whisky - Barrel M9 Pre-release - Nov 08

UnitNormal PriceQty
700mL 43% abv$150.00

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Margaret's Gin

UnitNormal PriceQty
500ml Single$50.00
700ml Single$60.00

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Margaret's Grappe

UnitNormal PriceQty
500ml Single$55.00
700ml Single$70.00

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Margaret's Meen Vodka

UnitNormal PriceQty
500ml Single$45.00
700ml Single$55.00

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Margaret's Vodka

UnitNormal PriceQty
500ml Single$45.00
700ml Single$55.00

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Margaret's Vodka Citrus

UnitNormal PriceQty
500ml Single$45.00
700ml Single$55.00

Margaret's Vodka Vanilla

UnitNormal PriceQty
500ml Single$45.00
700ml Single$55.00

Perth

UnitNormal PriceQty
1 bottle$9.75
2-3 bottles$12.95
4 or more bottles$9.90

Rest of Australia

UnitNormal PriceQty
1 bottle$13.40
2-3 bottles$20.95
4 or more bottles$26.00

Rest of World

UnitNormal PriceQty
Get Quote on Unit no$1.00