What the thing is
Grappa is a grape pomace brandy. It is not wine. It is not eau-de-vie. It is distilled from skins, pulp, seeds, and stems left after pressing grapes.
Where it came from
It likely began pre-1300s in Italy, as distillation arrived in the Middle Ages. Water-cooled equipment enabled large-scale pomace distillation by 1300–1400 AD. Jesuits codified techniques around 1600 AD. Modern refinements—including vacuum distillation, varietal grapes, and wood cask ageing—began in northern Italy in 1979.
What it gets right
It turns winemaking waste into a legal, protected category of spirit. It enforces strict method: pomace only, no added water, steam or bain-marie distillation to remove methanol. It anchors identity in northern Italy and the Italian diaspora.
What it gets wrong
It pretends purity of origin while relying on medieval tech transfers, Jesuit codification across borders, and post-1979 modernisation—none of which are native or continuous.
Why it matters now
It shows how EU PGI law can protect a process—not just a place—and how diaspora carries functional tradition (digestif use in Argentina and Uruguay) without requiring cultural replication.
Is it worth your time
Yes—if you care about how waste becomes ritual, or how regional craft resists standardisation without romanticising poverty.