SOMETHING UNUSUAL: TUSCAN DISTILLERIES

A distillation column Brandy's Italian cousin is grappa, a drink distilled from vinacce, the skins and seeds left in the fermenting tanks after the wine is transferred to casks to age. "It used to be a poor man's drink, made to extract everything possible from the grape," says Distillerie Bonollo's Luigi Bellentani. "Good for keeping warm in the winter, and that's about it. But with the new emphasis on quality over quantity in the wineries, we've got something to work with."

Indeed he does. The better Italian wineries have realized that they must increase exports to survive, and to do that they must improve their wines. With this in mind they are replanting their vineyards with better cultivars (strains of a given variety of grape), and being much more careful in the winery. As a result the vinacce they send to the distillers are better, and grappa is coming into its own: zesty, clean tasting, and with a heady fresh fruit and berry bouquet.

Tuscans, spurred on by the Antinori family, are leading the revolution in wine making, and even though grappa is traditionally North Italian, Tuscany has become a hot bed of grappa production. Unlike the wine used to make brandy, vinacce are solid, and would burn if they were just heated. So they are steamed, and the resulting water-alcohol slurry, called flemma, is distilled in a distillation column. The steaming can be done either continuously or discontinuously, and there are distilleries of both kinds within a half hour's drive from Florence.

The Distillerie Bonollo's Greti plant, located just outside Greve, employs the traditional discontinuous technique, using a restored a turn-of-the-century still from Gorizia. The distillers put the vinacce in wire mesh baskets, stack the baskets in huge copper steaming cauldrons, seal the cauldrons, and stream the vinacce within: the flemma condenses on the insides of the cauldrons, trickles into a holding tank, and is piped from thence to a pair of 12 foot high copper distillation columns, which allow the distillers to separate the grappa from the methanol rich head and the impurity laden tail. The Greti plant also has a vacuum distiller that works at lower temperatures, preserving the compounds that make a fine grappa's bouquet so enjoyable. You'll think you've stumbled into the den of a mad sorcerer as you watch (and smell) the steam billow forth when the distillers open the cauldrons to change their contents, and you'll be amazed by the tranquillity of the aging hall, with its massive casks and neatly stacked barrels, the red paint on the ends of their staves standing out sharply in the dim light.

While discontinuous stills are ideal for making small volumes of high quality spirits, say grappa from a specific winery or vineyard, they are simply uneconomical for production in bulk. Continuous stills process tons of vinacce per day, steaming them in monstrous conveyor-driven machines, and distilling the flemma in distillation columns that dwarf trees. The DETA plant at Zambra, near Barberino Val D'Elsa, is a meandering hour's drive from the Distillerie Bonollo's Greti plant. You'll notice there's much more steam, and that it's much dirtier and noisier; this is because the DETA plant processes the spent vinacce, extracting tartaric acid (used for everything from pastries to plaster), and then dries and separates the seeds from the skins in a 50 yard long rotating drum that rumbles and quakes in the baleful red glow of the fire boxes (you won't want to stand underneath it). The seeds yield a prized oil, while the skins serve as fertilizer and fuel.

Drying rollers

Bonollo's Greti plant is so clean because they send their vinacce to their Torrita di Siena plant, which is strategically located south of Siena, close to Montalcino and Montepulciano, homes to Brunello and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Originally designed in the late thirties to provide the alcohol to power Mussolini's tanks, the plant changed hands several times before the Meneghini family decided to use it to distill grappa. When the Bonollo family bought it in 1974, they expanded it, and now use it to produce both grappa and brandy, which they sell to a number of bottlers, including some in France. This year they have also added cauldrons, to be able to produce specialty grappa for the wineries of Montalcino and Montepulciano. The Torrita plant is much larger than either of the distilleries near Florence, and also seems much older, perhaps because it is rooted in Fascist military architecture, blocky buildings with slab walls and tiny windows. The machinery inside is imposing, especially the twin drying-drums suspended close to the ceiling, and you'll be amazed by the heat given off by the distillation columns. It's almost frightening. You can taste the freshly distilled 180 proof grappa; it's remarkably smooth, and goes down quite nicely.

Vinacce are perishable, and consequently grappa production is a seasonal activity. Bonollo's Greti plant operates from November to late January, as does the DETA plant, which would rather you come while it's operating. The Torrita plant has a special demethanolization column that allows them to continue working vinacce until April, and it of course distills brandy year round. Since the Torrita and DETA plants are factories, you should call ahead to let them know you are coming; the Torrita plant's number is 0577-685210, while DETA's is 055-8073173 (when calling from outside Italy, use the country code and drop the 0 from the area code). The Distillerie Bonollo's Greti plant is a different matter. Though the still is more impressive when the cauldrons are belching steam, the machinery retains its allure year round, as does the aging hall. The distillery also has the Centro Documentazione Grappa Luigi Bonollo, a museum and library with everything from a clandestine still to alcohol related war booty taken from the Austrians in 1918.

Barrels in the aging hall A final note: though most of the Distillerie Bonollo's grappa goes to third parties, they do make the Consenso line, which is ruinously expensive and worth every penny. They also make a grappa from Lambrusco vinacce that is a surprisingly good buy. DETA also makes grappa and spirits for third parties, but sells its own grappa as well, in exquisite blown-glass bottles that make wonderful and unusual gifts.

If you go: the Distillerie Bonollo's Greti plant and the DETA plant make for a pleasant, somewhat different excursion from Florence into the Chianti region. Leave the city on the Chiantigiana (state road (S.S.) 222), and continue past Castello di Vicchiomaggio; the distillery is in a modern building to the right at the bottom of the hill, just after the sales booth of the Castello da Verrazzano Winery. To reach the DETA plant, return towards Florence and take the first left, towards Le Fornaci. When you reach the Cassia (state road (S.S.) 2) turn left, and then take the four lane Autopalio towards Siena. Exit at Poggibonsi and follow the signs for San Gimignano; the distillery is to the right, at an intersection, after about four miles (6 km). Once you have seen the distilleries, you can either continue towards San Gimignano, the city of the 14 towers, or you can wind your way back to Florence on the back roads. Bonollo's Torrita di Siena plant, on the other hand, is about ten miles (16 km) from the Val di Chiana exit of the A1 highway, and is a perfect stop if you are driving from Florence to Rome and want to see something truly unusual.