Welcome to My World of Brandy

Welcome to the blog of My World of Brandy. This blog will be all about the alcoholic drink brandy and the close cousins of brandy.
What is brandy? It is a spirit produced by distilling wine. The alcohol level can vary and can be anything from 35% up to 65%. The worlds most famous two brandies are Cognac and Armagnac, both from France. But brandy can be produced all over the world.
Sometimes the term brandy can also be used for the close cousins of brandy which is alcoholic drinks produced from fruits and the grape press remains after wine production. The French alcoholic drink Calvados is produced from Apple and pear while the Italian grappa is made from grape press remains.
In the European Union for an alcoholic drink to be called brandy it has to be distilled from wine. Other countries may have different rules. Normally brandy is stored for many years in oak barrels before being bottled and sold to the public. Here there are many different rules depending on what is being produced.

The first brandy to be tasted for this blog is an Italian brandy (Brandy Italiano) from producer Villa Zarri in Italy near Bologna. This is an Italian producer who makes brandy very close to Cognac and Armagnac but with a bit more experimentation since the rules are not as hard. The wine Villa Zarri uses for distillation, is made of Trebbiano and the still used are the Charentais copper still using a discontinuous production method. Then the brandy is put into oak casks made from French oak trees from Alliers or Limousin.

The Brandy Villa Zarri Millesimato 1991 is a blend of two types of brandy from the 1991 harvest. Both made from Trebbiano Romagnolo wines from the Romagna region, one from the plains and one from the hills. The first year of ageing was done in new barrels and then the brandy was transferred into older casks. This is done to limit the tannins and to increase the oxidation. Then the brandy was bottled in 2014 at the ABV of 45% making it a 23 year old brandy.

The colour is amber with some mahogny. In the nose I get dried stone fruits especially apricots, honey and some chestnuts. The taste is long and complex with some dried fruits and spicy notes almost peppery and a warm long lasting finish at the back of the mouth.

This is an excellent brandy from a producer in a country that is not known from brandy.



Kommentarer

Skicka en kommentar

Populära inlägg i den här bloggen

Cognac Bache Gabrielsen Thomas XO prestige

Bild
Time to go back for a cognac now and the producer Bache Gabrielsen. This producer has an old history and this cognac house was founded in 1905 by Thomas Bache-Gabrielsen and is still today run by the family of Bache Gabrielsen. Thomas was an immigrant from Norway and this cognac house has strong connections with Norway. This cognac the Thomas XO prestige is a bit different from their normal XO cognac. The XO means that the cognac is at least 10 years old or if it was bottled before march 2018 it could be also minimum of six years old. The ABV is 40% and the speciality with this cognac is that it was stored in small oak casks. How small the oak casks were I don't know but probably smaller than the normal sized oak casks used for cognac which are the size of 350l or 500l. But smaller oak casks give away more oak taste to the cognac compared to bigger oak casks so for the Thomas XO Prestige I expect more oak flavours such as cinnamon. Colour: Soft amber Nose: Dried fruits with some...
Läs mer

Armagnac, Nismes-Delclou VSOP

Bild
Nismes-Declou is an Armagnac brand owned by the Castarede family. The regulations for an Armagnac stipulate that a VSOP Armagnac is made from a blend of eaux-de-vie of which the youngest has been aged for at least 4 years in oak.  In practice, the Armagnac houses can use older Armagnacs to bring in a richer taste. This VSOP has a mean age of eight years and the youngest eaux-de-vie is six years old. So Nismes-Declou has brought some older stock to give it more taste. The ABV is 40% which is normal for Armagnac. Colour: Light amber Smell: Sweet dried fruits and grapes. Taste: Dried fruits with some spice Aftertaste: Long lasting with hints of spices A good VSOP. In comparison with the XO I would choose the XO, but then the XO cost 45% more than the VSOP.
Läs mer

Luigi Francoli Grappa Nebbiolo Del Piemonte

Bild
Luigi Francoli Grappa Nebbiolo Del Piemonte is a grappa that I bought in one airport in Italy. The distillery was founded in 1875 in the village of Campodolcino above Lake Como. Over the years the company grow into Gruppo Francoli and nowadays they produce and distribute grappa, liqueurs, distillates, wines, dried ham (prosciutto) and electrical energy. All the grapes used by Distillerie Francoli come from the Piemonte region. They uses a slow distilling process, ensures that the grappa is smooth and has a distinctive flavour. Luigi Francoli Grappa Nebbiolo Del Piemonte has the ABV of 41.5% which is higher than normal. The grape remains used to produce this grappa is Nebbiolo. After the distillation the grappa has been stored for 8 months in inert tanks. Since this a young un-oaked grappa the colour is clear. The nose is strong with notes of sage and liquorice. The taste is of a full bodied grappa with a long finish. A very good white young grappa.    
Läs mer