"Grappa, an Italian story”. This is the title of a presentation scheduled for November 25th in Tokyo, where the sommelier Hayashi Shigeru will illustrate virtues and traditions of grappa, an excellence of our country that has made historical distillers famous all over the world. Shigeru – who knows Italian wines, has worked in Italy and is writing a new book – will speak at the VI Week of Italian Cuisine in the World.
The meeting promises to be of interest to Japanese tasters and more generally to the Asian market. On the other hand, Italy is already today the largest exporter of grappa in the world. The production has made progress on environmental sustainability to protect the production areas and the most renowned brands are proud of it.
Originally, grappa was a poor drink, usually produced in peasant homes. It helped to bear the cold, the snow, to remain vigilant in caring for the animals in the pastures. When the wine industry discovered its qualities, it perfected processing and conservation methods up to today's eco-sustainable standards. This typical product of Northern Italy has conquered markets and good gourmet food, obtaining a success that has led to extending production to other Regions and to create Consortia and protection institutes to defend the Italian denomination, unique in the world.
Most distillers are now convinced that everything that is aged and then bottled must respect the principles of environmental protection. For this reason, industrial processes are organized following the fundamentals ofThe circular economy, reusing waste and processing residues.
A few months ago theAceDistil (National association of industrial distillers of spirits and spirits) presented the first "Sustainability Report" in the sector, which shows that in 2019 companies saved 500 tons of carbon dioxide, produced 300 megawatt hours of green electricity for self-consumption and installed 300 cubic meters of potential for clean bioethanol. A turning point that made him grow the commercial value of millions of bottles.
A wide range of products comes out of the distillation laboratories, ranging from the food market to the industrial one, to the production of acids, vegetable oils and fertilizers. Green electricity, biogas and biomethane are also obtained from the residues. The Bonollo Distilleries of Padua, for example, have created the Sub (Sistema Unico Bonollo) with double distillation. A mix - they explain - between peasant tradition, innovation and "zero waste". In the historic cellars, once the grappa has been obtained, other by-products are taken over for use in the subsequent production cycle.
