Yesterday was a bit of a false start for me. I didn’t really like the Paesanella Amarone. It probably had nothing to do with the Grappa itself, but it seemed to have an enormous amount of added sugar that put me off. Today we’ll have a look at this Grappa di Prosecco. Prosecco is a totally different wine from yesterday’s Amarone, so I’m expecting something completely different.

Prosecco is a sparkling dry White Wine, mostly made from the Glera grape variety that used to be called Prosecco. It is made in the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions. Amarone is a still Red Wine mostly made from the Corvina grape variety in the Valpolicella region.

Color: Almost colorless, with a slight green haze.

Nose: Obviously some hay and dry grassy notes. Sugary sweet (oh no!) and also floral. I would almost would call this cute. Good balance. The alcohol is only noticeable when spinning the glass a bit. If you let it breathe for a while the nose becomes more fruity. Tiny hints of lavas and licorice. With breathing the Grappa becomes more dry and dusty too. With even more air the alcoholic note becomes spicy. Nice, just fear for the sugary note in the nose though.

Taste: Sweetness first. Just like the Paesanella Grappa Amarone Barrique this is pretty sweet, so my guess is that sugar was added for a more “accessible” taste profile. It’s sugary sweet and not fruity sweet. Again the sugar is able to mask a lot of aroma in the taste, or I can’t get past the sugar. The sweetness ruins the finish and leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth. Yep a potentially reasonable Grappa ruined by sugar. Too much sugar and with that sugar a bad finish…

Dear Grappa producers, please market this as a Grappa liqueur. In my opinion taking the sugar route is a bad way to get around the Grappa crappa feeling of the past where Grappa was considered a hot and inferior distillate. Don’t make Grappa friendlier by adding heaps of sugar, because you’ll be ruining the reputation of the distillate yet again! Just use fresh pomace and make the best Grappa you can!

Points: 59