Style

What's the difference between pomace brandy, lees brandy, and brandy (Weinbrand)? All three come from wine, but from different parts of it. Brandy is distilled from the wine itself and matured for at least a year in oak. Pomace brandy is made from the fermented pressing residue, while lees brandy comes from the trub that settles after fermentation.

The law places them in separate categories. Pomace brandy is Category 6, with a minimum of 37.5 percent alcohol. Lees brandy is Category 12, minimum 38 percent. Brandy falls under Category 5 and may start at 36 percent. The label on lees brandy states the raw material, so for Mosel wines it reads wine lees brandy (Weinhefebrand).

That pomace brandy is called Grappa in Italy and Marc in France doesn't change the category. It's the same principle in a different language with a different grape. From the Mosel, the brandy comes from a white wine, and that explains its character: less tannic than many a red pomace brandy, more fruity, fresh and bright.

Riesling pomace brandy is the region's flagship spirit. It smells of vineyard peach and grape skin, staying lean on the palate. Wine lees brandy, alongside it, is the more rustic cousin, with a robust, yeasty note reminiscent of freshly racked wine. Both are winegrowers' brandies, made by emptying out the cellar, not spirits from an orchard.

Both belong to a category of brandies that almost nobody outside the Mosel valley knows. That makes them fascinating for anyone who thinks of kirsch the moment "brandy" comes up and wants to know what else winegrowers pull from their cellars. And it shows that brandy can be made just as well from wine as from fruit.