Fruit & Raw Material

Which grapes go into a grappa from Ticino? Mostly Merlot, since the variety covers most of the vineyard slopes between Chiasso and Bellinzona and grows as far as lower Misox near Roveredo. When harvest runs in September and October, the wineries are left with pomace — a dark, moist mass of skins, seeds, and stems that still smells of must.

Whether this pomace has already fermented depends on the wine. With red Merlot, the skins sit in the must for weeks, so the sugar has already turned to alcohol, and what comes out of the press is already fermented. With Bianco di Merlot, the white-pressed Merlot, the grapes are pressed before fermentation instead. Its pomace is still sweet and must ferment on its own before it can go into the still.

A Ticino specialty is the Americana grape. Originally from America, it grows on pergolas resting on stone pillars and bordered by dry-stone walls. Small distilleries turn it into their own grappa, with an aroma quite different from Merlot brandy, and it is considered typical of Ticino.

Why pomace instead of fruit? Because it's already sitting in the cellar after pressing anyway, and it carries the aroma and color of the skins within it. The quantity is modest, since little machinery fits on the steep terraces in the south and north of the canton, and much is harvested by hand. Anyone tending just a small vineyard ends up with correspondingly little pomace to use after harvest.

The southern Grisons valleys have their own names: Grappa della Val Calanca, della Val Bregaglia, della Val Mesolcina, and della Valle di Poschiavo. The name states the valley the brandy comes from, and belongs to the designations protected under the EU–Switzerland agreement. Misox belongs politically to Grisons, but culturally orients toward Ticino.