Grapes have been grown and made into wine for over 25 years at Snow Farm Vineyard & Distillery. In 2023, our farm expanded with the addition of a distillery to transform grapes and other fruit into spirits like brandy and grappa.
Master winemaker and distiller Patrick Barrelet and his team are dedicated to capturing nature’s gifts in every bottle.
By creating spirits from grapes, other area fruits, and botanicals, Snow Farm can use more ingredients grown at the farm, reduce waste, and create products more people can enjoy. Here’s a closer look at how brandy is made at Snow Farm.
What is Brandy
Let’s start with a basic definition of brandy. Brandy is a distilled spirit made from fermented juice, mash, or wine of fruit. It can only be made from fruit, unlike whiskey, which must be made from fermented grains.
Some of the more common fruits used to make brandy are grapes, apples, and peaches. Brandy made from grapes can simply be called brandy without a qualifier like other fruit brandy such as peach brandy or raspberry brandy.
What is the legal definition? The legal definition of brandy, according to the U.S. Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), requires it to 1) be made from fermented juice, mash, or wine of fruit, 2) be distilled at less than 95 percent alcohol by volume (190° proof) 3) be bottled at not less than 40 percent alcohol by volume (80° proof), and 4) have the expected taste, aroma, and characteristics of brandy.
While you can make beer and wine at home, this isn’t true for spirits. Federal law prohibits home distilling, and you need a distillery license to make brandy.
Snow Farm Vineyard & Distillery is one of several licensed distilleries in Vermont. Master distiller Patrick’s artisan skills began at his family’s distillery in Bedford, Quebec, where his dad and uncle were distillers. We’re lucky to have Patrick help us break down the different types of brandy and how they’re made at Snow Farm Vineyard & Distillery.
Types of Brandy
Traditional Brandy
A product labeled as only brandy or grape brandy is derived only from grapes and has been aged in oak barrels for two years. According to the TTB, “Grape brandy that has been stored in oak barrels for fewer than two years must be designated ‘immature grape brandy’ or ‘immature brandy.'”
Fruit Brandies
Brandy can be made from any juice or mash of whole, sound, ripe fruit. If it’s not made from grapes, it must be called fruit brandy with a description of how it was made. For example, “fruit brandy distilled from apples” or “fruit brandy distilled from peaches.” Popular fruit brandies include apple, cherry, blackberry, peach, strawberry, and raspberry.
Regional Brandy
There are types of brandy that can only be made in certain regions of the world, including:
-
-
- Cognac – grape brandy from Cognac, France.
- Armagnac – grape brandy from the Armagnac region in France.
- Brandy de Jerez – grape brandy from Spain.
- Calvados – apple brandy from France.
- Singani – grape brandy from Bolivia.
- Pisco – grape brandy from Peru or Chile.
-
Grappa is brandy made from grape skins and stems once the grapes have been pressed. Only the crushed grape skins, pulp, and stems are fermented, known as the pomace or the marc. It can also be called grape pomace brandy, grape marc brandy, or grappa brandy.
If a fruit other than grapes is distilled without the juice, such as apples, it must be called apple pomace brandy or apple marc brandy.
Grappa is a perfect complement to a winemaker or cidermaker’s process. For example, at Snow Farm Vineyard & Distillery, once the juice is extracted from the grapes to be made into wine, the pomace is used again to make grappa.
How Snow Farm Makes Brandy
At Snow Farm Vineyard & Distillery, we make several types of brandy.
We started with grappa, crafted from the grapes grown at our 12-acre vineyard. We are also in the process of making a grape brandy from our Snow Farm grapes and an apple brandy with apples sourced from nearby Hackett’s Orchard.
Step 1: Harvesting the Fruit
The process of making grappa and apple brandy at Snow Farm Distillery begins with the careful cultivation of dozens of varieties of grapes and apples in Vermont’s Champlain Islands. Once the fruit is perfectly ripe, it is hand-harvested and pressed to extract the juice.
Step 2: Fermenting and Distilling the Grape Mash/Juice
To make grappa, the juice from Cayuga grapes is pressed out and used for winemaking. The leftover pulp, stems, and skins are fermented for a few days and then distilled as soon as possible in a copper still to create a clear, 70 to 120-proof grappa. It takes about 480 gallons of grape mash to produce about five gallons of grappa. The same amount of grapes, when the juice is included, can make approximately 2,000 bottles of wine, which makes grappa more of a rare delicacy.
To make apple or grape brandy, juice from the fruit is fermented for approximately a week, essentially creating a wine. Then, the wine is put into the copper still and distilled twice. The final amount of apple brandy will be less than the grape brandy because the apple wine has lower alcohol to begin with. It will then be put into oak barrels to age for a few years.
Step 3: Aging the Brandy
Once the brandy has been distilled, it is aged in oak barrels for a minimum of two years. During this time, the brandy takes on the flavors of the wood, resulting in a smooth and complex spirit. Each batch of brandy is tasted regularly to ensure it matures properly, and only the best barrels are selected for bottling. The first batch of brandy is expected in 2026.
Grappa does not have to be aged and can be enjoyed shortly after distilling. Snow Farm’s grappa is aged for approximately four months, though sometimes less, and the white grapes create a young, aromatic, and smooth grappa.
Step 4: Bottling and Enjoying
After the brandy and grappa is ready, it is bottled by hand in small batches to maintain its quality. Each bottle of Snow Farm Distillery’s brandy and grappa is a testament to the artistry and dedication of the team that created it.
Whether enjoyed neat, on the rocks, or in a cocktail, each sip offers a taste of Vermont’s Champlain Islands and a moment of relaxation.
