So what do we distill?
As part of the up-and-coming boutique distilling industry in NY, we are proud to produce a range of fine distilled products...The still is used to craft several different spirits including Eau de Vie, Grappa, and brandy spirit for fortification. Each is created using the finest regional fruits and at every step of the process the distiller is assessing aroma and flavor to ensure the highest quality product.
Each [spirit] is created using the finest regional fruits and at every step of the process the distiller is assessing aroma and flavor to ensure the highest quality product.
Eau de Vie, French for ‘water of life’ or more loosely ‘essence of life’, is a fruit brandy. While brandy most commonly is derived from grapes, Eau de Vie is produced using any number of other fruits. Here, at Mazza Chautauqua Cellars, we use four fruits to craft our Eau de Vie: pear, apple, cherry and plum. All of the fruits are prepared for distillation by crushing them, adding a yeast culture and fermenting them in order to produce the alcohol that will be distilled. The mash (or crushed fruit) is fermented for 10 – 14 days and loaded into the still in its entirety. By distilling the mash, and not pressing it for juice first, we obtain a more flavorful spirit. After a second distillation, the spirit is blending down to 40% alcohol to produce the final product.
Grappa, a traditional Italian spirit, is produced from the fermentation and distillation of grape pomace. Grapes are pressed to separate the juice from the skins with the juice being drawn off for wine production. For the production of Grappa, the grapes are gently pressed and the remaining skins, pulp and some juice are taken from the press and fermented. This mixture, known as must, is loaded into the still, once it completes fermentation, where it is distilled twice to create the Grappa spirit. With every different variety of grape variety used for the production of Grappa, a different character presents itself in the spirit, indicative of its origin.
Fortification spirit is high proof alcohol (85% alcohol or 170 proof) that is used in the production of port and sherry style wines. The starting material for this process is wine, which the variety can be chosen depending on the final use. For our Forte of Cabernet Franc (a ruby style port), we distill Cabernet Franc wine to create the spirit for fortification of the Cabernet Franc must during production of the port. A number of other base wines are used for production of fortification spirits for both our sister winery, Mazza Vineyards, and a number of other regional wineries for which we distill.