Grappa is a distillate from fresh dregs of winemaking, i.e. from everything that remains in the wine press after pressing of the grapes, such as e.g. stems, seeds, skins. It was originally a kind of spirits produced by the vintners for their own consumption. Grappa is normally as clear as water and contains about 40% vol. of alcohol. Grappa is also produced with oak cask aging, when it takes on its respective yellow to brown colour.

The roots of grappa go far back in time. Just how far is suggested alone by the name "grappa", the root of the word having possibly originated from the medieval Latin "rapus" meaning "grape". In the colloquial Latin of the regions of Northern Italy, one spoke of "raspon", "rapo", "grapo", "rappe" or even "graspa", as old designation for grape skins, which many growers still use until today. There are various, in part contradictory, theories about the origins of grappa: at the beginning of the 5 th century, the Burgundians brought the art of distillation to Friaul, some say. Other historians, in turn, maintain that the people of Friaul already understood something about distillation. Still others date the beginnings to the 9 th century when Sicily was occupied by Arabs: a connection which is not at all so far-fetched since it was the Arabs who discovered the technique of distillation and brought it to Europe, the word alcohol having its origins, after all, in the Arabic term "Al Khôl".

Grappa is the Italian sister of the French marc and of the distillates of grape skins found in German-speaking regions. Grappa has a character all its own, however, despite this relationship. Even the name is exclusive; only a grape-skin distillate made in Italy can be designated as "grappa", an historical right recognised by the European Union.

If the distillation of the grappa is successful, a taste can be found in the grappa that is never achieved by the purer and softer eau de vie (no distillation of the dregs but only of the grape juice). This richness of aromas is supposed to be achieved moreover through the limitation by law of the maximal alcohol content: the lower the degree of alcohol at conclusion of the distillation phase, the more intensive and complex the distillate. Grappa from white wine grape sorts generally tastes fine and fiery, whereas those from red wine grape varieties is more robust and deeper in flavour.