eau de vie

Eau de vie are spirits made from grapes or other fruits, such as pears, plums, quince apples, wild cherries that go alongside the most well-known spirits, such as grappa, cognac, armagnac, whisky, vodka or rum from sugar cane. As a product of the rural tradition of mountain regions, above all Trentino-South Tyrol, they are made to reuse defective raw materials or too ripe fruit. From "simple" product, over time they have become real elisirs, with a refined aroma that makes them worth of other prestigious spirits in the world of alcoholic drinks. The quality of the final eau de vie depends on the starting raw material. The fruit used should be perfectly good and unbruised, with a strong aroma. Distillery will need to make sure organoleptic properties are preserved during distillation. Fruit, selected with care and harvested at the right maturation point, becomes must and is sorted one more time, broken into small pieces and deprived of all the impurities. The 3-5 weeks fermented sugary liquid is then distilled in traditional copper alembics or other types, and then sent to maturation in wooden vats, steel or glass containers, so as to develop more complex aromas and give the spirit more structure. Another way is to put fruit in infusion beforehand, to then only extract the aromas. The most popular fruit eau de vie are Obstler from South Tyrol or the William-Christbirnen-Brand, a spirit made from Williams pears, sometimes sold in scenic bottles containing a whole pear, which is said to have been grown in the very bottle passing through the branch. We also have plum eau de vie Silvoviz, from Yugoslavia, Kirsch from Germany, Mirabelle from France and Calvados from France.