Grappa, brandy, port, and other forms of digestifs and aperitifs are all made from wine or wine byproducts and for those of us who occasionally enjoy a glass before or after dinner find them to be delicious. There is one big difference between wine and these however, in that most all are fortified with some kind of spirits or distilled to increase the alcohol, and for some the appeal.

The other consequence here in North Idaho is it bounces most of them to the state controlled liquor stores, as they boast a hefty alcohol level topping 20 percent in most cases. We frequently get asked the question about attaining these many times expensive drinks, but the fortified stature of them prevents us from doing so. It also makes it unlikely that the more exotic smaller production bottlings are attainable here as the state stores do not see sufficient demand to stock them.

Wine shops like ours have always been allowed to carry true dessert wines like those from the Sauterne appellation in the Bordeaux region of France. These wines are not fortified and owe their sweetness to stopping fermentation before all of the sugar has been consumed by the yeast and converted to alcohol, and the sugars being concentrated in the grapes prior to harvest from a mold called botrytis. Dessert wines made in other parts of the world in a similar style and process are also available in wine shops. They typically run at relatively modest alcohol levels of 11-13 percent.

Recently too we have gained access to Port, which is most times fortified but to a lesser degree than some other wine based liquors. Port can contain up to 82 different grape varietals but the Portuguese government recommends the use of only 30 and realistically most contain only six, which include Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barocca, Tinto Co, Touriga Nacional and Tinta Amarela. They are then fortified by the addition of a wine derivative spirit called aguardente that also stops fermentation by killing the yeast and leaving some sugar in the wine making it slightly sweet.

Producers here in the states make Port from different grape varietals than those from Portugal, but employ a similar process with slightly lower levels of alcohol - we are allowed to sell these also. In general both domestically produced and those from Portugal run about 20 percent alcohol.

Brandies, grappa and other distilled wine liquors contain anywhere from 35-60 percent alcohol, thus their placement in the state liquor stores. While many of us are familiar with the more common brands, there are many that are rare, very sought after and can be quite expensive. Many of the more well known brands are not distilled to these alcohol levels; they are fortified using neutral grain alcohol spirits to increase the alcohol.

The true brandies, grappa and other after dinner liquors though are distilled resulting in a more complex, natural, and less "hot" flavor profile sought after by connoisseurs. Also the distillation process for grappa is done with the grape solids or pomace, like the stems seeds and skins, resulting in very concentrated flavors. The origin of producing grappa from these left over products from winemaking was to prevent waste and use all of the byproducts. Today though many times producers will shun the actual grape juice previously used to make wine, just to gain access to the solids they want in order to produce grappa.

Brandy meanwhile is actually distilled from wine. Like any wine the quality of a particular brandy depends much on the "raw material" used to manufacture it, so it is heavily influenced by the quality of the wine and the varietal composition of the beginning product. While the "hotness" and alcohol flavors dominate many more well known brandies, the more exclusive ones show flavor profiles similar to and just as detectable as well made wine.

For consumers venturing into the world of wine based spirits is a natural progression of their learning curve, and their wine experience. For those of us that enter this realm it is helpful to know the basic process behind the manufacture of the products so we can focus on those we like after the first try. Like wine it is predictable that we will find some we like better than others, and once we have that base of knowledge we can continue our exploration with better results, finding the producers and methods we like best.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the dinner party a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George is also the managing judge of The North Idaho Wine Rodeo and writes frequently for the online version of Coeur d'Alene Magazine at www.cdamagazine.com. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com.