Did you know? Distillation

Distillation is essentially a physical rather than a chemical action and is in effect the concentration of a wine mixture or fermented fruit or grain. It is a means of separating the constituents of a liquid mixture by partial vaporisation of the mixture and the separate recovery of the vapour and the alcoholic residue. In the case of making brandy, the grapes must conform to strict standards, mainly to control their quality and defects since both are concentrated in the distillation. The grapes used to make fine brandy have to combine both acidity and fruitiness but in cheaper distillations such as pomace brandy the pips and skins are also used. The main quality required is for the wines to be “clean”, the term generally implies free from sulphur dioxide which can occur if the grapes are left too long before crushing. The principle of distillation is simplicity itself, the process is designed to remove the alcohol which boils at 78.3°C and other impurities in the wine from the water which is the bulk of the liquid and then capturing the alcohol separately. The alcoholic steam rises to the head of the still before condensing through a series of pipes back to a liquid.