Grapes are one of the best-known raw materials for strong spirits. Most grape spirits come from the vine species V. vinifera; more rarely grapes of hybrid vines are used, in which V. labrusca took part as well.
Wine is, of course, the main drink made from grapes, but this is not about wine. It is about rakijas and well-known drinks you have surely heard of without knowing they are made from grapes: vinjak, armagnac, cognac, Metaxa, lozovača, komovica, steljovača and others. These strong grape spirits are also the base for special rakijas such as travarica, and often for liqueurs.
Vinjak: a Serbian brand known worldwide
Vinjak is a grape spirit made from wine distillates matured for at least a year in oak vessels larger than 1,000 litres, or for six months in oak vessels smaller than 1,000 litres.
The quality of grape spirits depends on many factors: the grape variety and its aromatic potential, the soil, the climate, how the vines are grown, the production process and more.
The best-known Serbian vinjak is made by the Rubin house of Kruševac; it has become a world brand, found wherever people from Serbia live.
Cognac: the French grape spirit
Cognac is the famous French grape spirit with a protected geographical origin, made from particular grape varieties of the Cognac area (Charente) by a procedure specific to this drink alone. It is an aged wine distillate, matured in oak barrels of up to 1,000 litres or casks of more than 1,000 litres.
Its story begins in the 1620s, when in the valley of the Charente, with the towns of Angoulême, Jarnac, Cognac and Rochefort, light wines suddenly began to be distilled. Through the late 17th and the 18th century new distilleries sprang up across the region, and, interestingly, it was foreigners who started the large, organised production of cognac.
Armagnac: cognac’s younger brother
Armagnac is a French grape spirit with a protected geographical origin, made from particular grape varieties of the Armagnac area by an established process used for this drink alone. It too is an aged wine distillate in oak, and is often called cognac’s younger brother. Its production goes back to around 1400 in Gascony, in the far south-west of France near Toulouse, and it is made in three regions: Bas-Armagnac, Ténarèze and Haut-Armagnac.
Metaxa: the Greek grape spirit
Metaxa is Greece’s national spirit, of a special kind. Many think of it as a cognac-type drink, but it is better described as a special grape spirit: a blend of brandy and wine.
The wine is made by fermenting naturally dried grapes of four local varieties, Savatiano, Sultana, Black Corinth and Roditis, and the blend is then married with old Muscat wine from Samos and Lemnos. Exported to more than 60 countries, it is a true national treasure, usually bottled in amphora-shaped bottles.
Why we write about this
We wanted to show which grape spirits exist beyond the familiar lozovača, and that even if some of these drinks seem “gentlemanly”, bringing to mind cognac, a cigar and slow conversation, Serbian rakija should aim for the same.
Rakija is not just for knocking back in one go. It is to be enjoyed. Most of us drink it the wrong way without knowing it, because nobody ever taught us.
That is the aim of Akademska rakija and the team behind it: to raise awareness of rakija and to teach people about it, so that through our blog you learn something new about how rakija is made, what kinds exist and, yes, that armagnac is at heart a grape rakija.
