Discarded Grape Skin Chardonnay Vodka 40%

Once the wine has been pressed, a heap is left behind: skins, stems and seeds. It is called pomace, and it is usually sold on for animal feed or carted away. Here it is not waste but raw material. This entire vodka begins with what the wine trade normally throws out.

Expert description

Discarded Grape Skin Vodka is a Scottish Vodka made from discarded Chardonnay grape skins, blended with wine alcohol and bottled at 40%.

There are two reclaimed ingredients in the bottle. The first is the pomace — skins, stems and seeds from winemaking — which is distilled and becomes the base. The second is more surprising: when wine is dealcoholised to make alcohol free wine, the alcohol is left over as a by-product, and it still carries a great deal of the grape's aroma. That Chardonnay wine alcohol is blended in, and it gives the bottle both its name and its fruit.

Behind Discarded Spirits Co. stands William Grant & Sons, and the whole range works on the same principle. There is a rum made with banana peel and a vermouth built on cascara, the dried husk of the coffee cherry. The packaging is fully recyclable, and the philosophy is plain: use what would otherwise be burned or sent to landfill.

In the glass that means you are not getting a neutral vodka. There is a clear vinous character, a luscious mouthfeel and a fruit that points towards pear and the tropics rather than grain. This is a vodka for people who rather like the base spirit having a point of view.

Tasting notes

Nose

Fresh and crisp with green apple first. Then a deeper almond croissant tone and a bright lift of lychee.

Palate

A luscious, fruit-driven mouthfeel. Williams pear fills the middle, with guava and starfruit around it, and there is no grain sweetness weighing it down.

Finish

Dry and spiced with pink peppercorn. The fruit drops away and the pepper stays put.

Specifications

Name: Discarded Grape Skin Vodka
Producer: Discarded Spirits Co.
Region/Country: Scotland
Type: Scottish Vodka from Chardonnay grape skins
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Distilled from discarded pomace and blended with Chardonnay wine alcohol
EAN no.: 5010327414645
Serving suggestion: In a Grape Skin Spritz with sparkling wine and soda, or in a Martini with lemon peel.

Flavour profile

Vinous · Fruit-driven · Luscious · Pink pepper

Did you know?

Pomace has been turned into spirit for centuries in southern Europe. Italian grappa and French marc are made from exactly the same press residue, and they exist because farmers could not afford to let anything go to waste. Discarded is therefore not doing something new — it is doing something old again, this time as a vodka.

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Frequently asked questions about Discarded Grape Skin Vodka

Is it made from grapes rather than grain?

Yes. The base is distilled pomace, meaning the skins, stems and seeds from winemaking, and there is no grain in it. That is why you meet fruit and vinous character instead of the grain sweetness which otherwise defines a vodka.

What is wine alcohol?

It is the alcohol left over when wine is dealcoholised. The process strips the alcohol out of the wine to make alcohol free wine, but the alcohol takes a large share of the grape aroma with it. Here it is blended into the vodka instead of going to waste.

So does it taste like grappa?

No, it is far cleaner. Grappa is bottled with an obvious edge and an oily, almost rough character, while this has been cleaned up and diluted like a vodka. The kinship lies in the raw material, not in the style.

How is it best drunk?

In a spritz or a Martini. The house suggestion is a Grape Skin Spritz with sparkling wine and soda, which gives the fruit room to spread out. A Martini with lemon peel also works, precisely because there is something vinous to work with in the base.

Is it genuinely sustainable, or is that just marketing?

There is a real calculation behind it. Pomace is either sold for feed or destroyed in large volumes, and wine alcohol from dealcoholisation is a by-product with no other purpose. The packaging is fully recyclable. It is not zero consumption, but the raw material would otherwise have been lost.

What else does Discarded Spirits Co. make?

A rum made with banana peel and a vermouth built on cascara, the dried husk of the coffee cherry. The whole range rests on the same idea: take a by-product from another industry and make it the starting point rather than the rubbish.

Does it suit food?

Yes, and better than most vodkas. The vinous fruit stands up well to shellfish, ceviche and light Asian dishes where you would otherwise have reached for a glass of white wine. The pink peppercorn on the close also makes it useful with heavily spiced food.