Unlike grappa and marca, trester has not gained international fame, it is neglected by large production companies and only a handful of small winemakers are involved in its production. However, there are still plenty of premium German brandies or tresters on the market.
Without ambition
Trester in Germany has never been and is not in the interest of the big alcohol producers. Since the 19th century, large producers have been focusing mainly on wine brandy, leaving stillage distillates in the status of “country relatives”. This did not affect the activities of the winemakers of the Moselle, Rhine, Main region, because initially they processed grape pomace only for their own consumption.
The wine obtained from the first pressing of the grapes went on sale, from the second pressing, mixed with water, it became trester wine (Tresterwein), but the distillate obtained from the chagas remained at home.
Title Trester (also Treber in the south of Germany) did not raise any high expectations in terms of quality. It is derived from the Old High German word trestir, which means ‘sediment’ and is associated with the words ‘turbid, dirty’.
German wines began their international triumphal march at the end of the 19th century at the latest, while nobody cared about the popularity of grape pomace brandies. Until the middle of the 20th century, tresterbrand was a rural product without great ambitions.
Without prescriptions
Therefore, for a long time, German winemakers and distillers could distill grape pomace without any regulations – just as everyone thought.
In the valley of the Moselle River, it served mainly as a raw material Riesling grape pomace of the variety, Württemberg winemakers used Trollinger and Lemberger residual pressure. Indications about the grape varieties used on the labels were not accepted until the second half of the 20th century.
Concern for the quality of drabin (chag) brandy arose for the Germans later. It can be said that a change in thinking took place in the 80s of the XX century, inspired by the success of Italian grappa distillers and at the same time by the improvement of the quality of German local wines.
The first tresters appeared on the market, with a certain vintage and a named grape variety. More and more vintners began to consider the stills of brandy not only as a secondary source of additionality, some distillers even began to develop these stills as a permanent form of business.
In 1990, the best manufacturers launched tresterbrands that could compete with the best grappas.
Long maturation
German tresters are mostly distilled in copper stills: in modern stills, they are distilled once, while in small and old-time stills, they are distilled with a double distillation method.
Unlike Italian grappa, there are no restrictions on the level of moisture in the racks when making Trester. Thus, the difference between grape brandy and grape pomace brandy is theoretically quite vague, since the grapes may also contain unpressed grape juice.
Unlike industrially produced grape brandies, treasters are almost never distilled in such large volumes that it pays to use column-type stills.
Most German tresters are sold only after a long aging process – some are matured in oak barrels for ten years or more. Only a few manufacturers experiment with different types of wood, using acacia wood, cherry wood or mulberry.
Or the Moselle Valley?
In the colloquial language, locals still sometimes call these drinks Moselle grappa. Of course, the word grappa does not appear on the labels, because only still brandies from Italy and Italian-speaking regions can officially be called grappa.
In Germany, the main trester production regions are Aare, Moselle, Rhineland, Rheinfessen, Nae, Palatinate, Franconia, Baden, Württemberg. I will talk about the regional differences in trusts next time.
