Grappa Advent Calendar with Chocolate

Grappa Advent Calendar with Chocolate from Trentino

The Grappa Advent Calendar from Marzadro combines four cask-aged grappas from Trentino with 24 squares of dark chocolate. This isn't a calendar with treats behind cardboard, but rather four full bottles and a range of cocoa, from mild to uncompromisingly bitter.

The Grappa Advent Calendar with Chocolate is an adult advent calendar from the Marzadro Distillery in Nogaredo, featuring four grappas from the Le Diciotto Lune line and 24 squares of dark chocolate hidden behind the doors. The four bottles each contain 200 milliliters. Behind some doors, a QR code awaits that leads you to a tasting video from the distillery.

The calendar is in no rush. It tells stories of Trentino, of pomace from Merlot, Marzemino, and Chardonnay, of small casks, and of 18 moons allowed to pass over a grappa. And it has a sense for contrasts, because cask aging and cocoa go together surprisingly well.

Port, Whisky, and Rum Casks

Four grappas are included in the calendar, all from the Le Diciotto Lune line, all aged in wood for eighteen months. One remains classic, three come as Riserva from other casks.

The Le Diciotto Lune, at 41 percent, rests in small casks made of oak, cherry, acacia, and ash. Spicy, velvety, delicate—and with a finish that lingers for a while after the last sip. The three Riservas, each at 42 percent, previously held port, whisky, and rum, and each brings something of that with it. The Botte Porto shows dried fruit, the Botte Whisky a smoky edge, and the Botte Rum a hint of vanilla and brown sugar.

If you would rather have one of them on your shelf as a full bottle, you can also find the Le Diciotto Lune in the large bottle here with us.

From delicately bitter to Trentino honey

The 24 squares are dark chocolate in four variations, with six pieces per variety. Nutty, bitter, bold—and a fourth variety with honey.

The range begins at around 64 percent cocoa, moves through a good 71 percent, and ends at a bold 85 percent, which allows for almost no sweetness. The fourth variety is blended with Trentino honey, which softens the bitterness. Try the bitter squares with the Botte Porto, the honey one with the Botte Rum, and you will see how they elevate each other.

If you like this harmony, take a look at our dark chocolate bars for the rest of the year.

The Marzadro family has been distilling since 1949

Attilio Marzadro and his sister Sabina founded the distillery in 1949 in Brancolino, a village in Trentino. In 2005, the operation moved to nearby Nogaredo, into a modern building with eight copper pot stills.

Today, Stefano, Andrea, and Anna Marzadro lead the company in the third generation, with around 500,000 bottles and over 20 types of grappa leaving the premises each year. "A good grappa should never be dominated by the wood," says Stefano—and that is exactly what you taste in the Diciotto Lune, which uses the cask as a seasoning rather than a mask. The fresher the pomace when it reaches the still, the clearer the fruit remains within. Hats off to them.

Anyone wanting to drink their way through Trentino will find more grappas from Nogaredo and matching gift sets for giving with us.

Serving tip

We prefer the grappas at 16 to 18 degrees, in a bulbous glass rather than a narrow flute, so that the cask notes can open up. Served too cold, the aromas are closed off; too warm, and the alcohol becomes harsh. It is best to store the squares in a cool, dry place, but not in the refrigerator, or they will lose their melt-in-the-mouth quality. And if you are giving the calendar as a gift, leave a note mentioning that there are full bottles waiting behind four of the doors. That significantly increases the anticipation.