🍷 Piquette

Piquette is a weak, slightly sour drink made from grape pomace. After the wine is pressed, the skins and seeds remain. They are covered with water, and the leftover sugar and flavour pass into the liquid. The mixture then ferments. It usually reaches 4–8% alcohol.

Piquette is an ancient drink. In Europe, especially France and Italy, vineyard workers drank it, and poor families used it instead of wine. The word comes from French and relates to a sour, prickly taste. In recent years piquette has returned: small winemakers make it as a light, fresh and inexpensive drink.

Piquette is counted among the types of wine but stands apart because of its low strength. It is made from the same pomace that is distilled into grappa and marc. It is rarely seen in shops, usually from small producers.