We established our distillery with a focus on gin & grappa.
BUT GREAT SPIRITS DON’T JUST MAKE THEMSELVES, THEY REQUIRE A KEEN FOCUS ON THE CRAFT OF DISTILLING.
Our focus however is not just on the craft of distilling, but also sustainable approaches to producing our spirits. Our story starts with the owners daughter Kayla and the company winemaker Julian, all having a passion to distil different products. Kayla and all the current generation of Grigoriou family are born and raised in the wine region of the Riverland, and this is where our wine company’s vineyards are located. It is also the starting point of our spirits.
We use “spent” wine in our still to create our initial base spirit, the wine is produced from grapes from our vineyards and neighbouring’ vineyards. The botanicals we use to flavour and enhance our gin are brought from local Riverland producers; “seconds” oranges & mandarins that would otherwise be rejected from Supermarkets due to minor blemishes, olive leaves from our olive groves, saltbush that is native to the Riverland and grows almost anywhere you lay your eyes and almonds that come from a local producer. Our objective is to support local, our fellow farmers, producers and neighbours in order to keep our gin as local as possible.
GRAPPA TRADIZIONALE
Our Grappa is made much in the same vein. Grappa is made from grape marc after pressing of the grapes to produce juice for wine. We use Montepulciano and Malvasia grape marc to produce our grappa. We firstly by fermenting the marc and then distill the ferment to capture a twist on the classic Italian Grappas!
OUR STILLS
Our column still is perfect for our uses. As the temperature rises the slow-moving vapour passes through the botanicals and extracts extraordinary flavour. The lavender has intense floral characterises that pair perfectly with the crisp zestiness of the oranges and mandarins.
We also use our small Portuguese Alembic Copper Pot Still. The copper reacts perfectly with the grappa ferment to bring those flavours up to an intensity that doesn’t lose flavour once the spirit is cut back. We aim to keep the sustainability going through other spirit products in the future, utilising the amazing produce in our own backyard, the Riverland.