The Grapes of Gin

CAROLINE ASHFORD AKA THE GIN QUEEN EXPLORES GRAPE WINE GINS AND ASKS THE QUESTION... HAVE AUSTRALIAN DISTILLERS CREATED A NEW GIN CATEGORY?

Since Four Pillars launched their Bloody Shiraz gin in 2015, taking their Rare Dry Gin and steeping it with locally grown Shiraz grapes, the wine gin category has grown significantly with over 20 Australian distillers now producing their own version.

Using wine in gin is not a new phenomenon, Ferdinand’s Saar Dry gin is infused with Riesling grapes from the Saar region in Germany. French gin G’vine is made from grape-based spirit and infused with vine blossoms. There are also many Australian distillers that use grape spirit as the base of their gins.

In addition, companies like Treasury Wines have released wine hybrids - Squealing Pig Rosé and Pinot Noir gins. In these instances, finished wine is simply added to gin.

The latest round of gin awards (IWSC and Spirits Masters) saw Four Pillars, Seppeltsfield Road Distillers and Never Never Distilling Co. collect medals for their ‘grape gins’, Bloody Shiraz, Barossa Shiraz and Ginache respectively. So, what are ‘grape gins’ and have Australian Distillers created a new gin category?

Australian grapes gins are inspired by traditional English Sloe gins. The berries of the native blackthorn bush are steeped in gin for months at a time, and then sugar is added to counteract the tart, tannic flavours of the sloe. The result is more of a liqueur than a gin, with the most common ABV hovering around the 25% mark, although there are higher proof versions available.

Blackthorn bushes are not native to Australia with small pockets mainly found in Tasmania that were planted by settlers, so as a wine-making nation, it seems obvious distillers would turn to grapes to create a twist on sloe gin.

What started as an homage to the gins of old has now become a collaborative art between vigneron and distiller.

Cameron Mackenzie from Four Pillars admits that the team did consider making sloe gin at the beginning of the Four Pillars journey. “We knew that it was popular; we were asked when we were going to release one”.

Not one to disappoint people, he invested a huge amount of time to research sloe gins. “We bought every single Sloe gin on the market, tasted them and tested the sugar quantity. The volume of sugar to spirit was shocking, even the driest had an extraordinary amount”.

Somewhat fortuitously, it was around this time that a small parcel of grapes was dropped off by a producer at Rob Dolin wines, where Four Pillars was initially based. Mackenzie added them to Four

Pillars Rare Dry gin and promptly forgot about it.

This ‘happy accident’ had a profound impact on the business as well as the gin category, with the first bottling selling out immediately. The popularity of the gin has not diminished, and the release of the latest vintage is a highlight of the year for gin lovers.

From that 250 kg in year one, Four Pillars now acquire around 100 tonnes of fruit per year, the majority of which comes from the Yarra Valley.

The grapes are steeped in high proof gin for eight weeks and then bottled. Natural sugars from the grapes mean no additional sugar is required.

Production has been refined and developed, evolving from tossing a few grapes in with some gin, to a painstaking process where grapes are assessed and sourced by Cam and Behn Payten (one half of low intervention winemakers, Payten & Jones) on an ongoing basis.

“We now pick the grapes according to the characteristics we need. Some grapes are picked early for a bit of acidity, while we pick some later for a bigger amount of sweetness and colour. Any kink in vintages is ironed out by sourcing grapes from different vineyards, although they are always Victorian.”

Never Never Distilling Co. is based in McLaren Vale, a region well known for its Grenache.

Head Distiller Tim Boast set out to create a lighter, more approachable grape gin that would “look good and work well in cocktails”.

The distillery shares the same site as Chalk Hill winery’s cellar door, so the relationship was already there for the project.

The 2020 release of Never Never Distilling Co.’s Grenache gin – better known as ‘Ginache’ gin – was made using one tonne of grapes from Chalk Hill’s home block in Slate Creek. The team were making rosé which suited Boast’s desire to produce a fresher, lighter wine gin with little tannin.

The grapes were steeped for in their signature Triple Juniper gin for 28 days and turned daily.

For the 2021 vintage Boast recruited new growers - Hither and Yon (7 tonnes) and Dog Ridge (1 tonne) and added skilled winemaker Jess Hodge to the production team, who is passionate about Grenache.

Boast is thrilled by the response to Ginache; “It was our fastest-selling new release and has been well received, not just by gin consumers, but by our local winemakers too.”

Nicole Durdin was living in the UK at the beginning of the Gin Renaissance, when Sipsmith gin had just launched in London.

On their return to the UK, Nicole and husband Jon set up from Seppeltsfield Road Distillers in the heart of the Barossa.

For her it was a no brainer to produce a grape gin, saying: “We always talked about the potential of using Shiraz grapes instead

of sloe berries. It would it have been remiss of us not to use grapes from the Western Ridge side of the Barossa, famous for its Shiraz.”

The team have been sourcing grapes from the same vineyard – only 1.5km from their door -since their first release in 2018.

Holly Klintworth, owner and Head Distiller at Bass & Flinders Distillery has used a completely different process for her ‘Heartbreak’ Pinot Noir gin. “We created a cold-soaked, lightly crushed grape must then did a wild ferment to extract the ‘pinotsity’ (if there is such a word!) of the grapes. The pressed used was then fortified with juniper spirit to stop fermentation”.

Together with Production Manager Dan Calvert (ex-Quealy’s and T’Gallant), Holly analysed the characteristics of Pinot Noir unique to the Mornington Peninsula region and selected botanicals, including strawberry, cacao nibs, sage and rosemary – to distil individually. These distillates were then blended with the pinot/juniper base.

Holly is clear about her ambition “We wanted to create a drink that we could pair food, as you would with a Pinot Noir wine, we think we’ve achieved that.”

Chris Cameron only launched his Naught gin last year but has already released a Sangiovese gin.

Chris explains, “It might seem quick to add another gun to the range, but I was working on this project at the same time as my R&D phase for Naught gin. I love Sangiovese, so did a practice run with 15kg of grapes from Ararat. I steeped them for two months in 42% ABV gin and the result was more than palatable, so I knew it was viable.”

Chris managed to visit Dalzotto wines in King Valley in between lockdowns in 2020 and shared his vision with the team who were keen to support him.

With a larger quantity of grapes, Chris tweaked his original production method and didn’t fully crush the grapes, allowing him to keep their colour and flavour. The grapes were steeped in bottle strength gin for two months before being gently pressed in an olive press, a gentle process to ensure retain the sweeter, more delicate Sangiovese flavours, and no tannins.

At the time of writing, Four Pillars have taken their Shiraz gin to a new level by releasing a single estate limited edition. James Halliday’s Winemaker of the Year 2017, Sarah Crowe, from Yarra Yering sold them two parcels of Underhill Shiraz from the 2021 vintage. Cam Mackenzie added the bunches of grapes to Rare Dry gin that had spent around 14 months in old Yarra Yering Dry Red #1 & Dry Red #2 barrels that Sarah had given him in early 2020.

Bloody Underhill Shiraz Gin is the first release of what will become an annual Bloody Shiraz Single Vineyard Series. Where Four Pillars begin, others follow, so expect to see more single-vineyard gins.

The beauty of these gins is that consumers can comfortably select based on their red wine preference, and by knowing the region will have a clearer idea of the flavour profile before purchasing.

The original grape gins, like Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz, were initially consumed over ice. As the category has developed brands have created signature serves around these gins and highlighted their versatility as a cocktail staple and even in a gin and tonic. Fever-Tree Australia’s Lemon Tonic is an unlikely, but spectacular pairing with grape gins that brands and consumers have taken on board with relish.

With Australian grape gins winning global awards, distillers have whet gin drinkers appetites for these styles, - (Four Pillars is available in the US and UK, while Never Never Distilling Co.’s Ginache can be purchased in the UK.) and created a new gin category in the process. It can only be a matter of time before other wine-producing nations follow in our footsteps.

The wine gin category has grown significantly with over 20 Australian distillers now producing their own version.