Distillery Info
Not far from the Four Pillars distillery at Healesville are some of Yarra Valley's most auspicious vineyards. With this at their doorstep, distiller, Cameron Mackenzie took inspiration from the traditional purple-hued sloe berry Gins of the UK, by creating a uniquely Australian rendition.
The season was set up nicely courtesy of good spring rain, then January and February saw some very dry conditions with the odd bloody hot day that combined to bring vintage forward by a week.
While the majority of our grapes were again sourced from the same three vineyards in our home in the Yarra Valley, this is the first year we also took some grapes from other cool Southern Victorian regions. We sourced a small percentage from the Yea Valley just over the Black Spur to our north and also a parcel from Southern Bendigo to our west, which is cooler still than the Yarra itself.
The fruit quality was sensational across the board (thanks growers). Following the same principles as 2018, harvesting some Shiraz early, looking for spice and red berry characters, and a second parcel later in the season to build colour, sweetness and darker fruit flavours.
The resulting colour remains a deep, rich, reddish purple. And the aromas and flavours? Well, straight up there are pine forest juniper notes followed by white pepper, dark berries and spices. The palate is beautifully balanced with both sweetness and gin in spades, and some nice tannins on the finish. Thirsty now? We bloody hope so...
Each year we steep Shiraz grapes in gin, and after eight weeks we press the fruit before blending with more Rare Dry Gin.
The ABV is 37.8%, unlike Sloe Gin where the alcohol less than 30%. So it packs a punch and is ideal in a range of cocktails. The gin is unfiltered, so it will develop secondary fruit characters beyond two years, and is best consumed within two years of vintage. Distillery Notes
