Feel like tasting a gin you probably never have tasted before? Then read this article where we present Wölffer Estate Vineyard Gin that you can taste as February’s “GT of the Month” at Papa Bird in the Meatpacking District in Copenhagen and at The Bird & Churchkey in Gammel Strand in Copenhagen.
Wölffer Estate Vineyard from New York is one of many “new” distilleries that has emerged – meaning that Wölffer Estate have existed in many years, but as a wine producer and have only just recently started making this beautiful rose colored gin!
And this is a gin, which is being distilled in a way we haven’t seen anyone (?) do before – it’s distilled on a base of Wölffer Estate’s renowned Rosé wine…. Yep – you read it right: Rosé Wine :-)
After a very slow distillation of the wine, the distillate has been adjusted with juniper, cumin, star anise, coriander & cardamom. And finally, they have colored the distillate with an extract of grape peel, which gives the beautiful pink color this gin has!
The result has become a Gin, you probably never have tasted before! It is certainly not the juniper which meets you as the first tasting note - it is rosé wine! But in combination with the 40% alcohol, the first impression stays in the nose and becomes more grappa-like - in the very delicious way. The next thing you think of, is the cardamom - certainly not like it jumps out of the glass and in your face, but on the contrary, beautifully balanced against the wine and the remaining botanicals, which however, stays a bit more in the background.
When you get the gin in the mouth, it's again, first of all the Rosé wine you're thinking of. It slowly develops and delivers a little vinous feeling on the side of the tongue - before you get a discreet “breath” from the cardamom, star anise and subtle juniper. Again, our feeling is that this reminds us more of a vinous grappa than Gin - but it's certainly no disadvantage, because it's really a nice balance, which is created and therefore an unusually nice tasting experience!
The experienced boys at Copenhagen bars, Papa Bird and The Bird and The Churchkey, have seen something quite right with this Gin, namely that it does not need a Tonic - but needs less bitterness and less acidity. So when designing the "G & T" of the month for February 2018, they have chosen to make it in 2 variants with 2 different lemonades:
At The Bird and The Churckey you can taste it with the delicious "Rose Hib Lemonade" from Copenhagen Sodas, garnished with a twisted lime wheel and a strip of mango. This combination provides a delicious balance between the floral rose scent and taste from the lemonade and the mango towards the lime juice - perfectly combined with the Gin, as this combination still leaves plenty of taste and nose from the gin. It is certain, that a traditionally tonic water would have taken over the whole scene with acidity and bitterness - and that is NOT happening here ....! This is the taste and smell of warm summer evenings in the garden ....!
At Papa Bird they serve the Gin with a "Three Cents Pink Grapefruit Soda", which is very mild and surprisingly acidity-less in the way that you actually think it's grape juice. And again, it's the perfect choice with this Gin, along with fresh mint that just needs a few claps to release the smell and taste before it is put into the drink ,together with a few rose petals. One would think, that the taste and scent of grapefruit would take over - but it doesn’t in ANY way. Instead, it delivers sweetness and aroma, which again fit beautifully with the Gin and especially the mint that gets a little more “space”, in this "G&T".
These "Gin & Tonics" taste of warm summers and sun - but above all they are different from the Gin & Tonics we usually taste. And as we are big fans of pushing the boundaries and thereby developing the tasting palette a little bit, they get Gintossen's warmest recommendations.
if you want to taste this Gin but do not have the opportunity to go to Papa Bird eller The Bird and The Churchkey in Copenhagen, you're lucky that Vinomani in Denmark has the gin – and the other Wölffer Estate's wines!
