If you’re partial to a G&T, you’ll want to keep reading. You may have heard we make a rather fine English Sparkling wine at Windsor Great Park Vineyard. We’ve even won awards for it. Well, we’ve now got our first Windsor Great Park Gin!
Back in 2018 we had a great vintage, and a generous crop of grapes too. We had a little Chardonnay juice spare and decided to make a very special, very British, gin. After all, we had all we needed right on our doorstep. Here’s how we did it …
Inspired by the botanicals of a very English garden
Gin is flavoured by its botanical, and lucky for us, we are surrounded by them. Next door to our vineyard in Windsor Great Park lies the beautiful Savill Gardens, full of pungent seeds, flowers and leaves, which inspired our selection of botanicals. Gin doesn’t need a lot, just handfuls. But, for this reason, they have to be perfect handfuls when you’re looking for quality, originality and freshness. We brought in Dr David Clutton – the only chap we know who has a PhD in gin (truly) – to help us make the final selection of botanicals. 40 years in the gin business, that famous nose led the way. And taught us so much. You’ll find aromas of juniper with a lift of lemon verbena, lemon thyme, elderflower, coriander and orange zest. There are gentle wafts of pear and a hint of malty oak from that excellent distilled Chardonnay too.
The Distillery – Gorilla Spirits Co.
We had our Chardonnay and our botanicals ready, but of course we needed to find somewhere to distil this creation and wanted to keep it local too. That’s where Gorilla Spirits Co. come in.
The craft distiller, based in Upton Grey, Hampshire, make their own range of award-winning spirits along with gins for a number of other brands (some really quite famous) and we were drawn to them not just for the quality of their products or for being local to us, but for sharing our ethical values.
Founder and Chief Gorilla, Andy Daniels, began Gorilla Spirits Co. in early 2011 but it wasn’t until December 2015, 4 years after starting, that he launched their very first product, Silverback Mountain Strength Gin. Their portfolio now includes three different gins, vodka, spiced rum and coffee liqueur.
When we first got talking to Andy he told us “My vision for Gorilla Spirits Co. is to move with the market by creating a range of the highest quality spirits and liqueurs that people love to drink. But I also want to demonstrate that our business can be successful at the same time as being focused on social responsibility, sustainability and conservation. This means being aware of the impact we have on the world and to find ways to make our impact a positive one. We love working with other brands who share these values”.
At the heart of what they do is their donation of £1 to The Gorilla Organization for every bottle they sell. In Andy’s words “We’re saving Gorillas one drink at a time”!
Our first Windsor Great Park Gin is now available to purchase at £35.95. Don’t wait about for this, we’ve only made a small amount.
