Four Pillars Distillery is in Melbourne’s Yarra Valley, beautiful cool climate wine country. We’d have to be crazy not to take advantage of it.
So back in 2015 that’s what we did. We were happily making gin out the back of our mate Rob Dolan’s winery, and in late April a tiny parcel of Shiraz came in from one of the region’s best vineyards. Rob wasn’t sure what to do with it, so we took it off his hands – perhaps without his knowledge…
It seemed perfectly obvious to Cam Mackenzie that we should steep these grapes in Rare Dry Gin to see what happened.
The result was alcoholic alchemy… the juice turned a magical purple colour and found a sweetness straight from the ripe grapes.
So now each year we take local Shiraz fruit, steep the whole berries in high-proof gin for eight weeks before pressing. The colour remains a deep, rich, reddish purple. Aromatically it shows fresh pine needles, citrus and spice, and distinct peppery, dense raspberry notes. The palate is lovely and sweet with a long juniper and spice character on the finish.
Whip out your favourite tonic and make sure the freezer’s stacked with ice, because it’s time for a Bloody & Tonic. Our favourite time of the day.
INGREDIENTS
METHOD
- Add Bloody Shiraz Gin and tonic to a rocks glass over ice
- Garnish with a wedge of lemon or grapefruit
Bloody Shiraz Gin, grapefruit and bubbles combine to create a gorgeously pink party starter.
INGREDIENTS
METHOD
- Add the ingredients to a wine glass over ice
- Top with sparkling wine
- Garnish with a slice of grapefruit
Pure purple deliciousness in a glass, with sweet fruit, spicy ginger and zingy lime.
INGREDIENTS
METHOD
- Squeeze lime juice, reserving the hull
- Shake gin and lime juice over ice, then strain into a rocks glass
- Add ginger beer, ice and garnish with the lime hull
A delicious balance of sweet fruit, bitter Campari and lemon with an intense colour.
INGREDIENTS
- 20mL Bloody Shiraz Gin
- 20mL Campari
- 20mL dry curacao (or any other orange liqueur, such as Cointreau)
- 20mL fresh lemon juice
- 1 dash of Regan’s Orange Bitters
- Lemon
METHOD
- Add ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice
- Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
- Garnish with a disc of lemon peel
