Deep in the heart of the Clare Valley, a new project is distilling…
It all started with a single, beautiful 80-year old pomegranate tree situated on Penobscot farm.
The bio-dynamic organic farm on which the Watervale Hotel resides, here grows a wide range of seasonal fruits, nuts, leaves and vegetables supplying the Watervale Hotel kitchen.
Owned together by Director of Kilikanoon Wines, sommelier Warrick Duthy, and Executive Chef and General Manager Nicola Palmer, the duo are the unstoppable creative force behind the Watervale Hotel situated on Penobscot Farm. From here, they deliver a lush, epicurean experience in the heart of the food-bowl of the Clare Valley.
“The Watervale Hotel is always doing lots of different things — food, wine everything. We love to do a bit of everything,” Warrick told Glam Adelaide of how they came to take on this new distillation project.
“Already, we make pickles and preserves, we’ve been making pomegranate molasses and vinegars and salads — this distillation was just the next logical extension, really.”
While the region is known for its wine varietals, “Gin is a really important part of the diet of our guests, and we particularly love using the produce from our farm in whatever way we can imagine.”
But this isn’t exactly a gin, Warrick tells Glam Adelaide. Nor is it their first distillation rodeo.
“It’s a botanical ‘eau de vie’ – French for ‘spirit of life’ – and each batch has its own personality.”
The pomegranate tree wasn’t always capable of the yield it produced this year, however.
“When we got to the farm 5 or six years ago, the pomegranate tree didn’t look well at all, she looked every bit her age. But she’s responded really well to the change in the environment.”
The way this change in environment was brought about is quite unique.
“It’s like energy healing for the plants; we align all our farming practices with the cycles of nature. Lunar cycles, seasonal cycles – through this, we’ve improved the biology of the soil, and the pomegranate tree is loving it. She’s bounced back over the past 3 years, the leaves grow green and she’s cropping really well.”
“We had such an lovely crop this year, we picked quite early. But we left some deliberately on the tree, until the pomegranates grew really ripe and pink – and really sweet.”
“So it’s very exclusive: a single-tree, single-batch distillation.”
“We also produced a spirit of Autumn equinox; we started with the distillation of organic, bio-dynamic Watervale Riesling pressings, we got those pressings from Mount Horrocks… and we made a big batch of the spirit back in March.”
And because they did, they were able to set a dream into the motions of reality with the help of local and first Clare Valley-based distillery, Sawmill.
“We’ve developed a really good partnership with Sawmill, they’ve been doing great work in Clare.”
“This [distillation project] has been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and only made possible by David setting up Sawmill. Since he started, it’s allowed our little spirit dream to come alive.”
David Whitehead founded Sawmill Distillery last year, having just celebrated their one year anniversary early this month. The Pink Pomegranate Gin is in the distillation process currently.
“We reckon it’s going to be bottled next week,” says David.
The passion is contagious, and Warrick is keen for the future projects this collaboration enables ahead, telling Glam Adelaide how the spirit is used for four different projects through the year: “a Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice spirit, and an Autumn and Spring Equinox spirit too.”
“We’re exploring the world of botanical spirits. Gin of course is one, but we’re not restricting ourselves to gin, and we’re only able to do that because of our collaboration with Sawmill Distillery.”
“We’ll try this out, and next year we’ll try more. We might use that tree’s produce exclusively, just for gin – this is how we love to explore.”
“Maybe we’ll even produce vermouth, next,” Warrick muses. “We’re in very very early stages yet.”
“The botanicals used are picked from the farm on that very day, on the days of the solstices and equinoxes. Every one of those individual products is going to be a bit different, every year.”
“They’re special because they’re not just vintage by year – they’re also dated to the specific day.”
“The spirit of that Autumn Equinox is already available behind the bar, the Pomegranate gin will be here in a week or two, and Winter Solstice spirit will arrive around a similar sort of time as the Pomegranate gin.”
Because the spirit will be so exclusively produced, the small batch of Pink Pomegranate gin will only be around 30 bottles, Warrick explains, so “it will be available by the nip, in the bar.”
“We’re not distributing these beyond the bar, the way to experience these is to visit the Watervale Hotel and incorporate to eau de vie into your experience with us.”
“We also stock Sawmill’s two key gins, the Gypsy and the Sebastopol, and they make a classic gin for Watervale.”
Warrick is delighted at the locally-based collaboration.
“What we love about what Sawmill does is that they’re about distilling small, single-batch product, because they’ve got small stills. “
Sawmill’s David told Glam Adelaide how “it came together because we had the Watervale team come and spend some time with us at the end of last year.”
“They did a gin tasting, and Warrick and I had a bit of a discussion around him wanting to showcase the produce they grow on their farm.”
“This was right at the end of the pomegranate season, and he was very keen then, so we managed to do a test batch back then, just a very small one.”
“On the back of this years’ Winter Solstice gin, we had another conversation about the pomegranate gin, and so I told him to pick the pomegranates, and long story short: we believe you can turn anything you like into gin. We were very happy to help Warrick out here.”
But what to pair with these vibrant, locally made gins? Warrick has worked out the balance.
“We recommend to have them neat or on ice, or with just a splash of soda so the botanicals can really shine through.”
“However, we’ve worked with Mischief tonics, and decided that their Number One tonic goes best with one of our gins, their Number Two tonic with another gin, so when you order a G&T from us, it’s not only differentiated by the gin, but by the tonic too. We’ve worked on the perfecting the balance between the gin and the tonic both.”
Thus, from one G&T to the next, Warrick says, “They’re very different drinks.”
In the next couple of weeks, pay a visit to Watervale, and be among the exclusive lucky few who will get a taste of the latest new Pink Pomegranate Gin, while the small batch stocks lasts.
Here you can take in the best of the region’s scenery and experience the epicurean business of the Watervale Hotel. A social destination of region’s visitors and a hub for the locals to indulge in, the farm is also a role model for ethical, sustainable practices in bio-dynamic farming.
Nicola Palmer is an award-winning culinary artist and chef, known for her low-waste philosophy and ability to bring together authentic, seasonal flavours, using every element of an ingredient – nose to tail, root to flower. Duthy is passionate and deeply involved in the region’s tourism, as he Chairs the Clare Valley Alliance, is the peak body for Clare Valley tourism, and plenty more.
Together, in collaboration with Sawmill Distillery the powerful pair behind Penobscot Farm’s Watervale Hotel have created a spirit so exclusively unique, thanks to their creativity and low-waste ethos.
This new Pink Pomegranate gin is sure to liven up your winter evenings spent in the region.
The Watervale Hotel
Where: 37 Main N Rd, Watervale SA 5452
You can learn more about Nicola and Warrick’s mission on their website here, and pay the hotel a visit any day of the week.
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