GINEPRO is Italian for Juniper and I very much liked the idea of using this as the name of this gin, which combines the woody character of Juniper berries with the floral and fruity notes of the Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G wine, which is used in it as a botanical ingredient.

 

Coming from the Prosecco region of the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene D.O.C.G, I grew up with the tradition of grappa, our ancestral tipple, and the home custom of infusing it with locally picked aromatic herbs and berries.

 

When I moved to London, I discovered the refined complexity of gin and I fell in love with it. 

I became obsessed with the idea of creating my own gin, and more particularly a Prosecco gin, with its marked floral notes and the scent of the terroir that the wine grows in.

 

But I also wanted it to talk about my roots, to be an expression of my youth, the youth of intrepid country kids roaming around in a world where taste and sent was pure and unspoilt and everything seemed to find its obvious place and connection to the land.

 

I grew up running and playing in the vineyards and I still have very vivid memories of the scents and sounds of the countryside, the buzz of the insects, the birds, the wind and the warmth of the tepid spring sun that was blending them all together. 

It felt like being immersed in a musical box of the senses.

 

I believe Gin is a bit like this feeling, a bombardment of scents and perfumes that find their home in this palpable and palatable  liquid medium that we enjoy and become part of.

 

So, in the winter of 2014, after long researching and elaboration, I set myself up to give life to this project, under the portico of my house above the Prosecco hills and vineyards of Valdobbiadene. 

 

I managed to borrow an old copper still, that had been used by generations to distill grappa and had been abandoned and forgotten in the cellar of a friend.

Armed with a lot of excitement, 50 litres of Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G and the scented memories of my childhood I finally distilled my first batch of Prosecco gin.

 

The following  is a description of what I have tried to capture in GINEPRO GIN.

 

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The smokey hot plate of my granny's aga stove

The perfume of grandmother's linen drawers

The scent of the wood when mushroom picking as a kid

The raisins wine of the special celebrations

The sun warmed fruits picked on the trees

The buttered bread and honey that granny would pass through the kitchen window for tea

The sugar almonds and chocolate of the local fair

The sweet and intense scent of the roses of our home

The aromatic herbs of our traditional cuisine that populate all of our gardens

And of course the omnipresent Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G on our dining tables.

 

I hope you will enjoy this very particular gin as much as I have enjoyed making it.

 

 

 

Barti Garibaldo