De Vine Vineyards Tasting

Living on vancouver Island affords me with amazing opportunities to tour and taste and one of my favourite local spots for picnics, wine tastings and the producer of some of my favourite spirits is De Vine Vineyards.

Last weekend they were one of the hosts for Saanich Peninsula Spring Studio Tour and as it was a beautiful sunny day we made our way to see the art and have a lovely picnic at the vineyard. The views are stunning, as they are located at the top of a hill and have views of the vineyard leading down to the ocean, islands and across to the Peninsula Mountains in Washington. We were fortunate to discover that the 2014 Grüner Veltliner was discounted by 50% and with the heat it was the perfect choice.

Hint : If you go to the vineyard for a tasting that special will be running until the end of June as long as they have bottles left.

2014 Grüner Veltliner

It is a lovely light straw colour with a crisp clean finish preceded by citrus notes and a hint of apple cider. I plan to use this for a white wine sangria and will let you all know how that turns out.

2014 Foch

I sampled this well deciding on which gin would follow me home and it too followed me home. This Foch is rich and full of fruit with a hint of cassis, the acidity you would expect and a smooth finish.

The Gins

This Vineyard is one I make an effort to go to often as they are always producing new spirits and limited release spirits that are hand crafted in small batches which shows in the quality results.

They now produce three very unique and distinct gins all of which are worth sampling and taking home with you. I am hoping that this Christmas will bring the Sloe Gin back for another limited release making it 4 gins again.

VIN GIN

This gin using grapes not grains is unique, it is double distilled using BC wine grapes including two of their own. During the third distillation they add in the dozen organic and wild botanicals that infuse it with just the right balance of herbal and astringent flavours with a clean finish. You will get a hint of the wine that went into the production that gives it a slightly richer flavour than a grain based gin. Worthy of trying and is the perfect gin to sip neat or on ice.

NEW TOM

This gin has history and honours the origins of Dickens’ London, ask De Vine Vineyards to share the fascinating history of this style. It is barrel aged and is rich and full with a lively amber colour and slightly citrusy sweet notes over a smokey scotch flavour with a smooth finish that lingers on the palate. From experience I can tell you this gin works exceptionally well in an Old fashioned cocktail.

GENEVER

This is the most recent addition to their exceptional gin family. Done in the original Dutch style using locally grown and malted barley with over 20 botanicals it is complex but perfectly balanced. This is the one that followed me home on this last excursion and it really does make a brilliant gin and tonic. Try it with a natural tangerine spritzer (they carry a lovely choice) and a hint of lemon.

De Vine Vineyards is an organic, family run business that constantly gives back to the community. They are stewards of the land and do their best to assist other growers and support local producers. They are worth the tour and tasting and if you have the time sit back relax , have a picnic and sip some wine, you won’t regret it.

The following video is from De Vine Vineyards release of Vin Gin: