Strange gin goes against the grain in favour of grapes
AChristchurch gin company is embracing being a little unusual, offbeat, and odd – so much so that the founders didn’t shy away from its uniqueness when naming it.
Strange Nature gin is going “against the grain”, co-founder Rhys Julian said, in more ways than one. Whiskey, vodka and gin are traditionally made from grains, but Strange Nature’s clear spirit is made from Marlborough-grown sauvignon blanc grapes.
The gin is a by-product of Giesen Wines 0% alcohol sauvignon blanc, utilising the alcohol discarded from New Zealand’s most popular wine variety.
Julian said when he tasted “this clear, pure white grape spirit”, he was “blown away”.
Five Cantabrians, who have all touched brands and exported Kiwi products over the years, came together in 2020 to “dial up something really amazing”, with the wine by-product he said. “Do we sell it as a grape spirit, a grappa, or sipping vodka? Then we did our homework in craft gin. New Zealand gin has gone gang busters; like the craft beer revolution.”
Not wanting to take away the “beautiful flavours” of the sauvignon blanc, the only ingredient added to bring the gin to life was the obvious one – juniper berries.
“It’s a great sauvignon spirit with one botanical,” Julian said. The outcome had been well received, “not only in New Zealand, but around the world”.
The gin, which is classed as contemporary instead of a grain-based neutral spirit, is being sold in the US, Singapore, India, the Pacific Islands, Asia, the Middle East and, soon, Canada.
In Australia, it’s the only Kiwi gin stocked in Dan Murphys liquor stores, he said. It was in six duty free stores at Australian airports.
The eye-catching ribbed bottle has a copper label honouring the distilling pots. Some consumers used their first empty bottle as a vase, Julian said, then wanted to know if they could send their next finished Strange Bottle to be reused. It led to a system being developed at the distillery where returned bottles were cleaned, giving them “a second, third, fourth use”.
He said the plan was to create recycling hubs at bottle stores so consumers could return bottles, get a refund and the bottles “sterilised, refilled and sent back out”.
“It’s not good enough just to say we use by-product, it’s not good enough to say we come from a sustainable vineyard; we want to do heaps more.”
As part owner of a small business, he said the biggest challenge was being comfortable reinvesting the profits in the people and marketing instead of it going “in your back pocket”.
The founders were committed to expanding the gin culture. “New Zealand is famous for wine and dairy, but we’ve got a really exciting burgeoning craft gin industry. There’s a real consumer appetite for good quality gin.”