The shores of the Minho around Valença are bountiful, wild flora growing
profusely, amid an array of stream banks and hamlets, enthralling lovers of Nature and landscape alike.
I first thought of creating a gin, while I too ambled through the countryside,
holding a basket, gathering herbs and fruits.
Dill, God’s herb, and laurel for seasoning, mint-scented catnip, the bark of white willow, which they say stands for purity, miraculous elderberry, fragrant herb-robert and lemon balm, the lingering scent of the eucalyptus leaf; the pungent aroma of rosemary and lavender, the tannic properties of wild celery or Holy Ghost herb, the citrusy of lemon and orange and, lastly, the spell of the
blackberries : all these I picked and selected.
I then submitted each of these ingredients, separately, to a maceration technique.
But there was still something missing - hidden deep in the memory a lost flavour and taste persisted... in order to recapture it I was forced to wait until the end of October. For I had to wait for the season of a singular fruit, exclusive to Valença, the perico. The perico is the product of a graft of a variety of pear onto a local tree known as the escramboeiro; I hoped that its delicate sweet and sour tang, so familiar to me since childhood, would add something truly memorable; and after ninety days of maceration I was rewarded beyond all my expectations!
De cor vermelha, limpo e brilhante que respeita os aromas próprios de um bom Gin.
I selected two kinds of cereals, rye and barley, which, together with the juniper, the citrusy of the lemon and orange peels and the freshness of top quality water combined into a perfect marriage!
The three distillations were made deliberately at a very slow pace, without rush.
The pick of choice herbs and fruits from Valença were then blended in, through a process of maceration, made once more at a extremely slow pace. As I said, why rush it?
And so, to my great wonder and delight, I ended up producing this artisanal and – I trust – original gin.
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Perico(Portuguese Pyrus) |
Drill |
Poppy |
Lavender |
Orange & Lemon |
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Nepeta |
Willow Leaf |
Laurel |
Elderflower |
Rosemary |
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Geranium robertianum |
Eucalyptus |
Balm |
Lemon Verbena |
Blackberries |