Gold to Glass – Windspiel Van Volxem Gin

I know that there are other gins out there using wine as an ingredient. Moreover, there are also gins out there which cooperate with famous vineyards. Nevertheless, I was very excited to try the new Windspiel Gin. They are extending their line of cooperation and are now working with renown vineyard Van Volxem. So, in this article I took the chance and also reviewed the wine which is used for the gin.

First, let us take a look at the gin. For the Van Volxem Gin Windspiel uses their usual botanicals of juniper, lemon peel, ginger and cinnamon. However, the special part is that the master distiller adds a Riesling eau de vie to the finished distillate. Especially, the wine for the grape spirit comes from the Goldberg slope. Afterwards, the gin is bottled at an ABV of 45 %.

Juniper and wine

The Windspiel Van Volxem Gin is surprisingly fruity. You can really taste the Riesling eau de vie in the finished spirit. Apart from that, the typical Windspiel spices of cinnamon and juniper shine through. In the end, the taste is accompanied by some citrus flavours and rose petals. All in all, I enjoyed the gin very much.

Sweet wine

Second, on to the wine. Van Volxem tries to cultivate their wine as sustainable as possible. Apart from that, the Goldberg slope in Wawern is a historic vineyard which already got the highest classification in Prussian documents. The soil consists of red slate with parts of volcanic Rhyolite and Quartzporphyry. On top of that, the VDP classifies the Goldberg as a GROSSE LAGE. Van Volxem offers three different bottlings from the Goldberg slope and I chose the late harvest Riesling, which is classified as sweet.

While the wine is really sweet, you can also taste lavish yellow fruit notes. Apart from that, there are typical sweet Riesling flavours accompanied by citrus notes. Furthermore, the wine reminded me of passion fruit, agave syrup and fresh lemons. It is probably a cliché, but the Goldberg Late Harvest wine works wonders with Asian food. I especially would suggest pairing it with a yellow Thai curry with pineapples.

Obvious pairings with a twist

My fellow Drinkstagramer Distiller’s Cut who reviewed the Windspiel Van Volxem Gin before me, already guessed two of the ingredients of my drink. I guess, it is a bit obvious to pair the Van Volxem Gin with Van Volxem Riesling and verjus for some acidity. Furthermore, I added a wee dash of Spiritus Rex Apricot Eau de Vie. Add a couple of dashes of lemon bitters, a tiny bit of simple syrup and a splash of soda water and you have the finished “Gold to Glass”.

Fruity and balanced

The cocktail starts with a combination of the wine’s exotic fruits and the fruitiness of the gin. Next, the balanced sweet and sour becomes noticeable. The apricot eau de vie and the bitters just linger on in the back. The soda water adds to the freshness of the drink and also helps to balance the different flavours. I enjoyed the “Gold to Glass” very much, especially because it shows how you can use a wine instead of the usual vermouth in a drink.

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The gin was provided by Windspiel.