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By Marc Millon
Have you yet tried Lympstone Manor’s ‘Spirit of Lympstone Manor Eau de Vie de Marc’ or the ‘Essence of the Spirit of Lympstone Manor Gin’? Lympstone Manor Estate is proud to add these two distinctive, high-quality artisan distillates to its range of wines now available.
There has been, in recent years, an explosion of interest and availability of artisan distillates including craft gin, rum, whisky and more, produced across the UK. Michael Caines explains that he decided to produce his own spirits because he wanted to be able to offer Lympstone Manor’s own high quality drinks produced uniquely from a spirit made from the pomace from Lympstone Manor Estate’s own grape pressings. “Grape pomace,” explains Michael, “is the pressing left over after the winemaking process. If not quickly used, it is no more than a waste product to be disposed of. In keeping with our sustainability ethos, we wanted to transform this from something that would not have been used into something very special, quite ethereal, into products that are in a true sense the essence of the grapes that we cultivate so carefully here on the estate.” In France, such a produce is known as ‘eau de vie de marc’ or simply ‘marc’. In Italy it is ‘grappa’.
The Lympstone Manor Estate team chose to work with Master Distiller Leigh Kearle and his sons at E18hteen Gin. They helped to harvest the grapes at Lympstone Manor, then followed the truck to Lyme Bay Winery and waited until the Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay grapes had been pressed. One key to a quality spirit is to ensure that the grape pomace, rich in alcohol and potential alcohol, is as fresh as possible and has not yet had time to begin to oxidise. The grape pomace was then blended with sugar beet molasses for a period of 48 hours to produce a lightly alcoholic liquid with a fresh and sweet fragrance. This was then carefully double distilled to arrive at a pure spirit that reached 97% ABV and this was then blended back to 40% ABV through the addition of Devon spring water. The result is a softly fruity, quite gentle ‘Spirit of Lympstone Manor’ eau de vie de marc, a digestif or digestivo that is the perfect finish to a meal.
To produce the ‘Essence of the Spirit’ gin, this same base spirit was infused with gin botanicals that included Juniper, Oris Root, Coriander, Angelica Root, and Lemon Verbena, and then left to steep for around 8-12 hours. This was then distilled once again to produce ‘Essence of the Spirit of Lympstone Manor’, a classic London Dry style of gin with fruity citrus combined with subtle spicy notes.
Michael is thrilled with the result. “Marc or grappa can be a spirit that is rough and unrefined to say the least. I am delighted that our version, ‘Spirit of Lympstone Manor’ is so elegant, soft, and gentle and also provides the perfect base for our craft gin ‘Essence of the Spirit’.
Both spirits are ideal for a range of cocktails that the mixologists at Lympstone Manor are happy to make for you.
Alternatively, they are available for sale in very limited quantity from the Lympstone Manor Estate Shop.
