Craft+Estate-Portfolio-Book_The-Henry-Wine-Group-v2

Gölles Schnappesbrennerai

DISTILLERY OVERVIEW The Gölles family has been cultivating orchards in the sunny hill country around Austria’s Riegersburg Castle for four generations. Since the beginning of the 1980s, they have specialized in manufacturing fine vinegars and premium spirits by hand. Using the highest quality ingredients results in dense and robust schnapps, and this quest for prime fruit is also at the heart of their commitment to cultivating exceedingly rare fruit varieties. To this end, orchards have been replanted with these old varieties. Since 1990, thousands of these rarities – like the saubirne (“sow” pear) and maschansker apple – have been planted. While state-of-the-art technology is employed to transform these and other high-quality products into the fine spirits, the crucial factor remains the experience of Alois Gölles and his team. DISTILLING PHILOSOPHY Since 1979 Gölles has produced its brandies using only the finest, cleanest, and ripest fruit, without adding sugar, flavors or coloring. They still use copper vessels for the traditional double distillation process. Fresh, fully ripened fruit needs to be processed as quickly as possible to produce a high- quality distillate, so from July to November, the distillery is constantly in use. Once it has been washed and sorted, the fruit is crushed, before the stems, seeds and pits are removed. It is then transferred into large stainless-steel tanks for fermentation at temperatures between 62°F and 66°F (17° and 19°C). After 1-2 weeks the natural fruit sugar will have fermented to produce alcohol. Once this process is complete, the mash is distilled in copper vessels. Owned by: Alois Gölles Master Distiller: Alois Gölles Founded in: 1979 Region: Styria (Steiermark) Country: Austria Spirits: Gölles, Apricot Brandy Gölles, Cherry Brandy Gölles, Old Plum Brandy Gölles, Williams Pear Brandy

DISTILLERIES 85