About

Because of its remarkable biodiversity Higher Plot Farm is a Site of Special Scientific Interest . We have always dreamt of finding a way to capture the essence of the beautiful ridge where we live and work so the idea of distilling some of the flora and herbs that surround us was an obvious answer.

As wine makers we know that great wine is made in the vineyard and because no two summers are the same, no two vintages are exactly the same. We are always trying to capture the essence of the summer with our wine and this is how we approached making gin. During the summer of 2020 we collected aherbs and flowers and sent them to be distilled into spirits by friend and gin genius Paul Bowler. Some like Sweet Violet and Sheep’s Sorrel were easy to reject and truth be told, some were actively unpleasant. Eventually from a list of nine trial distilates we came down to the four that most caught our imagination and which seem to co-exist happily together- Meadow Sweet, Rosemary, Thyme and Bay.

We’re lucky to have the support of various friends in the spirit world and as novices we were able to call on mentors to work on a classic Dry Gin botanical mix as a base on which to highlight our own distilates and our starting point is completely classic - Juniper, coriander seed, lemon peel, angelica root, liquorice root ( which is also to be found on the farm) and orris root. We infuse these overnight with our own Langport botanicals overnight and distil the next morning. This is done in a professional distillery in Winchester as we don’t (yet) have a still or licence and the idea of us applying heat to almost pure alcohol is enough to strike fear into the heart of any insurer!

and the result….. is the unique spirit of the English countryside. It has fresh delicate meadow sweet and juniper aromas complex enough to marry with a great vermouth in a dry Martini and fresh enough to enliven and lift a gin and tonic. Perfect with a garnish of Somerset Apple.

Available to order here