Meet the Maker of GINette

Our very first Box (December 2018) featured GINette gin. Jean-Paul Zusslin and his sister Marie are the 13th generation to run Domaine Valentin Zusslin, an award-winning organic and biodynamic winery nestled in the small village of Orschwihr in the heart of the Alsace vineyard. Their family cellar is renowned for its award-winning crémants, rieslings, and pinot noirs. 

Proudly following in his grandfather's footsteps, Jean-Paul is not only a passionate winemaker but also a passionate distiller. He began making gin in the spring of 2018 using the rare and "not so sexy" practice, as he called it, of distilling alcohol from a natural byproduct of aging and fermenting their wines: the lees (i.e., dead yeast cells). Once the lees are distilled into alcohol, the organic juniper berries and main botanicals, such as cardamom, ginger, bergamot, and lemon zest, are all macerated separately in the alcohol, then blended and distilled a second time. The final alcohol is an organic gin with a fresh taste that has been produced in four batches, yielding about 500 liters. 

Jean-Paul explained that being a distiller is a bit like being a perfumer; the big difference is that he uses viticultural materials, which gives more structure, more aromatic diversity. He pointed out that his gin is very different (and we think it is much better) than gins made with neutral industrial alcohol. GINette is a true labor of love that must be appreciated and savored, just like the great wines of Zusslin.