From the Producer

Our grapes are fermented in tank before distillation, which takes place over just three months of the year, usually beginning during the early days of vintage in February.

All St. Agnes brandies are double distilled, using our heritage copper pot stills made by H. Jennings of Adelaide. Every distillation benefits from the same care and craft. The speed at which the eau de vie leaves the still is carefully monitored by eye to ensure it is moving slowly enough.

Even this early in the process, time and patience is critical. From day one, every brandy we make is distilled differently with its eventual release age in mind. St Agnes uses the traditional double distilled Pot Still method for brandy production. The wine is transferred to a copper vessel, called a 'Pot Still' and steadily bought to the boil. As the wine heats up the alcohol and a range of flavour compounds, which have a lower boiling point than water, are extracted as vapours. These are then cooled and collected as a condensed liquid. This resulting product contains an alcohol content of 50%a/v.

Three collections are made from the distillation. The first part of the spirit run is called the 'heads' and has a high proportion of impurities. This is channelled off and held for redistillation in the second run. The next part of the run is the 'heart' or 'middle cut' and is collected until its strength falls. This is the main portion retained for St Agnes Brandy. The remaining portion is 'tails' and these are run off to waste.

After the alcohol and flavour compounds are captured from the first run, they are placed back into the pot still and distilled for a second time with only the high quality hearts fraction retained for St Agnes. The final alcohol content of the spirit after this distillation is not more than 83% alc/vol. This second distillation results in a more refined, higher quality product being produced.

Producing spirit at not more than 83% is a critical aspect of St Agnes production as compared to cheaper spirits that are stripped of grape character by distilling to a much higher 95%. Brandy by definition must have at least 25% of the end product distilled at not more than 83% alc/vol but with St Agnes it is 100% distilled at not more than 83% alc/vol. resulting in a much more complex spirit. The art of distillation is finding the aromatic heart of the distillate - a quest that is key to the St Agnes distillery's success.