Saison Aperitifs Blackcurrant Leaf Vin Amaro

REGION: Melbourne, VIC
SIZE: 750ml / ABV: 22%

This year, Saison is taking a new direction with its seasonal late-summer amaro release, by heroing blackcurrant leaves — an ingredient that’s hard to find and rarely used in Australia. Blackcurrants hold a special place in Dave’s heart, their flavour super nostalgic as they were something he ate every summer as a kid growing up in New Zealand, stealing his neighbours’ blackcurrants and smashing them up with loads of sugar.

For this vin amaro - ‘vin’ denoting wine-based, rather than a spirit-based amaro - Dave starts with fresh blackcurrant leaves then layers in wild elderflower, jasmine, green coffee, white grapefruit and Meyer lemon along with other botanicals. The requisite bitterness comes from a blend of fresh custom-grown wormwood and gentian, and then is blended with Victorian-grown Frontignac base wine to round it all out. 

The result is an amaro that’s fresh, complex and distinctly vibrant - a delicious expression of late summer. Drink it in a spritz or Last Word cocktail, or anywhere you’d use Chartreuse or Midori.

The seasonal vermouths from Dave Verheul's 'Saison' range need no introduction. Dave has been hand-making his fine, gastronomic vermouths for a few years now - initially in the kitchen of his Melbourne restaurant Embla, and more recently in his own vermouthery.