RE:FIND is proof that you can do more with grapes than make wine. After years of successful wine making, distiller/proprietor Alex Villicana and his wife, Monica, decided to explore the possibilities of using excess free-run grapes juice to make spirits. And while making spirits from grapes is not exactly new, RE:FIND takes the craft to a new level using seasonally fresh California fruit to infuse the vodka.
The first thing to know about spirits made from grapes is that there is naturally occurring glycerol present which produces a rich mouth feel. No watery vodka here. The second thing I noticed right away was the authenticity of the flavors: the cucumber gin was all about the cucumber–aroma and flavor, the whiskey barrel finished vodka had distinct whiskey overtones, and the Kumquat (really??? kumquat?) Liqueur flavor is crazy-real–the kind of flavor that gets you thinking about all the amazing cocktails you could make.
And if the hand crafted quality of the spirits isn’t enough, the kicker is that repurposing the free run juice that would have been discarded in the 2014 harvest, “saved the equivalent of 50 farmed-acres of premium Paso Robles wine grapes from being discarded.” Now that’s green.
