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Drinks to feel good about
If you want to make a more conscious choice about what to drink now, look to these top picks from producers who are doing things a little differently.
When it comes to understanding how what we buy impacts our lives, it’s no question that as a nation we’re becoming more savvy. For those that are looking for sips that are vegan, sustainable or a little lower in sugar or alcohol, or drinks that help to reduce waste, spring is a great time to turn over a new leaf and explore new flavours and products you can feel good about buying.
Beauty is more than skin deep
Applewood Distillery is part of a growing movement called the B Corporation. You would be forgiven for thinking that this was part of a global breakdancing network. But these folk aren’t about embracing a love of hip hop and street dancing, they’re operating in a way that is a force for good when it comes to being a sustainable distillery.
Their stylish labels are made from recycled sugar cane, lemons are from South Australia’s oldest citrus plantation, and they work closely with lemon growers across the Adelaide Hills using their B-grade fruit that isn’t pretty enough for the shops – hence the aforementioned B Corporation.
Sip their Applewood Limoncello in the spring sunshine as you enjoy a crème brûlée or indulge in a sumptuous lemon tiramisu. For the gin lovers, Applewood Australian Gin features up to 25 native botanicals – such as wattle seed, desert lime and peppermint gum leaf – steeped in high-grade grape spirit.
Animal free options
Meat free Mondays, Veganuary and many more are becoming familiar phrases in Australian households, and if you or a friend are choosing to cut back on animal products, you can happily enjoy the beers from Young Henrys and a crisp and refreshing, low sugar wine, the Bone Dry Rosé from Mudgee.
A vegan rosé, this is a delightful blend of primitivo, petit verdot, cabernet, sangiovese and merlot, all fermented down to only 0.1% sugar. Pair this almost zero sugar wine with a grilled portobello mushroom burger smothered in garlic and fresh thyme dressing with polenta chips on the side.
A fresh and delicious rosé, it’s also a smart choice for those wanting to watch their sugar intake while enjoying a wine that hasn’t used any animal products in the ‘fining’ of the wine. Fining is a way of clarifying and stabilising a wine and traditionally food items such as egg white and milk products have been used.
Sustainable winemaking
There have always been areas of Australia that make delicious and enticing chardonnay, and Xanadu in Margaret River is one of them. The award-winning winery has joined Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, making official a commitment to growing grapes and making wine in a way that reduces waste, increases water efficiency and also works better with their supply chains and local community.
The Xanadu Chardonnay is a perfect match for a roast porchetta or smoked chicken salad.
Gin innovation
The locally focused WA producers behind Wandering Distillery want to protect the environment and have partnered with like-minded suppliers to work sustainability into all areas of production. Native botanicals, organic where possible, are found in their Signature Gin. To reduce waste, botanical by-products of Wandering Distillery gin are given a second life as part of the food chain for fish farming and within the pharmaceutical industry. The company also recycles the cold water used to turn alcohol vapours back into liquid during the gin-making process.
Enjoy a glass of the Wandering Distillery Signature Gin and tonic with a sprig of lemon myrtle or lemon thyme.
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