A company which supplied English sparkling wine for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding is using the same grapes to produce its first gin.
Chapel Down served Brut Rose, made from its pinot noir grapes, to 650 guests at the royal couple’s Buckingham Palace reception in 2011.
It is using skin from the same grapes to produce its Chapel Down Pinot Noir gin, its first venture into the gin market.
The spirit is produced at Gin Works, the company’s new restaurant. bar and gin distillery in King’s Cross. Chapel Down believe no other gin maker in the world has used pinot noir to make the spirit.
It is also producing a second gin, Chapel Down Bacchus, which is made from its Bacchus grape skins, normally reserved for white wine.
Managing director Mark Harvey told the Standard: “The growth in gin sales has just been extraordinary and there’s no sign of it slowing down. As winemakers, we thought long and hard about how we could make a gin that was distinctive.
"Using our own unique grape skins and delivering a balanced and refreshing gin in a beautiful bottle took us two years, but it’s been worth it.”
He added: “It was always our idea to bring Chapel Down into the heart of London. King’s Cross is the hottest area right now - a really exciting place that has seen huge development.”
Chapel Down, which has a winery in Tenterden, Kent, has supplied wine to 10 Downing Street, as well as top restaurants such as Hix, Le Gavroche and Gordon Ramsay. It also supplies to retailers such as Selfridges, Waitrose and Harvey Nichols.
Gin – once dubbed mother’s ruin – is fast becoming Britain’s favourite spirit, surpassing whisky and vodka in terms of growth.
Last year, 73million bottles of gin were sold, generating sales worth £2.1bn in the UK, breaking all previous records.
